The 'White Voice'

As I was writing the previous post, I noticed something about Vivian Cercy's story I'd previously overlooked.  In Re Ralph International Thomas on Habeas Corpus contains the following report.  (I believe the details it contains cannot be found in any of the other court documents. They must be contained in other documents I've not read, such as police reports and the trial transcript.)

"About 20 to 30 minutes later, Cercy heard two male voices, one of which sounded white, talking behind her car. The person with the white voice said, ‘Leave her alone; she's got two kids.’ A few seconds later there was a knock on the window of the driver's door and Cercy saw a man wearing a pea coat. He asked her name and where she was staying. [Cercy told the man she was staying with Harry Shorman.] When he asked what color bus Harry owned, Cercy asked the man why he was questioning her. The man said he was going to kill her.  Cercy immediately blanked the man's face out of her mind and could give no description[,] including the color of his skin. The man walked away without saying anything else." (In Re Ralph International Thomas on Habeas Corpus, p. 7)

I find this detail about the 'white voice' curious, because it  might lead one to think, "Huh...what she says  suggests there were two male voices, one of which sounded 'white' and one that didn't.  And the man with 'white voice' tried to get the man who didn't have a 'white voice' to leave Cercy alone."  Ralph Thomas was a black man who, presumably, didn't have a 'white voice.'  So someone with a 'white voice' may have tried to get Ralph Thomas to leave Cercy alone.  Cercy blanked and couldn't remember the color of the man who threatened her.  So it could have been Thomas who stood at the driver's side window of her brown Dodge Dart.

A couple of questions come to mind.  What prompted Vivian Cercy to describe one of the voices as a 'white voice'?  Did Cercy distinguish the two voices on her own, or did she make the distinction in response to a question? Perhaps the police reports provide answers.

There's another detail here that's reported in the four court documents I have, and that's the pea coat.  Here are three other mentions:

"About 4 a.m., a man knocked on the window of Cercy's car. She could not describe him except to say that he was wearing a pea coat. The man asked her a series of questions and said he was going to kill her. Cercy remained there until about 5 or 5:30 a.m., when she gave a village resident named Anthony a ride to work." (People v. Thomas, p. 8)

"About 4 a.m., a man knocked on the window of Cercy's car. She could not describe him except to say that he was wearing a pea coat. He asked her a series of questions and told her he was going to kill her. Cercy remained there until about 5 or 5:30 a.m., when she gave a village resident a ride to work." (Thomas v. Wong, p. 3)

"A little later, at approximately 4:00 a.m., a man wearing a long coat knocked on her car window and asked for her name and for the location where she was staying. Vivian testified that she could not recall what the man looked like. Vivian told the man her name and said that she was “staying up at the Village at Harry's.” The man asked her about Harry and his vehicle, and Vivian asked the man why he was asking “all these questions.” The man replied, “because I'm going to kill you.” Vivian froze, and the man walked away. Vivian remained where she was for another hour or so; when it started to get light out, she drove into Berkeley." (Thomas v. Chappell, p. 6)

Ralph Thomas had been wearing a dark jacket on the night of the murders, so it could have been him who knocked on the window and threatened Cercy.  Weston Sudduth was known to wear a pea coat, so it could have been him, or someone who knew him and was wearing the coat, who knocked on the window:

"A friend of Bo's, a white man named Weston Sudduth, also was a Deadhead and was staying in Rainbow Village on the Dead On bus. Weston commonly wore a long trench coat or pea coat. Bo and Weston were seen together the day before the murders." (Thomas v. Chappell, p. 6) 

Given what Cercy said she heard ("Leave her alone, she's got two kids" and "Who are you and where are you staying?") this suggests someone not familiar with her.  One would assume that Thomas would've known who Cercy was, that she had kids, and that she was Shorman's girlfriend.  Someone who was a resident of Rainbow Village or a regular visitor may not have known these things about her.

To conclude, details like these shouldn't be overlooked.  The "Bo Did It" theory must take them into consideration and give an account that handles them.