1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. Hollywood Land 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:12,640 Speaker 1: is a production of Double Elvis. 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 2: What Whilight is a falling A meaning birder calling, Oh 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:23,639 Speaker 2: you'll know it will be nine time, Frien. There's a 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 2: friend who is awaiting with a smile to aggravating. He's 7 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 2: a laughing, cuffing man up in the mood night. 8 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: The stories about Woody Harrelson are insane. He was expelled 9 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: from preschool and the first grade for anger issues. At 10 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: the age of twenty, he made a daring escape from 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: a paddy wagon while still in handcuffs. Twenty years later, 12 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: he busted up a taxi cab and was then pursued 13 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: by that taxi and six police throughout the busy streets 14 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: of London. Decades later, police also pursued his father, Charles Harrelson, 15 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: a contract killer who went to prison for the assassination 16 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: of a federal judge. Charles Harrelson was also the subject 17 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: of one of the largest federal manhunts in US history, 18 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: a manhunt that ended with a six hour standoff with authorities, 19 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: during which he confessed to the assassination of JFK. But 20 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: back to his son, Woody Harrelson. Woody made great films, 21 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: unlike that clip. I played a few at the top 22 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: of the show. That wasn't a clip from a great film. 23 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: That was a fair youth sample from the Library of 24 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: Congress of Frank Stanley performing Moon Deer in nineteen oh six. 25 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: I played you that clip because I can't afford the 26 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: rights to a clip from Ridley Scott's Alien. And why 27 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: would I play you that specific slice of chest busting cheese? 28 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 29 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: movie in America on May twenty ninth, nineteen seventy nine, 30 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: And that was the day that Judge John H. Wood 31 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: was gunned down in his driveway, an event that led 32 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: to a twelve million dollar man hunt, a questionable conviction, 33 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: in a major shift in the way that Woody Harrelson 34 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:23,399 Speaker 1: would look at his father forever. On this episode Patty Wagons, 35 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: contract Killers, Fathers and Sons in Woody Harrelson, I'm Jake Brennan. 36 00:02:29,400 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: In This Is Hollywood Land April nineteen sixty eight, Houston, Texas, 37 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: a red Cadillac convertible idled on the side of a 38 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:14,920 Speaker 1: desolate road blanketed in darkness, Sandra Sue sat in the 39 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:17,959 Speaker 1: driver's seat. She was afraid of what Chuck was going 40 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: to do to her when he got back. Chuck was 41 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: outside behind the Cadillac with the man they'd picked up 42 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: near the brass bar. She heard muffled voices over the 43 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: purr of the engine. Chuck was probably beating the piss 44 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: out of the poor guy. Sandra Sue put a hand 45 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: to the spot where Chuck hit her just minutes earlier, 46 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: when she got the car stuck in the mud. Chuck 47 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: called her a stupid bitch and slapped her across the face, 48 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: and it stung like hell. It wasn't the first time 49 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: he hit her, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. 50 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: Sandra Sue and Chuck hadn't been together that long, a 51 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: few months, half a year maybe. She met him at 52 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: a party. Six foot three, handsome, his eyes were a 53 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: cavernous blue, impossibly big. They moved in together two days 54 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: after their first date. At first, he was sweet, but 55 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: his mood swung hard. He was violent. Only a few 56 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: months into the relationship. She contemplated leaving him, but she 57 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: was worried how he'd react. She didn't want to take 58 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: any chances. Chuck, on the other hand, took chances all 59 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: the time. He liked to gamble, and though he wasn't 60 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: very good at it, on a recent trip to Vegas, 61 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: Chuck won and lost five grand in quick succession, which 62 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: was not good because Chuck needed money bad life or 63 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: death bad. He didn't tell Santra Sue that he had debts, 64 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: debts to people that you didn't want to be in 65 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: debt to. He also didn't tell Sandra Sue that he 66 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: was married, or that he had three sons from an 67 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: earlier marriage, or that he had been arrested for everything 68 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:54,159 Speaker 1: from drunk driving to armed robbery, or that he carried 69 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: around business cards that advertised his under the table services, 70 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: cards that read wore fought, revolutions, started, assassinations, plotted governments, 71 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: run uprisings, quelled women, seduced tiger's, tamed bars, emptied orgies organized. 72 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: Sandra Sue did have her suspicions. One night, after Chuck 73 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 1: had taken out his anger on her yet again, she 74 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: asked him, do you hurt people for a living? Chuck's response, 75 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: of course, On this night, Chuck pulled Sandra Sue into 76 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,239 Speaker 1: his world for the first time he needed her help. 77 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: He said that a carpet salesman named Alan Berg had 78 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: cheated a man out of some money, and that Chuck 79 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,040 Speaker 1: had been hired to convince alan Berg to pay it back. 80 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 1: Chuck would get fifteen hundred dollars for his assistance. So 81 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: Chuck and Sandra Sue call Allan tell him that she 82 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 1: had seen him around town, thought he was cute, and 83 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: asked if he wanted to meet her down at the 84 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: Brass Juck. She seductively told him what she'd do to 85 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,040 Speaker 1: him with her mouth. When they met up, alan Berg 86 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: couldn't say no. Alan Berg also couldn't say no to 87 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: getting inside the Cadillac when it pulled up hastily outside 88 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: the Brass jug where he was waiting like a rue. 89 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: He couldn't say no because Chuck jumped from the vehicle 90 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: before it even came to a screeching halt and shoved 91 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: a twenty five caliber pistol in Alan's face. Get in 92 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,280 Speaker 1: the back, Chuck told him. Chuck got in next to 93 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: him and then told Sandra Sue to drive. She floored it. 94 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: Chuck tied Alan's hands in front of his body, and 95 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: then he had Sandra Sue pulled the car over on 96 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 1: the outskirts of Houston. When he took Alan out of 97 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: the car and around the back by the trunk. And 98 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: now Sandra Sue waited. She was nervous, she was shaking. 99 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 1: She figured that Chuck's pistol was just for show, a 100 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: tactic he used to convince these deadbeats to pay what 101 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,359 Speaker 1: was owed to the people who hired Chuck. Chuck was 102 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: a scary motherfucker when he wanted to be, so it 103 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 1: probably wouldn't take much time to convince Alan. Sandra Sue's 104 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: heart leaped to her throat. She could hardly breathe. She 105 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: stepped out of the Cadillac and ran back to the trunk. 106 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: Chuck's pistol was smoking. Alan was faced down on the ground, 107 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: and there was blood all of her. Chuck's shirt, Sandra 108 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: Sue's entire body shook. Chuck lifted the pistol and aimed 109 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: it at her. Get back in the car. I swear 110 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: to christ 'll do the scene to you. Sandra Sue 111 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: hadn't signed up for kidnapping her murder, but she knew 112 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: exactly what would happen, or she didn't follow Chuck's instructions 113 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 1: as she got back in the caddy. She watched as 114 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: Chuck dragged Alan's lifeless body off the road and into 115 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: the brush. He walked back to the caddy again and 116 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: pulled a shovel from the trunk, and then he walked 117 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 1: back to Alan's body and after a few minutes, he 118 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: hollered to Sandra Sue he needed her again. Sandra Sue 119 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: got out of the car and walked over to where 120 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: a Chuck was trying to dig into the ground. He 121 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: had taken off his coat and tied. He brought the 122 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: shovel down on the ground, but the dirt was like concrete. 123 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: God damn it, this wasn't going to work, and Sandra 124 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: Su heard a wet, eerie sound coming from the ground. 125 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 1: She looked down and something low, muffled, pitiful. It was 126 00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: Alan Berg. Gurgling noises were coming from his mouth. She 127 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: asked Chuck what was happening. Chuck looked down at the man. 128 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: He thought he'd just killed. God damn it, he said, 129 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: now I'm gonna have to choke him. Sandra Sue felt 130 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: like she was gonna be sick. Chuck handed to the 131 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: shovel and told her to take it back to the car. 132 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: He took the rope he had tied around Alan's hands 133 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: and wound it around Alan's neck, sinched it up deathly tight, 134 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: and then used it to drag Alan back to the car, 135 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:27,679 Speaker 1: where he tossed the twice killed body in the truck. 136 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: Chuck looked at Santra Sue, I'm driving, he said. The 137 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 1: two sat in silence as Chuck drove the Cadillac south 138 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 1: for miles to where there was water. And that would 139 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,199 Speaker 1: be the easiest way to dump the body. Fuck that 140 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: shoveling shit. And they were far from Houston, probably Galveston 141 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: city lights re seated in the distance, Chuck spotted a 142 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: watery ditch. He pulled the car over, got out, dumped 143 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: Allan's body in the water. Before he did, however, he 144 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: pulled a watch off the body's wrist, not because it 145 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,679 Speaker 1: was expensive, which it was, but because he needed it 146 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: as proof that he had fulfilled the contract. In that 147 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: contract was not to scare alan Berg into paying his debt, 148 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: like he had told Santrasus, that contract was to kill 149 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 1: alan Berg. Chuck didn't give a fuck about another man's debts. 150 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: He had his own debts to pay. Way Harrelson was angry. 151 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,680 Speaker 1: They said he had stolen a purse. Bullshit, He'd done 152 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: nothing of the sort. They had no proof, and they 153 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: were basing their accusations solely on his reputation. Sure had 154 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,439 Speaker 1: gotten into trouble before. It was part of his charm 155 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: what he was lovable. But he was also a bit 156 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 1: of a scamp. But this is going too far. Not 157 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: only was he accused of a crime he didn't commit, 158 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: now they were attacking him too, berating him, hitting him. 159 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: When he clenched his fists, he grit his teeth. He 160 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: ran from the room where he was being pummeled and 161 00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: persecuted and into another room in the building, and the 162 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: ancher just continued to build inside him. He felt like 163 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:04,960 Speaker 1: he was going to explode. His fists were white knuckled 164 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: instruments of vengeance. He just wanted to fucking hit something. 165 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: So the first window he came to, he shattered. His 166 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: bald up fist went right through it, and he found 167 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:16,960 Speaker 1: another window and broke that one too. But the building 168 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: he was single handedly destroying wasn't just any building. He 169 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:24,440 Speaker 1: was an elementary school. The person accusing him of theft 170 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 1: and then beating on him was a teacher. Woody Harrelson, 171 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: was just a first grader. It wasn't the first time 172 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:37,079 Speaker 1: Woody's tantrum's gonna expelled from school. The first time was 173 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: a few years earlier in nursery school. As a kid, 174 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:43,680 Speaker 1: wood he was quick to anger. His temper was just 175 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: about the size of his home state and just about 176 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,839 Speaker 1: his hot too. He was born in Midland, Texas in 177 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty one to parents who were polar opposites. His mother, Diane, 178 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: was a strict Presbyterian and a positive role model who 179 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: instilled the old fashioned values of treating others the way 180 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: you'd like to be treated what His father, Charles, on 181 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:05,959 Speaker 1: the other hand, was a troublemaker. He always seemed to 182 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:07,559 Speaker 1: be in and out of a jam, in and out 183 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 1: of trouble with the law. As far as what he 184 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: could remember, his parents split up when he was only five. 185 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,319 Speaker 1: His father was rarely around. As the years went on, 186 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:20,280 Speaker 1: the memories of Texas faded along with those of his 187 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 1: absent dad. In nineteen sixty eight, what he moved with 188 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: his mother and two brothers to his mother's hometown of Lebanon, Ohio. 189 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 1: He tried to be good, try to keep his juvenile 190 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: record from getting any more checkered than it already was. 191 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: But he was his father's son after all, which meant 192 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: there was an element of trouble that was simply coded 193 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,320 Speaker 1: into his DNA. He often wondered if he would ever 194 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: see his father again. His mother was amazing, no doubt, 195 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:48,559 Speaker 1: doing the single parenting thing and all, but what he 196 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: couldn't help but think that maybe his attitude would be 197 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:53,600 Speaker 1: better if his dad were here. He also wondered what 198 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: his dad was doing at this very moment, why he 199 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 1: was doing whatever he was doing, far removed from his 200 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: own flesh and blood, as if Woody and his brothers 201 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: didn't even exist, And thoughts like those made him really angry. 202 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: Chuck sat on the bed of a motel room with 203 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:33,439 Speaker 1: Sandra Sue by his side, the lights from the Houston 204 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: Astrodome shown through the dirty window. It had been two 205 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: days since Chuck murdered Alan Berg and dumped the body 206 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: in a watery ditch out near Galveston. Two days. That's 207 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:45,680 Speaker 1: all it took for Chuck to blow through. The money 208 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 1: had been paid, all fifteen hundred dollars, and he didn't 209 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 1: use a cent to pay off any of the debts 210 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: that he owed, which meant he had yet to unfuck 211 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:58,320 Speaker 1: himself in the bad debts department. Once again. He needed 212 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: cash fast, which meant he needed another job. So he 213 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: found one, one that didn't require any killing, not that 214 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: Chuck minded killing, but this one would be easy, or 215 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,200 Speaker 1: so he thought. There was a knock at the motel 216 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: room door. In walked Pete Scamardo, a Texas grain broker. 217 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 1: Chuck didn't know what the fuck a grain broker was, 218 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: but he did know that it was essentially a front 219 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 1: for Scarmato's other business. Heroin, Scamaro a handed Chuck of 220 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 1: condom filled with Mexican smack. If Chuck could sell it, 221 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,200 Speaker 1: they'd split the profits, and there was plenty more where 222 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:36,360 Speaker 1: that came from. Chuck agreed could be a nice little 223 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:40,160 Speaker 1: cash cow. Weeks later, Chuck still had the same rubber 224 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: filled with the same heroin. No one wanted it. Desperate, 225 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,320 Speaker 1: he called the contact in Kansas City, who convinced Chuck 226 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: to bring the dough to the heart of America, where 227 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: he could easily find a buyer. But Chuck found no 228 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: buyers in Kansas City. In fact, the first person he 229 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,559 Speaker 1: talked to when he rolled into town was a cop. 230 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: He was pulled over minute he had city limits. Someone 231 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: sold him out. Cops even had a search warrant for 232 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 1: his car twelve fucking hours from Houston to KC, and 233 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,520 Speaker 1: this is what he got for it. Chuck stepped out 234 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 1: of the car with the condom stuffed deep in his 235 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 1: jean's pocket. But while the cops poked around the car, 236 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:17,640 Speaker 1: he waited for the right moment and pulled the condom 237 00:14:17,679 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: out of his pocket and drop it unnoticed down a sewer, 238 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 1: trade or on the curve, or it didn't matter. The 239 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 1: police found a sawd off shotgun in the glove box 240 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: and charged Chuck with a federal firearms violation. He did 241 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: not Pasco, did not collect money for selling junk. He 242 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: went straight to jail. He posted bail that night, thanks 243 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: to the same friend who summoned him to Kansas City 244 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: in the first place. But he wasn't in the clear yet. 245 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: Now he had to go back to Houston and tell 246 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: Pete Scarmardo that he'd dropped the heroin in the sewer 247 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 1: while the cops searched his car. Scarmardo was beyond pissed. 248 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 1: Thousands of dollars of Mexican heroine down the fucking drain. Literally, 249 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: Chuck owed him big time. But Chuck didn't have any 250 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: money no matter. He had the ability to do the 251 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: dirty work that others didn't have the stomach for. And 252 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: Scarmardo had something that would get Chuck's hands, real fucking dirty. 253 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: Pete Scarmardo had a partner in the green business, Samdgillia Junior. 254 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: Scarmardo wanted him gone. If Dagilia was out of the picture, 255 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: then the company would collect one hundred thousand dollars in 256 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: life insurance. Scamardo could use half of it to pay 257 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 1: off the business loans, and the other half, well, don't 258 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 1: worry about what he did with the other half. Scaramardo 259 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: offered Chuck two grand to put a bullet into Ghilia's head. 260 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: Chuck left Sandra su back home this time, and Jerry 261 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: Watkins and Next Kahn, just out of prison, who Chuck 262 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: had recently met, went along for the ride, and they 263 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 1: drove way the fuck out to McCowan, Texas, so far 264 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: south that there were practically in another country. Chuck told 265 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: Jerry to wait in the car. He took his twenty 266 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: five caliber pistol from the glovebox. He thought about the 267 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: two grand. It was never enough. He could start to 268 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: make a dent on some of the debtsiode. He just 269 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: had to resist the urge this time, don't piss it 270 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: all away on poker and booze. Easier said than done. 271 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 1: Suddenly the Gilia appeared. It was dark, but Chuck could 272 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: see him walking near a small shack alone. Daghilia could 273 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,160 Speaker 1: hardly make out Chuck as he made his quick approach, 274 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: but he saw Chuck's eyes, big blue, like tidal pools 275 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: that spun in the shadows and swallowed the real estate 276 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,240 Speaker 1: of Chuck's face. Chuck trained the pistol onto Gilia. He 277 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 1: motioned to the shack inside. Now Chuck falled to Gilia. 278 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 1: Inside the little shack. He told Dagilia to get on 279 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 1: his knees, and the grain broker was shaking from his 280 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: head to his feet. He tried to beg for his life, 281 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,000 Speaker 1: but he just stuttered through spittle and panic breaths. Chuck 282 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: repeated the insurrection on your fucking knees. 283 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 2: Now. 284 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 1: Theguilia dropped to his knees with a thud, and the 285 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: plywood dug into his skin. He looked up at Chuck, 286 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: six foot three, towering over him, even though the barrel 287 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: of the pistol was inches from his face. Aunt the 288 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,560 Speaker 1: Ghillia could see were Chuck's blue eyes lurking behind him. 289 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: Those eyes hypnotized him. Gilia didn't even notice the Chuck 290 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,479 Speaker 1: and moved the pistol even closer to his face and 291 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:19,200 Speaker 1: had begun to squeeze the trigger. Inside the car, Jerry 292 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: heard the gunshot. He turned the ignition and I recall 293 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: her argued politics with a combative host on the AM radio, 294 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: and seconds later Chuck emerged from the shack. He got 295 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,919 Speaker 1: back in the car. What the fuck was Jerry listening 296 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,119 Speaker 1: to talk radio? It was a long drive back to 297 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: Houston and this shit was going to boorge out the tears. 298 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,160 Speaker 1: He told Jerry to drive and then grab the tuner 299 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: with his fingers and. 300 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 2: Change the channel breaking news to report the night out 301 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 2: of Texas. 302 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: Charlosy Harrilson has been found helping for the nineteen sixty 303 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 1: eight murder of Samuel and Degallia Junior. 304 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:52,400 Speaker 2: He has been sentenced to fifteen. 305 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: Years in prison for Woody Harrelson turned the car radio up, 306 00:17:56,119 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 1: leaned his head in toward the speaker. Did he just 307 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: hear what he thought heard? Charles V. Harrelson? Could it be? 308 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,760 Speaker 1: How many Charles V. Harrelson's were there in the world. Nah, 309 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: it couldn't It couldn't be. His father may have been 310 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:11,119 Speaker 1: a dead beat to his family, or just a faded 311 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: memory to Woody, But he wasn't a killer, right. Woody 312 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: looked out the window and searched the parking lot for 313 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: his mom's friend, the one who had picked him up 314 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: from school to bring him home. She had stopped to 315 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: run an errand and left him alone in the car, 316 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 1: And the report and the radio amplified just how alone 317 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 1: he felt. His stomach began to turn. He dug his 318 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:32,400 Speaker 1: fingers into his palms and made a fist. He knew 319 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:35,320 Speaker 1: something wasn't right. He knew, deep down that something was 320 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: horribly wrong. He didn't know if he should be sad 321 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 1: or if he should be angry, and sometimes he couldn't 322 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:46,639 Speaker 1: tell the difference between the two. It was nineteen seventy three, Lebanon, Ohio. 323 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,440 Speaker 1: Woody Harrelson was twelve years old. It had been years 324 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: since he'd heard from his father, let alone seen him. Regardless, 325 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 1: he felt a connection, a son to a father. Maybe 326 00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: it wasn't actually there, but he felt it. He wanted 327 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,959 Speaker 1: to feel. It could be wishful thinking. Woody and Charles 328 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,960 Speaker 1: were both born on the same day, July twenty third. 329 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:09,399 Speaker 1: Wood He thought about how someone once told him that 330 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:11,639 Speaker 1: the Japanese had this belief that if a son was 331 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: born on his father's birthday, he wasn't like his father, 332 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 1: he was his father. Wild to think, somewhere out there 333 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: there was a man who was just like him, only 334 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: a little older. But if they were exactly alike, and 335 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:29,400 Speaker 1: if Charles V. Harrelson was in fact a convicted murderer, 336 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: and what did that say about Woody? His fist got tighter. 337 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,359 Speaker 1: He felt sick. He wasn't paying attention. When the driver's 338 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:41,120 Speaker 1: side door opened, he jumped. His mother's friend got back 339 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: in the car. She looked over at him and wood 340 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 1: He looked like he was in shock. She asked him 341 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:48,959 Speaker 1: what had happened? Was he all right? Wood He paused 342 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,159 Speaker 1: to collect his thoughts and then said, what do you 343 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:57,200 Speaker 1: know about my father? We'll be right back after this 344 00:19:57,359 --> 00:19:58,119 Speaker 1: were were? 345 00:19:58,400 --> 00:19:58,680 Speaker 2: Were? 346 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,879 Speaker 1: The blessing in the curse of playing a memorable TV 347 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,879 Speaker 1: character over the course of many seasons in many years 348 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,879 Speaker 1: is that the character never leaves you. Just ask Peter Falk. 349 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: He starred in amazing films by auteurs like John Cassavettis 350 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: and Vim Venders. But to most He'll always be Colombo, 351 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:24,920 Speaker 1: Tom Selleck will always be Magnum p I, George Reeves, 352 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 1: Christopher Reeves Superman both to the end, and after eight 353 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,359 Speaker 1: years playing a country bumpkin bar back on Cheers, Woody 354 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,120 Speaker 1: Harrelson could have very easily been Woody Boyd the rest 355 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: of his life. Instead, when the long running NBC sitcom 356 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: wound down in the early nineteen nineties, Woody pursued film 357 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:46,200 Speaker 1: roles that aggressively played against type. He played a street 358 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 1: hustler on the half court next to Wesley Snipes and 359 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:51,399 Speaker 1: White Men Can't Jump. He let Robert Redford sleep with 360 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,080 Speaker 1: his wife for a million dollars in a decent proposal, 361 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,440 Speaker 1: and then he obliterated any remaining trace of wood Boyd 362 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: with a chilling performance as an natural born killer and 363 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:05,880 Speaker 1: Oliver Stone's controversial and hyper violent nineteen ninety four film. 364 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 1: It was a role that was as different from what 365 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: he Boyd as Kirsty Ally was from Shelley long I 366 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:13,640 Speaker 1: thought he was sort of a psychostone set at the time. 367 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: When asked about the left field casting choice, That's why 368 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: I liked him. His eyes were kind of blue and blank. 369 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: Woody Harrelson had his father's eyes naturally, even Viada only 370 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:27,359 Speaker 1: had the opportunity to look into his father's eyes a 371 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:31,040 Speaker 1: handful of times. In his entire life, Charles Harrelson was 372 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: doing hard time. Not for the murder of carpet salesman 373 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:37,120 Speaker 1: Alan Berg, for which he was acquitted in nineteen seventy 374 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: and not for the murder of grainbroker Sam Deguillia Junior, 375 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 1: the one that would he heard about on a car 376 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: radio when he was a kid, for which Charles served 377 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,639 Speaker 1: five years of a fifteen year sentence. They let him 378 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,000 Speaker 1: out in nineteen seventy eight on account of good behavior. 379 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,919 Speaker 1: It only took a few years for Charles's behavior to 380 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 1: go from good to bad again, and once again he 381 00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 1: was behind bars, and this time it looked like he 382 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: was there to stay. The fate of Charles Harrelson weighed 383 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: heavily on Woody Harrelson's mind. In nineteen ninety seven, when 384 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:11,240 Speaker 1: he appeared on Barbara Walters annual pre Oscars television special Wood. 385 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: He was nominated that year for his first Academy Award 386 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: for another type breaking role this one as the real 387 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: life head honcho of Hustler magazine in The People versus 388 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:23,960 Speaker 1: Lowry flint Wood. He was thinking of his father again 389 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 1: because Barbara Walters had brought him up. It's fairly well known. 390 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,160 Speaker 1: Walters said, if anybody's read anything about you or talked 391 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,120 Speaker 1: with you, that your father went off to prison convicted 392 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,439 Speaker 1: of murder, and tell me how you feel today and 393 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:40,360 Speaker 1: what the story is today. What he paused and took 394 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 1: a deep breath. The last thing anyone wanted to discuss 395 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: was how their father was a convicted murderer. Was a 396 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:50,399 Speaker 1: sensitive subject. And even though Charles Harrelson was who he was, 397 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:53,360 Speaker 1: a hit man, a non presence in his family's life, 398 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,240 Speaker 1: wood he wasn't entirely convinced that he was guilty of 399 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 1: his most recent crime, Like when Woody was in first 400 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:01,880 Speaker 1: grade and a teacher blamed him for theft just because 401 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: he had that reputation. Would he struggled to find a 402 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 1: way to collect his thoughts coherently. Well, he is in 403 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:12,200 Speaker 1: prison right now for the killing of a federal judge, which, well, 404 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:14,680 Speaker 1: I don't think it was a fair trial, especially because 405 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 1: the guy who supposedly hired my father to commit the 406 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: murder was later acquitted on a retrial. Barbara Walters doubled down, Woody, 407 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: do you think your father is innocent. I'm not saying 408 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: my father is a saint, Wood, he replied, but I 409 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,480 Speaker 1: think he's innocent to that one. That one would be 410 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventy nine assassination of federal Judge John H. Wood, 411 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: a crime for which Charles Harrelson was now serving two 412 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: life sentences. Seventeen years before Wood, He's interviewed with Barbara Walters. 413 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: In September of nineteen eighty, Charles was arrested after a 414 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,400 Speaker 1: six hour standoff with police in Texas, near the Mexican border. 415 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,199 Speaker 1: He was in a state of cocaine induced paranoia. He 416 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:00,240 Speaker 1: thought the corvette he was driving was bugged, so hold 417 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,639 Speaker 1: it over and shot it up. This caught the attention 418 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,520 Speaker 1: of the authorities, who had already pegged Charles's suspect, Numero Uno, 419 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: in the murder of Judge Would. The search for Charles 420 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:12,919 Speaker 1: lasted more than a year and cost upwards of twelve 421 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: million dollars, one of the largest federal man hunts in history. 422 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: The prosecution later claimed that Charles was paid two hundred 423 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 1: and fifty thousand dollars from a Texan drug lord facing 424 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,160 Speaker 1: a life sentence for drug smuggling to quietly get rid 425 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:30,040 Speaker 1: of the judge who had a reputation for harsh sentences. 426 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,399 Speaker 1: But when police found Charles on the side of the road, 427 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:37,440 Speaker 1: he was anything but quiet. He was ranting and raving. 428 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: He was waving a gun around. He stuck the gun 429 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: under his chin and threatened to blow his own brains out. 430 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,359 Speaker 1: And this went on for hours. And during that time 431 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: Charles admitted to committing murder, but not just the murder 432 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:53,159 Speaker 1: of a judge. Charles Harrelson also confessed to the assassination 433 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:59,199 Speaker 1: of President John F. Kennedy. Hold up, you heard that right. 434 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: Carlson's father, contract killer in the subject of a massive 435 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,240 Speaker 1: federal man hunt, called a coked up audible during a 436 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:09,480 Speaker 1: six hour standoff with police and admitted to killing jfk 437 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,400 Speaker 1: After his arrest, the sober Charles offered an explanation. At 438 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: the same time I said I had killed the judge, 439 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: I said I killed Kennedy, which might give you an 440 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: idea as to the state of my mind at the time. 441 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: Charles told a Dallas TV station it was an effort 442 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,600 Speaker 1: to elongate my life but Charles's explanation didn't stop the 443 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 1: elongation of conspiracy theories that sprouted up around his roadside confession. 444 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,359 Speaker 1: One theory that has gained traction over the years was 445 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: that Charles was one of three tramps arrested for vagrancy 446 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,800 Speaker 1: near the Texas school Book Depository on November twenty second, 447 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three. The tramp theory gave Truther's pause. Was 448 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: Charles Harrelson actually present the day JFK was shot? Was 449 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,239 Speaker 1: he actually telling the truth during that police standoff? It 450 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: wasn't the only crazy theory about Charles Harrelson's mysterious past. 451 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: Back in nineteen ninety seven, Barbara Walters asked Woody Harrelson 452 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,960 Speaker 1: about his claim that his father was actually a CIA operative. 453 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,440 Speaker 1: Wood He nodded his head. How did he know? Where 454 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 1: was the proof? Woody smiled and his head went from 455 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 1: a nod to a shake. 456 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:13,640 Speaker 2: Nah. 457 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: See, I shouldn't get into this right now, he said. 458 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 1: This is where we're going to get into trouble. Woody 459 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:23,880 Speaker 1: Harrelson knew trouble. He was born on the same day 460 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 1: as his troubled and troublesome father, after all, which meant 461 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: they weren't simply alike. They were the same. But the 462 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 1: trouble that wood He was facing wasn't the kind you 463 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,359 Speaker 1: can simply chalk up to being young and dumb, Not 464 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:37,879 Speaker 1: like that time when he was twenty years old, jaywalking 465 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,080 Speaker 1: with a friend stopped by a cop wanted to see 466 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: some id. Woody had his license on him, but told 467 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,399 Speaker 1: the cop he didn't why and why the fuck not. 468 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,439 Speaker 1: When the cop found out what he was lying, he 469 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:50,639 Speaker 1: threw him up against a wall, and wood he wriggled 470 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,919 Speaker 1: free and bolted why. He didn't know why, it was 471 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: just the reaction hardwired inside of him. Within minutes, he 472 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 1: was surrounded on the ground, needed the throat hand. They 473 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:02,840 Speaker 1: tossed him in the paddy wagon, which he did sit 474 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: in for a little while, but when the paddywagon made 475 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,200 Speaker 1: a stop to pick up some drunken disorder, the kids 476 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: in the back door swan wide. What he ran. The 477 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:12,639 Speaker 1: handcuffs kind of made it more fun, honestly, and he 478 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,280 Speaker 1: ran so hard he thought his chest would explode. He 479 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: heard the cops behind him gaining their feet flat and loud, 480 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:20,960 Speaker 1: their voices even louder, and wood He didn't notice the car. 481 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:23,479 Speaker 1: It came from the right out of nowhere, directly in 482 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 1: his path. His body hit it with a smack. He 483 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 1: felt the nose of the thing dent his ribs. His 484 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: body rolled over the hood, and then he hit the 485 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,560 Speaker 1: pavement head first. And as he figured out a way 486 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 1: to use his cuffed hands to clutch his aching head 487 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,160 Speaker 1: and his bruised ribs, it seemed like a whole precinct 488 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:39,919 Speaker 1: stood off for him, and the mace rained down and 489 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:44,040 Speaker 1: burned his skin. Nah Wood, he was no longer twenty, 490 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: he was thirty six. He had grown up troubles now, like, 491 00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:50,199 Speaker 1: how does his son reconcile with a father who was 492 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:52,639 Speaker 1: not only absent but was objectively not a good person 493 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,119 Speaker 1: at all? And what do you do with all this anger? 494 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 1: You feel, the kind you've carried around with you since 495 00:27:57,680 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 1: you were a little kid. You know better than the 496 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: let it out. Let it have a voice, but it's 497 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:06,360 Speaker 1: a part of you. And just who are you? Why 498 00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:09,360 Speaker 1: do you feel like you have no control over the 499 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:28,880 Speaker 1: person you have become. In nineteen ninety five, Charles Harrelson 500 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 1: attempted to escape from the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he 501 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:35,639 Speaker 1: was serving two life sentences for the assassination of Judge 502 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: John h wood He crafted a ladder out of rope 503 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 1: and hoisted himself over a wall. A guard caught him 504 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 1: in the middle of his great escape and fired off 505 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: a warning shot. Charles put his hands in the air 506 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: and surrendered to his fate. That fate was an immediate 507 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:56,719 Speaker 1: transfer to the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, 508 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 1: a supermax prison that was notoriously a gate proof with 509 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: no chance of busting out of a supermax joint. Charles 510 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,440 Speaker 1: instead found refuge in isolation. Besides, what the hell did 511 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: he think he was going to do on the outside, 512 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 1: Kill again for money and then blow it all gambling again, 513 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:15,440 Speaker 1: and then repeat the cycle until the debts he would 514 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: eventually got him killed On the inside, he had no 515 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: other debts to settle besides the one he was paying 516 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: for with the remaining years of his life. He had 517 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 1: no contracts left to carry out. The silence is wonderful, 518 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: he wrote in a letter to a friend. Being left 519 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:38,080 Speaker 1: alone is great. Nobody bothers me two thousand and two. London, 520 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:41,800 Speaker 1: Woody Harrelson just wanted some of that wonderful silence and 521 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:43,720 Speaker 1: to be left alone. As he sat in the back 522 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:47,320 Speaker 1: of a taxi in Piccadilly Square a few days earlier. 523 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:51,080 Speaker 1: He chose not to be alone. Big fucking mistake. He 524 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:54,240 Speaker 1: wound up in a compromising situation with three other women. 525 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,480 Speaker 1: A paparazzo sold a steamy photo of the encounter to 526 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 1: a UK tabloid. Wood He laps and judgment nearly cost 527 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: him his relationship with his longtime girlfriend and sued to 528 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:07,200 Speaker 1: be wife. She forgave him, but he knew he'd let 529 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 1: her down. He let himself down? And what was he doing? 530 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: Who the hell was he was? He? Woody boy, blissfully 531 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: unaware of the double entandras flying around and behind the 532 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,080 Speaker 1: bar and cheers, the mescal and popping psychopath from natural 533 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:23,320 Speaker 1: born killers, the bowler with the prosthetic hand, and kingpin? 534 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: What was he? Laid back? Texas boy who sang the 535 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 1: praises of all things hemp and got high with Willie 536 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,520 Speaker 1: Nelson on his tour of us. And maybe he was 537 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 1: all of those things, but he hoped he was also 538 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 1: a good son. His mother told him he was his 539 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,680 Speaker 1: entire life. She told him so even when he got 540 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,560 Speaker 1: himself kicked out of school, But he lacked the validation 541 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:46,200 Speaker 1: from his dad, and he couldn't even help his dad out, 542 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 1: and no matter how hard he tried. He did help 543 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: in small ways, like when he served as a proxy 544 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:53,080 Speaker 1: for Charles in nineteen eighty seven so that he could 545 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 1: get me married from behind bars, but his larger efforts failed. 546 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,200 Speaker 1: He spent millions of dollars trying to get Charles was 547 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,520 Speaker 1: a new trial. He even found a sympathetic judge, but 548 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,080 Speaker 1: after the judge and Woody respotted playing a spur of 549 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,400 Speaker 1: the moment game of pickup basketball, the judge removed himself 550 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,360 Speaker 1: over concerned that the friendly match would be seen as biased. 551 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,920 Speaker 1: Everything fell apart after that, which sucked because despite who 552 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: Charles was and what he had done, there were things 553 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: that didn't sit right with Woody about this conviction. The 554 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,920 Speaker 1: judge who presided over his original trial was allegedly a pallbearer. 555 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:29,240 Speaker 1: A judge wards his funeral talk about bias. He was 556 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 1: also said that the recording on which Charles was fingered 557 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,880 Speaker 1: as the hired hitman was obtained illegally. Wood He felt 558 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 1: the back seat did the taxi gets small? He told 559 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,280 Speaker 1: the cabby to stop. He wanted a bail, and the 560 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:43,600 Speaker 1: cabby told Woody to hang on and they were in 561 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: the middle of four lanes of traffic and he had 562 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:47,000 Speaker 1: to pull over to the side of the road first. 563 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: Nah what he wanted out now? He tried to open 564 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: the door, but it was locked, and the cabby was 565 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:55,760 Speaker 1: yelling at him to hold on and woo he yelled back. 566 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: He tried the door handle again, still locked, and the 567 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,440 Speaker 1: interior of the taxi swallowed. Woody's heart rate doubled. He 568 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 1: kicked at the door, where the taxi swerved as the 569 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,560 Speaker 1: cabby panicked. But wood he kicked the door again that 570 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,120 Speaker 1: it buckled, but one more kick would do it. He 571 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 1: thrust his foot forward again. The door swung open, but 572 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 1: when he jumped out into the bust in the London night, 573 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: the cabby followed in hot pursuit. So much for being 574 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 1: left alone and wood he ran. He held another taxi 575 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:24,840 Speaker 1: and jumped in, and the taxi with the broken door 576 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: was right behind him. Soon other vehicles joined the chase, 577 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:31,320 Speaker 1: a police car, and then another, then another, and six 578 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:35,040 Speaker 1: London police cars in total, lights flashing and sirens wailing. 579 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:42,760 Speaker 1: The distinctly European sirens sounds so frustratingly foreign. Fifteen years later, 580 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:47,120 Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen, a decade after Charles Harrelson died of 581 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,680 Speaker 1: a heart attack while still in a supermac's lock up, 582 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: Woody Harrelson used the true story of the night he 583 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:55,280 Speaker 1: led police on a chase and then spent in London 584 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,719 Speaker 1: jail as the basis for a dark comedy called Lost 585 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 1: in London. Turning the self described worst night of his 586 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:06,320 Speaker 1: life into a cathartic film project was an exercise and 587 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 1: learning who he had been in the past and who 588 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 1: he wanted to become someone better than before. He can 589 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,959 Speaker 1: use the future to make up for the past, and 590 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 1: that's a past, present and future that ought to be 591 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: in pictures. I'm Jake Brennan in This is hollywood Land. 592 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:43,800 Speaker 1: Hollywood Land was created by Years Truly in his produced 593 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,720 Speaker 1: in partnership with Double Elvis. Follow like, rate and review 594 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:50,000 Speaker 1: hollywood Land wherever you get your podcasts and get in 595 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:53,360 Speaker 1: touch with us on social media at double Elvis. If 596 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 1: you like hollywood Land, check out my other show, the 597 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:57,960 Speaker 1: award winning disgrace Land, which looks at the world of 598 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:00,120 Speaker 1: music through the lens of true crime. Just search for 599 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 1: Disgraceland or wherever you get your podcasts. Good That's a 600 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:09,479 Speaker 1: lab