WEBVTT - I Once Killed for Money. Then I Couldn't Bear to Hurt a Grasshopper

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<v Speaker 1>And we returned to our American stories. Up next, a

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<v Speaker 1>story of redemption out of Kansas City, Missouri. Let's get

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<v Speaker 1>into it.

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<v Speaker 2>So my name is Bill Crumb. I was the enemy

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<v Speaker 2>of God for thirty nine years. I just celebrated my

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<v Speaker 2>fortieth year as a Christian. But my life I started it.

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<v Speaker 2>Let me tell you about the eight times I should

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<v Speaker 2>have died. One specific time, My sister died seven years ago,

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<v Speaker 2>and I never knew until she was on her deathbed.

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<v Speaker 2>And we were talking one day and I asked her

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<v Speaker 2>if she was going to be buried in the same

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<v Speaker 2>cemetery as my mom and dad, because I knew they

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<v Speaker 2>had two other lots there. And she said no, She said,

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<v Speaker 2>Lloyd and our to be buried down in another cemetery.

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<v Speaker 2>She said, why don't you and Davy take those two lots?

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<v Speaker 2>And I said why did dad have four lots? Anyway,

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<v Speaker 2>she said, you don't know, and I said, no, I

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<v Speaker 2>don't know. Sharon. My sister was seven years older than

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<v Speaker 2>I was. And so she said, when Mama was pregnant

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<v Speaker 2>with you, the doctor told Mama and dad that she

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<v Speaker 2>would die had given birth to you, and you would die.

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<v Speaker 2>And so Daddy went and bought four lots, one for

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<v Speaker 2>you and Mama, and then one for him and I

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<v Speaker 2>when we died, And so I now tell people this.

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<v Speaker 2>I've known for years that the Devil's tried to kill me.

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<v Speaker 2>I've been in over twenty five car wrecks and motorcycle wrecks.

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<v Speaker 2>I've been in riots, in prisons. I've overdosed a few times.

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<v Speaker 2>I've had two heart attacks to do it cocaine. The

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<v Speaker 2>Devil's been trying to kill me forever, but I just

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<v Speaker 2>found out seven years ago. He was trying to kill

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<v Speaker 2>me before I was even born. He didn't want me

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<v Speaker 2>to be born telling you how good God is, and

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<v Speaker 2>the devil did not want me to do that. But

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<v Speaker 2>it took a long time to get there. When I

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<v Speaker 2>was about eight years old, I started smoking cigarettes. I

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<v Speaker 2>started looking at pornography. I started stealing, and it just progressed.

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<v Speaker 2>My mom and dad took me to church as a kid,

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<v Speaker 2>but I was always doing something wrong, even in church.

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<v Speaker 2>At church, I was doing stuff wrong, and I was

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<v Speaker 2>always doing stuff wrong. I had a rebellious streak in me,

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<v Speaker 2>and the older I got, the worse it got. When

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<v Speaker 2>I was eighteen years old, I was at a crossroads

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<v Speaker 2>in my life. Let me back up. A year before that,

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<v Speaker 2>I was shooting pool in the pool hall. I stayed

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<v Speaker 2>in the pool hall about twelve hours a day. I

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<v Speaker 2>didn't go to school. I learned more in the pool

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<v Speaker 2>hall that I did school anyway, So that's where I

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<v Speaker 2>loved to go every day. And I was shooting pool

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<v Speaker 2>one day and a guy that I barely knew came

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<v Speaker 2>up behind me and said, Hey, Bill, let's go join

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<v Speaker 2>the Marines. And I said, let me finish this game.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's how serious I took life, because I knew

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<v Speaker 2>if I didn't like the Marines, I just quit. Because

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<v Speaker 2>I quit everything. I quit jobs, I quit girls, I

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<v Speaker 2>quit anything that didn't go the way I thought it

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<v Speaker 2>should go. And so I thought, if the Marines don't

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<v Speaker 2>go right, I'll just quit. And so when I was eighteen,

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<v Speaker 2>I stood before a Marine Corps colonel. I'd already gotten

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<v Speaker 2>in a lot of trouble in the Marines, and I

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<v Speaker 2>stood before a Marine Corps colonel and he said, if

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<v Speaker 2>you don't straighten up, you'll be in the penitentiary before

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<v Speaker 2>you're twenty one years old. And I was at a

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<v Speaker 2>crossroads in my life right there. I had a choice

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<v Speaker 2>of straightening up, taking his advice, and my life would

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<v Speaker 2>have gone a different direction. But what do you think

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<v Speaker 2>I did. I laughed in his face. And by the

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<v Speaker 2>time I was twenty one, I had ridden twenty five

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<v Speaker 2>hundred miles in handcuffs and leg irons and waite chains.

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<v Speaker 2>I'd been locked up in several states. I'd seen murders

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<v Speaker 2>and rapes and suicides and prisons. I came out of

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<v Speaker 2>that prison a very hard hearted man. And when I

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<v Speaker 2>came out of that prison in nineteen sixty four, I said,

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<v Speaker 2>I had two goals. I'm never going back and I'm

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<v Speaker 2>never gonna get caught. I had no intentions of living

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<v Speaker 2>a law abiding life. I had no intentions of straightening up.

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<v Speaker 2>I was just going to be more careful. And I

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<v Speaker 2>went for almost nineteen years before I got caught. And

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<v Speaker 2>in that nineteen years, my life progressed from everything from

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<v Speaker 2>small petty burglary, really, from as small as picking tips

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<v Speaker 2>up off tables. I always picked up tips. If I

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<v Speaker 2>had three or four thousand dollars in my pocket, I

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<v Speaker 2>was walking out of a restaurant and there was two

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<v Speaker 2>or three dollars laying on the table, and nobody was looking,

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<v Speaker 2>I had now three or four and two dollars in

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<v Speaker 2>my pocket. I did anything that was illegal, and so

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<v Speaker 2>I went from petty burglary to international gun smuggling. My

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<v Speaker 2>partner was going to Columbia to Bogata to buy cocaine,

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<v Speaker 2>and we were sending midnight specials over there. We'd buy

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<v Speaker 2>pistols on the street for one hundred dollars, and in

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<v Speaker 2>South America, a handguns illegal and they would bring one

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<v Speaker 2>thousand dollars, and so we would send ten handguns over

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<v Speaker 2>there and turn one thousand dollars into ten thousand dollars.

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<v Speaker 2>That's pretty serious crime if you get caught for international

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<v Speaker 2>gun smuggling. But that was the least of my worries

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<v Speaker 2>because I didn't think I could get caught. I had

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<v Speaker 2>moved up to where I wanted power and money and influence,

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<v Speaker 2>and I had all three of those things. I had

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<v Speaker 2>enough money to stay in five hundred dollars a night hotels,

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<v Speaker 2>I rode in limousines. I bought twenty thousand dollars for

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<v Speaker 2>a one night party worth of cocaine. So I had

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<v Speaker 2>the money had always wanted. I had enough power to

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<v Speaker 2>make a phone call and have somebody killed so I

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<v Speaker 2>had the power it had always wanted, and I had

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<v Speaker 2>enough influence that when I was arrested, it was September fifth,

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen eighty two, and it wasn't a traffic ticket. I'd

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<v Speaker 2>put on sitches in the back of a guy's head

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<v Speaker 2>with a ball bat, and it was a very serious charge,

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<v Speaker 2>originally attempted murder, and I got booked in the jail.

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<v Speaker 2>I love to ask this questions in jails. I love

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<v Speaker 2>to ask guys, how many of you have ever been

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<v Speaker 2>locked up on a weekend? And every hand goes up,

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<v Speaker 2>every hand goes up. And then I asked this question,

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<v Speaker 2>what happens when you get arrested on a weekend and

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<v Speaker 2>everybody yells at the same time nothing, because you're not

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<v Speaker 2>going anywhere on a weekend. Well, they booked me in

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<v Speaker 2>the jail at two o'clock Sunday afternoon, September fifth, nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>eighty two, and I walked out of that jail at

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<v Speaker 2>one thirty Monday morning. Because of the influence I had.

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<v Speaker 2>When I got arrested, we made our first phone call,

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<v Speaker 2>called a city councilman, and we were selling cocaine too,

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<v Speaker 2>and said you knew who to call, and this city

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<v Speaker 2>councilman called the judge that we were selling cocaine to.

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<v Speaker 2>And I love to ask this question in prison, how

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<v Speaker 2>many of you know that when you're selling cocaine to

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<v Speaker 2>a judge, he doesn't want you in jail. So we

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<v Speaker 2>were out of jail in less than twelve hours on

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<v Speaker 2>a weekend. I walked out of that jail at one

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<v Speaker 2>thirty Monday morning. And when I walked out of that jail,

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<v Speaker 2>I said, Bill Korm, you finally arrived. You got money,

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<v Speaker 2>you got power, and you got influence. But there was

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<v Speaker 2>something missing in my life. I had this money and

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<v Speaker 2>this power and this influence. The Bible says, what's it

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<v Speaker 2>gained him? What is the profit a man to gain

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<v Speaker 2>the whole world and lose his own soul? And that's

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<v Speaker 2>where I was. I had all this money and power

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<v Speaker 2>and influence, but I had no peace. I was looking

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<v Speaker 2>for peace all the time. I'd been looking for years.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean there was a time in my life I

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<v Speaker 2>looked like a white mister t I wore my shirts

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<v Speaker 2>on button down to my belly button, with gold chains

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<v Speaker 2>around my neck and carrying guns anything to you know,

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<v Speaker 2>look important. But I was really looking for peace. And

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<v Speaker 2>I had no peace. If I was in a restaurant

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<v Speaker 2>eating and a cop came in, I'd go pay my

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<v Speaker 2>bill and get out the door. Or I might go

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<v Speaker 2>in the bathroom, go out the window to pay on

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<v Speaker 2>what stage of my life I was in and guess what.

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<v Speaker 2>The cop wasn't even after me. He didn't even know

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<v Speaker 2>Bill korm was in the restaurant. The cop came in

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<v Speaker 2>there because he was hungry. He just came in there

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<v Speaker 2>to get something to eat. And after I became a Christian,

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<v Speaker 2>I was reading in the Bible and it says a

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<v Speaker 2>wicked man runs when no one's chasing him, and I

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<v Speaker 2>went wow, I left a lot of steak dinners sitting

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<v Speaker 2>at the table because the waitress said, just set my

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<v Speaker 2>meal down, and a cop walked in, and I got

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<v Speaker 2>up and went and paid my bill and walked out

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<v Speaker 2>the door. And after I read that, I was like,

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<v Speaker 2>I could have eate all them dinners.

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<v Speaker 1>And you're listening to Bill Korham, and what a line

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<v Speaker 1>that is. A wicked man runs when no one's chasing him,

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<v Speaker 1>and he well, he was running, and he was running

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<v Speaker 1>towards peace. He couldn't find it. He tried power, he

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<v Speaker 1>tried money, he tried influence. None of them worked. He

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<v Speaker 1>made one phone call and got himself out of jail.

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<v Speaker 1>Had the power to kill a person, and would routinely

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<v Speaker 1>have large parties, large limos fancy tell rooms something was

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<v Speaker 1>missing in his life. And boy, the young Bill Korum,

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<v Speaker 1>when I can just see the scene of him looking

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<v Speaker 1>at a superior officer in the Marine Corps and just

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<v Speaker 1>laughing in the guy's face, and all he was trying

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<v Speaker 1>to do that officer was warn him that if he

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<v Speaker 1>kept going down the road he was going, he'd end

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<v Speaker 1>up in prison. I love the way this started. I

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<v Speaker 1>was the enemy of God for thirty nine years. When

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<v Speaker 1>we come back, more of Bill Korum's story from Kansas City,

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<v Speaker 1>underworld Enforcer to prison ministry. Here on our American Stories,

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<v Speaker 1>and we returned to our American stories and the redemption

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<v Speaker 1>story of Bill Korum. He's the author of The Ultimate Pardon.

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<v Speaker 1>Pick it up at Amazon or wherever books are sold.

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<v Speaker 1>You won't be able to put it down. When we

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<v Speaker 1>last left off, Bill was telling us about how he

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<v Speaker 1>was a criminal, the enemy of God in his own words.

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<v Speaker 1>Now Bill turns to telling us about his parents and

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<v Speaker 1>reading from his aforementioned book, Take it away, bill Oh.

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<v Speaker 2>My mother was on her knees for her life. Her

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<v Speaker 2>knees were wore out. There is no one I know

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<v Speaker 2>of on my mother's or dad's side of the family

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<v Speaker 2>whoever went to prison or got into trouble like I did.

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<v Speaker 2>I have to take responsibility for my own actions. No

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<v Speaker 2>one held a gun in my head. I made choices.

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<v Speaker 2>If there was ever a black sheep in family, it

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<v Speaker 2>was me, and I was the blackest of them all.

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<v Speaker 2>There's one commandment in the Bible that comes with the

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<v Speaker 2>promise that says, if we honor our father and mother,

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<v Speaker 2>we will have long life. I would not be honoring

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<v Speaker 2>my parents if I didn't tell you this about them.

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<v Speaker 2>I have personally never known anyone whose parents loved them

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<v Speaker 2>like mine. I'm not saying there is no one. I

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<v Speaker 2>have just not personally met them. Most inmates I have

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<v Speaker 2>talked to over the years have come from broken homes.

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<v Speaker 2>My parents were married sixty three years. Drugs and alcohol

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<v Speaker 2>have plagued most inmates homes since their birth. My folks

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<v Speaker 2>never touched the drop of alcohol in their lives. My

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<v Speaker 2>mother and father didn't smoke or use any kind of drugs.

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<v Speaker 2>I never heard a curse word come out of either

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<v Speaker 2>one of their mouths. The only time in my life

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<v Speaker 2>I remember my dad saying anything that could be considered

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<v Speaker 2>cussing was when I was with that fifteen year old

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<v Speaker 2>girl in the hotel and he asked me what I'd

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<v Speaker 2>done to her. I worked by my dad's side building

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<v Speaker 2>houses and never heard him swear or tell a dirty joke.

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<v Speaker 2>I did see him walk away when other people told him.

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<v Speaker 2>My mother died when she was ninety three years old,

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<v Speaker 2>and she had never been in a movie theater or

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<v Speaker 2>to a dance. They were the most loving, unselfish people

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<v Speaker 2>I've ever known in my whole life. I remember Mom

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<v Speaker 2>would put me and my sister to bed at night,

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<v Speaker 2>and if Dad asked for a bowl of ice cream,

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<v Speaker 2>she would not get him one unless she got Sharon

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<v Speaker 2>an eye up and gave us one. They visited me

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<v Speaker 2>everywhere I got locked up. When I got locked up

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<v Speaker 2>in Clarksdale, Mississippi, they drove five hundred and fifty miles

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<v Speaker 2>to see me. When I was waiting to go to

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<v Speaker 2>try And, Oxford, they drove six hundred miles to see me.

0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.240
<v Speaker 2>Dad told me years later that sometimes they drove down

0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:43.920
<v Speaker 2>visited me then drove home bathe changed clothes and drove

0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:46.480
<v Speaker 2>right back. It was a twelve hundred mile round trip,

0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:49.200
<v Speaker 2>and they made him many times. I remember one time

0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:50.959
<v Speaker 2>they came to see me and ask if I wanted

0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:53.920
<v Speaker 2>a chocolate malt. I wanted one, for sure, but there

0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:56.320
<v Speaker 2>were ten or twelve guys in the big cell I

0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:58.720
<v Speaker 2>was in. Dad asked the jailer if he could bring

0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:03.640
<v Speaker 2>everyone malts. The jailer gave him me okay. In a

0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:06.800
<v Speaker 2>few minutes, he returned with the malts for everyone, including

0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:10.800
<v Speaker 2>the jailer. When my friends and I hopped the freight

0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:13.280
<v Speaker 2>trade and got locked up in took them carey New Mexico,

0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:16.360
<v Speaker 2>my dad made the thirteen hundred mile round trip to

0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:18.600
<v Speaker 2>get us out of jail and take us home. When

0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.439
<v Speaker 2>I was sent to Ashland, Kentucky for sixty day observation,

0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:23.839
<v Speaker 2>they made a fourteen hundred mile round trip to see me.

0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:26.200
<v Speaker 2>I was there with guys who had been locked up

0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:28.160
<v Speaker 2>for years and their families only lived an hour or

0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.920
<v Speaker 2>two away, and they never got a visit. They visited

0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:32.920
<v Speaker 2>me in San Diego when I was in boot camp,

0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:36.320
<v Speaker 2>which was sixteen hundred miles one way. When I was

0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:38.920
<v Speaker 2>in the brig in Millington, Tennessee. They drove over five

0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:42.320
<v Speaker 2>hundred miles to see me. Inglewood, Colorado, was another place

0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:45.200
<v Speaker 2>they drove six hundred miles to see me. I figured

0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:47.560
<v Speaker 2>it up once. My dad drove over twenty five thousand

0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:50.760
<v Speaker 2>miles in one year visiting me. The average Miley on

0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.040
<v Speaker 2>a car back then was ten thousand miles a year.

0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:55.400
<v Speaker 2>If I came in at eleven o'clock at night with

0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:57.200
<v Speaker 2>a couple of buddies, my mom would get out of

0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:00.240
<v Speaker 2>bed ask if we were hungry. All one one of

0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:02.000
<v Speaker 2>them had to do was nod his head, and she

0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:05.040
<v Speaker 2>whipped up a five course meal. She loved to cook

0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:07.880
<v Speaker 2>for me and to watch me eat. I think she

0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:10.199
<v Speaker 2>tried to kill every friend I brought around with food.

0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:12.400
<v Speaker 2>There was no one who could cook like my mother.

0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:15.800
<v Speaker 2>She didn't use recipes, and everyone in our family has

0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:18.080
<v Speaker 2>tried to copy her cooking since she's been gone, but

0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:20.960
<v Speaker 2>no one's mastered it. Are you starting to get the

0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:23.960
<v Speaker 2>picture of how much my parents loved me? No matter

0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:28.000
<v Speaker 2>what I did. They loved me and my sister and

0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:32.440
<v Speaker 2>I came first and they were second. They did everything

0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:34.640
<v Speaker 2>possible to help me, and still I was a rebel.

0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:37.240
<v Speaker 2>If there was ever a human on this earth who

0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:40.280
<v Speaker 2>should have excelled and never been in trouble, it was me.

0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:47.200
<v Speaker 2>I had their blessing from the time I was born

0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:52.360
<v Speaker 2>until they died. And see when I wrote this, I

0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:55.640
<v Speaker 2>didn't know I was supposed to die before I was

0:14:55.680 --> 0:15:02.720
<v Speaker 2>even born. If they did all that for me when

0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:05.000
<v Speaker 2>I was rebellious, how much more would they have done

0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:10.080
<v Speaker 2>for me if I had not been rebellious. I don't

0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:12.760
<v Speaker 2>believe they would have done anymore because their love was

0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:17.000
<v Speaker 2>not conditional. Mom used to have dreams about me. She

0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:19.160
<v Speaker 2>wore her knees out praying for me. She told me

0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:22.240
<v Speaker 2>so many answers to the prayers she prayed for me.

0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:24.800
<v Speaker 2>I could fill another book. When Debbie started praying for me,

0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:28.000
<v Speaker 2>Mom encouraged her and they prayed together. My Saint Me.

0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.200
<v Speaker 2>Mother prayed for almost forty years for me. Just surrender

0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.640
<v Speaker 2>to Jesus. She prayed, many times, not my will, but

0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:42.520
<v Speaker 2>that will be done. My dad gave me godly advice

0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:45.840
<v Speaker 2>all my life. He tried everything he knew of to

0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:49.040
<v Speaker 2>point me in the right direction, although I didn't listen

0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:52.520
<v Speaker 2>to him at the time. Thankfully, he saw me walk

0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:54.400
<v Speaker 2>out of the darkness and into the light before he

0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:56.480
<v Speaker 2>died in nineteen ninety one. We got to spend eight

0:15:56.560 --> 0:15:59.840
<v Speaker 2>years together on the same page. Mom got to enjoy

0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:02.000
<v Speaker 2>seeing me love God and loved my dad those last

0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:05.760
<v Speaker 2>eight years of his life. Mom died in nineteen ninety nine,

0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.080
<v Speaker 2>but she spent the last sixteen years of her life

0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:15.480
<v Speaker 2>praising the Lord for his answer to her prayers for

0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:21.960
<v Speaker 2>my salvation. We had many good times together. Mom and

0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.240
<v Speaker 2>her best friend and life dad are together and get

0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:30.440
<v Speaker 2>in heaven. I look forward to the day I joined them,

0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.440
<v Speaker 2>no wonder. I hated and cussed that psychiatrist at Ashland

0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:35.840
<v Speaker 2>when he told me that it was my mom and

0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:41.920
<v Speaker 2>Dad's fault that I turned into a criminal. So you know,

0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:44.120
<v Speaker 2>I was doing five hundred dollars worth of cocaine to day.

0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:46.360
<v Speaker 2>I was drinking two quarts of whiskey to day. I

0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:48.480
<v Speaker 2>was kissed my wife goodbye and say I see tonight.

0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:50.440
<v Speaker 2>And I'd come home for weeks. My kids had called

0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:53.240
<v Speaker 2>come over and say where's Dad, Debbie sav and senr Dad.

0:16:53.280 --> 0:16:57.440
<v Speaker 2>In weeks, I was doing every kind of legal drug

0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:00.240
<v Speaker 2>there was. I mean, I would have took a earth

0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:02.640
<v Speaker 2>control pill if I thought I could get eige on it.

0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.119
<v Speaker 2>There was nothing I wouldn't do, and I did it

0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.880
<v Speaker 2>in massive amounts. If everybody else was doing three of them,

0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:11.000
<v Speaker 2>I wanted to do six. I wanted to do more

0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.320
<v Speaker 2>than anybody getting implicated. As one of the leading cocaine

0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:16.600
<v Speaker 2>dealers in Kansa, Missouri, I had a lot of money

0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:19.840
<v Speaker 2>being an enforcer for the Kansas City Underworld. I was

0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:23.600
<v Speaker 2>out there doing enforcement, doing contract work, doing some serious,

0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:27.159
<v Speaker 2>serious stuff. I wasn't thinking about my kids. I was

0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:31.920
<v Speaker 2>thinking about what I was doing for the family out there,

0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:34.919
<v Speaker 2>and that's all I cared about was my job I

0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:37.720
<v Speaker 2>was doing, making sure I did it right. Didn't care

0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:41.960
<v Speaker 2>about anybody except me. I carried a flamethrower on my

0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:44.080
<v Speaker 2>back and it was always lit. I'd burn up every

0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:46.919
<v Speaker 2>bridge I went over because I wasn't going back. I

0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:49.160
<v Speaker 2>had no reason to go back. I was only going forward.

0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:51.960
<v Speaker 2>My motto is, if you're not living on the edge,

0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:55.920
<v Speaker 2>you're taking up too much space. And I was out there, going, going, going.

0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:58.040
<v Speaker 2>My wife says, I was going two hundred miles an

0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.800
<v Speaker 2>hour in the world, just doing cocaine and drinking, and

0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:04.560
<v Speaker 2>people go, well, you couldn't drink two quarts of whiskey,

0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:06.720
<v Speaker 2>And I said you never did cocaine, did you, Because

0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:09.240
<v Speaker 2>when you're doing cocaine, you could drink ten quartz of whiskey.

0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:12.520
<v Speaker 2>You can't get drunk when you're doing cocaine. That's why

0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:15.919
<v Speaker 2>people die of speedballs. They do heroin and cocaine together

0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:19.159
<v Speaker 2>because your heart's beating so fast. Like I used to

0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:21.720
<v Speaker 2>go home when i'd been gone for three four weeks

0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:26.720
<v Speaker 2>at a time, there was a seven eleven not far

0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:29.240
<v Speaker 2>from our house. Remember that seven eleven used to be

0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:31.920
<v Speaker 2>up there on the Right Time Road, and we lived

0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:34.879
<v Speaker 2>at sixty two twenty four Willow And I'd be gone

0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:39.520
<v Speaker 2>three weeks and I decided to go home, and I

0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:42.160
<v Speaker 2>didn't have nothing. I didn't have any downers or no pills.

0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:44.639
<v Speaker 2>I'd pull in that seven eleven, I'd buy four or

0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:48.960
<v Speaker 2>five bottles a n iquill and I'd start driving toward

0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:51.800
<v Speaker 2>the house because I was trying to slow my heart

0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.560
<v Speaker 2>down so she wouldn't hear it, because I thought it

0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.000
<v Speaker 2>was going to jump out of my chest. That's why

0:18:57.040 --> 0:18:59.280
<v Speaker 2>I had two heart attacks from doing cocaine, because your

0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:02.720
<v Speaker 2>heart's getting go so fast, And that's why people mix

0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:05.440
<v Speaker 2>it with heroin and they do. That's what John Belushi

0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.960
<v Speaker 2>died of was speedballs, heroin and cocaine mixed.

0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:14.760
<v Speaker 1>And you're listening to Bill Korham talk about his life

0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:17.840
<v Speaker 1>on the edge and that, unlike so many people he

0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:21.240
<v Speaker 1>shared prison space with, he was not the product of

0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:24.280
<v Speaker 1>a broken home. When we come back more of Bill

0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:39.080
<v Speaker 1>Korham's story here on our American stories, and we return

0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:42.000
<v Speaker 1>to our American stories and the final portion of our

0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:46.640
<v Speaker 1>story with Bill korm author of The Ultimate Pardon. When

0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:49.359
<v Speaker 1>we last left off, Bill had become an enforcer for

0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:53.160
<v Speaker 1>the Kansas City Underworld and had gotten arrested for attempted murder.

0:19:53.560 --> 0:20:00.320
<v Speaker 1>Let's return to the story here again is Bill Koram Well.

0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:03.080
<v Speaker 2>I I was still moving a lot of drugs even

0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:05.760
<v Speaker 2>though I'd gotten busted. I was charged with first gear

0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:08.800
<v Speaker 2>assault with intent to kill, which carried fifteen to life

0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:11.840
<v Speaker 2>in Missouri, and we also were charged with first gree burglary,

0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:15.119
<v Speaker 2>which carried like five to twenty or something, so really

0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:17.640
<v Speaker 2>I faced some minimum of twenty years in a maximum

0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:21.040
<v Speaker 2>of life. And then I got implicated as being one

0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:23.840
<v Speaker 2>of the leading cocaine dealers in the city, which just

0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.440
<v Speaker 2>added to the problems. I was staying away from home

0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:31.080
<v Speaker 2>because they were watching us by that time, after a

0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:33.720
<v Speaker 2>guy gave a twenty page statement to the Missouri and

0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:38.760
<v Speaker 2>Narcotics Division, which was like a book, and he named

0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:41.440
<v Speaker 2>everybody in there that we were dealing with, including the

0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:45.080
<v Speaker 2>judge that we got out of jail with. All of

0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:47.880
<v Speaker 2>the people that we knew and were associated with were

0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:50.119
<v Speaker 2>starting to fall like flies. I mean they were starting

0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:52.960
<v Speaker 2>to drop, and they were getting arrested, they were getting killed,

0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:55.199
<v Speaker 2>they were getting you know, And I was watching all

0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:58.360
<v Speaker 2>this stuff, taking it all in. I was still moving drugs,

0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:01.920
<v Speaker 2>but I was staying out of town about seventy five

0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:04.440
<v Speaker 2>miles from here, and I was standing in an old

0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:08.200
<v Speaker 2>farmhouse a friend of mine that I'd been an associate with,

0:21:08.440 --> 0:21:13.119
<v Speaker 2>and he was a real big gangster, I mean, a killer.

0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:19.280
<v Speaker 2>Early and one night I went to bed. And I

0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:21.560
<v Speaker 2>don't know if the story's worth telling or not, but

0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:24.800
<v Speaker 2>every time i'd come to Kansas and go back down there,

0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:27.920
<v Speaker 2>like when I was going across seven Highway, it was

0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:31.320
<v Speaker 2>down toward the lake. And every time i'd go down

0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:33.640
<v Speaker 2>that seven Highway, and back then it was single lane,

0:21:33.640 --> 0:21:36.439
<v Speaker 2>a lot of it, I would drive that car as

0:21:36.520 --> 0:21:37.919
<v Speaker 2>fast as it'd go. If I was in a car

0:21:37.960 --> 0:21:39.600
<v Speaker 2>that'd go one hundred and forty, I'd go on hundred

0:21:39.600 --> 0:21:40.840
<v Speaker 2>and forty. If I was in a car, go one

0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:42.840
<v Speaker 2>hundred and ten, I'd go under ten. And it was

0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:46.280
<v Speaker 2>almost like I wanted to die. There was a real

0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:48.520
<v Speaker 2>war going on. I mean, the more I think about it,

0:21:48.520 --> 0:21:51.400
<v Speaker 2>I should really write it all down someday, hadn't I

0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:55.040
<v Speaker 2>But anyway, this one particular night, I went upstairs to

0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:57.400
<v Speaker 2>go to bed, and I was going upstairs and looking

0:21:57.440 --> 0:21:59.920
<v Speaker 2>at the wall. Paint on the wall was coming off.

0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:04.199
<v Speaker 2>The handrail was all chipped, and I thought, this, this

0:22:04.280 --> 0:22:07.720
<v Speaker 2>whole house looks like I feel because even though I

0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:10.520
<v Speaker 2>was only not quite forty, but I had a lot

0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:13.600
<v Speaker 2>of miles on me. Like I said, I've been locked

0:22:13.640 --> 0:22:16.520
<v Speaker 2>up in ten states. I've ridden twenty five hundred miles

0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:19.480
<v Speaker 2>in handcuffs like underways. I've been in car wrecks and

0:22:19.520 --> 0:22:23.280
<v Speaker 2>motorcycle wrecks and just a lot of stuff that I

0:22:23.280 --> 0:22:27.399
<v Speaker 2>shouldn't have made it through, crazy crazy stuff, And you know,

0:22:27.520 --> 0:22:30.840
<v Speaker 2>I got implicated or not implicated. I got nicknamed crazy

0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:33.720
<v Speaker 2>Bill because of some of the stupid stuff I did.

0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:38.440
<v Speaker 2>Just completely off the chain. And I just was going

0:22:38.520 --> 0:22:41.520
<v Speaker 2>up that stairway and I was tired, I was so tired,

0:22:42.600 --> 0:22:44.720
<v Speaker 2>and I got in bed and I turned on the

0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:47.720
<v Speaker 2>rock and roll and I was laying there and the radio,

0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:51.159
<v Speaker 2>you know how like some radios when they don't have

0:22:51.240 --> 0:22:53.720
<v Speaker 2>good connection and you're trying to tune them in and

0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:59.480
<v Speaker 2>there mean to hear a little music, and I turn

0:22:59.560 --> 0:23:00.960
<v Speaker 2>it and I only got it on a rock and

0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:04.400
<v Speaker 2>roll station. I was laying there and then it went

0:23:05.840 --> 0:23:08.280
<v Speaker 2>and I heard a preacher going, no matter what you've done,

0:23:08.359 --> 0:23:10.240
<v Speaker 2>God loves you. He's got a plan for your life.

0:23:10.280 --> 0:23:14.080
<v Speaker 2>And I went, I don't want to hear that. Back

0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:17.440
<v Speaker 2>to the rock and roll, and I laid back down.

0:23:18.480 --> 0:23:20.720
<v Speaker 2>Jesus will forgive you no matter what you've done. He

0:23:20.800 --> 0:23:25.520
<v Speaker 2>loves you. And I went and it just kept happening.

0:23:26.160 --> 0:23:29.400
<v Speaker 2>It kept going back to this guy preaching, and then

0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:32.080
<v Speaker 2>God gave me like a vision, I mean almost a vision.

0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:34.320
<v Speaker 2>I guess I never had a vision, I don't think,

0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:37.960
<v Speaker 2>but maybe that time, but I remember seeing I don't

0:23:38.000 --> 0:23:39.920
<v Speaker 2>think it was a dream. I think I was right away,

0:23:40.880 --> 0:23:43.879
<v Speaker 2>but I saw rex I'd had like I flipped a

0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:47.280
<v Speaker 2>van one time, six times, end over end, after went

0:23:47.400 --> 0:23:50.440
<v Speaker 2>end over end six times. Then I rolled it down

0:23:50.440 --> 0:23:53.280
<v Speaker 2>a hill. It ended up in a like a creek.

0:23:53.560 --> 0:23:56.399
<v Speaker 2>Every piece of metal was twisted and mangled. Three of

0:23:56.400 --> 0:23:59.240
<v Speaker 2>the wheels and tires got ripped off. Looked like a

0:23:59.280 --> 0:24:02.160
<v Speaker 2>train hited. I took my mother to see that. Man.

0:24:02.920 --> 0:24:06.040
<v Speaker 2>She started crying and she said, son, don't you see

0:24:06.080 --> 0:24:08.879
<v Speaker 2>God hiss his hand on you? And I looked there

0:24:08.920 --> 0:24:11.439
<v Speaker 2>and I said, Mom, God had nothing to do with that.

0:24:12.000 --> 0:24:16.679
<v Speaker 2>I'm a good driver. And that's how warped my mind was.

0:24:17.040 --> 0:24:19.879
<v Speaker 2>I didn't have a seatbelt on. I broke the steering

0:24:19.880 --> 0:24:22.920
<v Speaker 2>wheel in half, and I bent the brake pedal on

0:24:23.000 --> 0:24:26.920
<v Speaker 2>a forty five degree angle pushing. I pulled my hamstring

0:24:26.960 --> 0:24:29.639
<v Speaker 2>real bad because I knew if I let go, I

0:24:29.720 --> 0:24:32.359
<v Speaker 2>was going out. So I stayed in there. I held

0:24:32.400 --> 0:24:35.439
<v Speaker 2>on and so I'm like, God didn't do that. I

0:24:35.480 --> 0:24:37.680
<v Speaker 2>did that. I mean, look, I'm big and strong because

0:24:37.720 --> 0:24:40.280
<v Speaker 2>I used to be real big and strong. I'm a

0:24:40.280 --> 0:24:46.000
<v Speaker 2>good driver. I didn't let go. My nickname was Superman.

0:24:46.080 --> 0:24:49.320
<v Speaker 2>I thought I was Superman. So that night the Lord

0:24:49.359 --> 0:24:51.040
<v Speaker 2>showed me and some of those wrecks and some of

0:24:51.040 --> 0:24:54.040
<v Speaker 2>those crisis and some of the things that I'd done,

0:24:54.040 --> 0:24:58.439
<v Speaker 2>and that it wasn't me, it was his love. And

0:24:58.480 --> 0:25:00.720
<v Speaker 2>that's the night that's the night. And I said, God,

0:25:00.760 --> 0:25:03.000
<v Speaker 2>if you're real and you can change, Bill Cornwall lived

0:25:03.040 --> 0:25:08.679
<v Speaker 2>my life for you. And I went to sleep and

0:25:08.760 --> 0:25:12.320
<v Speaker 2>slept peacefully, which I never did usually. Woke up the

0:25:12.359 --> 0:25:14.639
<v Speaker 2>next morning, called her and said, you want to come

0:25:14.760 --> 0:25:17.240
<v Speaker 2>get me? And I left my guns down there and

0:25:17.320 --> 0:25:20.040
<v Speaker 2>didn't think about that, went home, slept for a week.

0:25:20.400 --> 0:25:22.600
<v Speaker 2>I get a phone call one day she's at work.

0:25:23.480 --> 0:25:25.720
<v Speaker 2>I answered the phone and all I heard was you

0:25:25.800 --> 0:25:29.359
<v Speaker 2>can't walk out on us. Click, and I knew what

0:25:29.400 --> 0:25:32.960
<v Speaker 2>it meant, and I had this terrible fear. I didn't

0:25:32.960 --> 0:25:35.440
<v Speaker 2>have a Bible yet, but her Bible was laying there,

0:25:35.440 --> 0:25:38.600
<v Speaker 2>and I picked it up, then opened it up, and

0:25:38.640 --> 0:25:41.320
<v Speaker 2>it said, if a man's ways please God, he makes

0:25:41.359 --> 0:25:43.320
<v Speaker 2>even his enemies to be at peace with him. That's

0:25:43.320 --> 0:25:45.399
<v Speaker 2>the only thing I could see. If a man's ways

0:25:45.400 --> 0:25:47.439
<v Speaker 2>please God, he makes even his enemies to be at

0:25:47.480 --> 0:25:51.040
<v Speaker 2>peace with him. And I said, God, I want my

0:25:51.080 --> 0:25:53.920
<v Speaker 2>ways to please you, because I knew I had some enemies.

0:25:53.960 --> 0:25:57.960
<v Speaker 2>After I got that phone call, I knew that. I

0:25:58.040 --> 0:26:00.560
<v Speaker 2>knew that, so then I fell asleep. I had her

0:26:00.600 --> 0:26:02.800
<v Speaker 2>Bible and I sit down a recliner and I laid

0:26:02.800 --> 0:26:05.879
<v Speaker 2>back and I had her Bible right here on my chest,

0:26:06.320 --> 0:26:09.840
<v Speaker 2>and I had a dream of her. I heard the doorbell,

0:26:10.119 --> 0:26:13.040
<v Speaker 2>I saw her walk across the floor, opened the door,

0:26:13.880 --> 0:26:15.520
<v Speaker 2>and I saw the barrel of the gun and the

0:26:15.560 --> 0:26:18.600
<v Speaker 2>fire and saw her fall to the floor dead. And

0:26:18.640 --> 0:26:20.439
<v Speaker 2>I just woke up in total fear. And I'm like,

0:26:20.480 --> 0:26:22.880
<v Speaker 2>oh my god, they're gonna kill Debbie. They're not gonna

0:26:22.960 --> 0:26:25.640
<v Speaker 2>kill me, They're gonna kill her. They're gonna kill my family.

0:26:26.760 --> 0:26:31.239
<v Speaker 2>And again her Bible was right here, so I just

0:26:31.280 --> 0:26:35.560
<v Speaker 2>opened it up and the only words I could see said,

0:26:35.600 --> 0:26:39.280
<v Speaker 2>no weapon formed against you. She'll prosper. And then I

0:26:39.359 --> 0:26:43.480
<v Speaker 2>flipped it just went like this, and the only words

0:26:43.480 --> 0:26:45.200
<v Speaker 2>I could see said the Lord is my Light and

0:26:45.280 --> 0:26:48.119
<v Speaker 2>my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Of Whom shall I

0:26:48.160 --> 0:26:53.040
<v Speaker 2>be afraid? And I was like, Wow, this book is true.

0:26:53.800 --> 0:26:55.600
<v Speaker 2>And then I began to read and then said, if

0:26:55.640 --> 0:26:57.720
<v Speaker 2>you don't do what it says, you deceive your own self.

0:26:58.000 --> 0:27:00.880
<v Speaker 2>And see I was the poorst to see in the planet.

0:27:01.520 --> 0:27:05.120
<v Speaker 2>I wanted to deceive everybody. I lied to everybody. When

0:27:05.119 --> 0:27:06.920
<v Speaker 2>I was married to my first wife, I had three

0:27:06.960 --> 0:27:09.879
<v Speaker 2>girlfriends at the same time. None of them knew I

0:27:09.880 --> 0:27:13.040
<v Speaker 2>had other girlfriends. She didn't know I had any girlfriends.

0:27:13.480 --> 0:27:16.239
<v Speaker 2>I was cheating on all four of them, and I

0:27:16.280 --> 0:27:19.000
<v Speaker 2>loved it. I had an old lady tell me one

0:27:19.080 --> 0:27:20.760
<v Speaker 2>time when I had my office up there at that

0:27:20.800 --> 0:27:23.399
<v Speaker 2>Baptist church. That old woman said, you know, she was

0:27:23.440 --> 0:27:26.880
<v Speaker 2>about ninety five. I was probably fifty five. She goes,

0:27:26.960 --> 0:27:28.840
<v Speaker 2>you know, son, if you never tell a lie, you

0:27:28.880 --> 0:27:32.240
<v Speaker 2>don't have to remember what you said. And I thought, Wow,

0:27:32.280 --> 0:27:38.879
<v Speaker 2>that's the whist over there. In nineteen eighty seven, I

0:27:38.920 --> 0:27:42.320
<v Speaker 2>went to Africa with some men from our church, and

0:27:42.359 --> 0:27:44.479
<v Speaker 2>that was a miracle too, because I was on paper.

0:27:44.520 --> 0:27:46.640
<v Speaker 2>I was on parole. And when I went and asked

0:27:46.680 --> 0:27:48.840
<v Speaker 2>my pro officer could I go to Africa, he laughed

0:27:48.840 --> 0:27:51.240
<v Speaker 2>at me. He said, Bill, you can't even go across

0:27:51.280 --> 0:27:53.720
<v Speaker 2>the state line. I'm not going to let you leave

0:27:53.760 --> 0:27:56.720
<v Speaker 2>the country. And I said, well, I didn't figure you would,

0:27:56.720 --> 0:27:58.920
<v Speaker 2>but I just wanted to ask. And I was getting

0:27:58.960 --> 0:28:03.399
<v Speaker 2>ready to walk out of his office, and he said, hey, Bill,

0:28:03.400 --> 0:28:05.520
<v Speaker 2>tell you what I'll do. If you'll write a letter

0:28:05.560 --> 0:28:08.400
<v Speaker 2>to the judge who sentenced you, and that judge will

0:28:08.440 --> 0:28:12.040
<v Speaker 2>give you permission to even apply for a passport, I'll

0:28:12.119 --> 0:28:15.159
<v Speaker 2>let you go to Africa. I did I sent the

0:28:15.240 --> 0:28:18.119
<v Speaker 2>letter to the passport application and the money and I

0:28:18.160 --> 0:28:21.520
<v Speaker 2>went to Africa. So I'm in Africa. I'm walking along

0:28:21.560 --> 0:28:24.719
<v Speaker 2>a trail with ten men from the church and I

0:28:24.720 --> 0:28:27.320
<v Speaker 2>almost stepped on a grasshopper and I picked it up

0:28:27.359 --> 0:28:29.479
<v Speaker 2>and just kind of threw it to the side, and

0:28:29.520 --> 0:28:31.159
<v Speaker 2>out of the side of my eye, I saw it

0:28:31.280 --> 0:28:34.160
<v Speaker 2>landing a little puddle of water, and I said, hey, guys,

0:28:34.200 --> 0:28:36.399
<v Speaker 2>hold up, wait up. So they all stopped and I

0:28:36.480 --> 0:28:38.479
<v Speaker 2>ran over in the grass. I got the grasshopper out

0:28:38.520 --> 0:28:40.520
<v Speaker 2>of the water to put him in the grass, and

0:28:40.560 --> 0:28:42.680
<v Speaker 2>I ran and caught up with him. And they said, Bill,

0:28:42.880 --> 0:28:45.440
<v Speaker 2>what were you doing back there? And I said, I

0:28:45.480 --> 0:28:48.920
<v Speaker 2>didn't want that grasshopper to drown. And then I started crying,

0:28:49.720 --> 0:28:52.480
<v Speaker 2>and they said why are you crying? And I said,

0:28:52.520 --> 0:28:55.479
<v Speaker 2>because four years ago I would kill a man for money,

0:28:55.680 --> 0:29:00.120
<v Speaker 2>and today I don't want a bug to die. And

0:29:00.160 --> 0:29:02.880
<v Speaker 2>I knew right then that God had taken my heart

0:29:02.880 --> 0:29:05.000
<v Speaker 2>of stone and given me a heart of fleation. I

0:29:05.000 --> 0:29:08.719
<v Speaker 2>wrote a little track called Heart of Stone, and I

0:29:08.760 --> 0:29:12.000
<v Speaker 2>would sing this over and over and over if I

0:29:12.040 --> 0:29:15.040
<v Speaker 2>had the opportunity. I'll just tell you what it says.

0:29:15.160 --> 0:29:17.479
<v Speaker 2>I can't sing it because I tell guys in prison,

0:29:17.840 --> 0:29:20.760
<v Speaker 2>if I sing, you'll sign up for death row because

0:29:20.960 --> 0:29:23.280
<v Speaker 2>my voice is terrible. I've got a face for radio

0:29:23.840 --> 0:29:26.320
<v Speaker 2>and a voice for the dog pound. I can't sing.

0:29:27.000 --> 0:29:29.120
<v Speaker 2>I wish I could sing, because I'd love to sing

0:29:29.160 --> 0:29:32.880
<v Speaker 2>the song. The song says this, it's my desire to

0:29:32.960 --> 0:29:36.240
<v Speaker 2>live for Jesus. It's my desire to live for him.

0:29:37.480 --> 0:29:40.520
<v Speaker 2>If you could see where Jesus brought me from to

0:29:40.640 --> 0:29:43.680
<v Speaker 2>where I am today, you would know the reason why

0:29:43.720 --> 0:29:47.240
<v Speaker 2>I love him. So if you could see where Jesus

0:29:47.280 --> 0:29:50.120
<v Speaker 2>brought me from to where I am today, then you

0:29:50.160 --> 0:29:55.440
<v Speaker 2>would know the reason why I love him. So that's

0:29:55.520 --> 0:29:56.160
<v Speaker 2>my story.

0:29:57.400 --> 0:29:59.880
<v Speaker 1>And a special thanks to Bill Korum for sharing his

0:30:00.160 --> 0:30:03.320
<v Speaker 1>raw story and man it's rough, and that story about

0:30:03.320 --> 0:30:06.880
<v Speaker 1>the grasshopper. We're just crying in our studio. The story

0:30:06.960 --> 0:30:10.400
<v Speaker 1>of Bill Krhum a beautiful faith story and the end

0:30:10.440 --> 0:30:13.800
<v Speaker 1>is story about God, his story about Jesus Christ. Here

0:30:14.240 --> 0:30:15.600
<v Speaker 1>on our American Stories