1 00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:03,880 Speaker 1: Camp hell Anawaki is a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: The views and opinions expressing this podcast are solely those 3 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: of the author and participants and do not necessarily represent 4 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: those of I Heart Media or its employees. Due to 5 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: discussion of traumatic, sexual and violent content, listener discussion is advised. 6 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: I think once, maybe twice a year, people from the 7 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: state would come out to do like an inspection or something. 8 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: This is Terry, a former patient at the Annawaki North 9 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: Campus in Rockmart, the all girls facility. She remembers during 10 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: her time how the staff would handle visits from state 11 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: agencies that were meant to check on the treatment center 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: and how it operated with an Awake now being a 13 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: licensed medical facility, it had to be recorded that patients 14 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: were getting the proper treatment they were supposed to. And 15 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: I remember the first time when they came out, they 16 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: picked like three of us girls to be the one 17 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: to answer any questions, and so they took the rest 18 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: of the group like way way out into the woods, 19 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: like a mile out into the woods. And I can 20 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: remember when the first inspector lady came, one of the 21 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: group leaders told her the girls are out on a 22 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 1: work project about a mile out in the woods. I 23 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: guess they just knew that the inspector probably wasn't going 24 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: to hike out a mile. But we were available though. 25 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:34,839 Speaker 1: They were like three of us, and we were told 26 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: even before the inspector came, if they asked if we 27 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,680 Speaker 1: met with a psychiatrist, to let them know that we did, 28 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 1: and that we had thirty to forty five minute sessions. 29 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: At this point in time, Annawiki was sold to the 30 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: parents of its patients largely as a medical treatment center 31 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: with daily therapy. In reality, this therapy was greatly exaggerated, 32 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: often amounting to know more than a few minutes at 33 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: most with an actual therapist. I don't think my parents 34 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:12,639 Speaker 1: realized until I got out that I really didn't get 35 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:16,239 Speaker 1: the help that I needed. We would see a psychiatrist, 36 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: I want to say once a week. It might have 37 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: been every other week. But we would literally like get 38 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: in a line and go one after the other and 39 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: you'd only get a few minutes, and they would just 40 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: right on a clipboard and they would literally look at 41 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: their clock and say, Okay, time's up next. I mean, 42 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,359 Speaker 1: it was a joke. We like going to the psychiatrist 43 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: because it gave us like a five minute break from 44 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: the heavy labor work. But I mean, we didn't even 45 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: get that much time. It was a joke. And I 46 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: do know um that my parents were charged for like 47 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: a forty five minute visit, I think is what it 48 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: was supposed to be. Thirty or forty five minutes, and 49 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,080 Speaker 1: we used to laugh about it. I guess we knew 50 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,800 Speaker 1: the doctors are making all this money off of us 51 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: and they're only seeing us like for a couple of minutes. 52 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: Terry says that during these visits from state officials, the 53 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: designated patients who were allowed to answer questions were to 54 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: downplay the lack of education as well as how their 55 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: time was really being spent. They told us to explain 56 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: to them that it was an owned privilege and that 57 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: some people did go to school. And then there was 58 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: another thing that we were told not to let them know. 59 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: They like encouraged us not to talk about the manual 60 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: labor that we did all day. And the only reason 61 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: why I would go along with it because I knew 62 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: it wasn't right, like to not tell them the truth 63 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: on certain things. But it was another way where I 64 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: thought I was getting brownie points, you know, because they 65 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: chose me to be the one to talk, so I 66 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: thought it just hit me on their good side that 67 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: looking back, that was pretty messed up because they probably 68 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: could have helped us if I had told the truth. 69 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: That that's just the way it went. Although Terry went 70 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: along within a week he's plan to hide their abuse 71 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: from government officials, she did try to report the wrongdoing 72 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: to her family when she had the chance. I did 73 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 1: try to tell my parents on one of my home visits, 74 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: especially about the two counselors that I had that were 75 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: sleeping together, that had a relationship, and all the sexual 76 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: things that were going on, and how uncomfortable I was, 77 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: and I really wanted to get out of there. Well, 78 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 1: it backfired because when they brought me back from my 79 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: home visit, they met with one of the social workers 80 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: and then they called me in and the social worker 81 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: just barrated me. She said, you know, one of your 82 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,719 Speaker 1: biggest problems, and the reason why you're out here and 83 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: you're still out here, is because you're a manipulator and 84 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: what you've done um to your parents trying to make 85 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: up these things, saying that there's this sexual abuse and 86 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: things going on just so you can get out. You're 87 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: not gonna get away with that. You know, they see 88 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,719 Speaker 1: right through We see right through it. And so it 89 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,600 Speaker 1: was like I was a liar, and they didn't they 90 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: believe the social worker. They didn't believe me anymore. And 91 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: that she said that I wasn't the only patient out 92 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: there trying to do that, that there were other kids 93 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: saying the same thing just so they could get out. 94 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:36,919 Speaker 1: You know, she tried to intimidate me, saying, do you 95 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 1: know how serious it is to make allegations like that 96 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: about your counselors and about other girls doing these things 97 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:48,359 Speaker 1: with each other? I just I backed off. I knew 98 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: over the past several weeks we have received number of 99 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,800 Speaker 1: very serious allegations concerning both the facility out there in 100 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:02,160 Speaker 1: a number of individuals involved with them. It was just 101 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 1: a form of their therapy. They were told to do it, 102 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 1: and at the time he was fourteen and a half, 103 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: fifteen years old, they didn't know any better. I asked him, 104 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: why are you letting this happen? Why are you covering 105 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:15,799 Speaker 1: up for Louis Batterer. He had no answer to that question. 106 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:23,799 Speaker 1: Having and this sitution paid its little could be such 107 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: shock destrica place and to do absolutely the contrary of 108 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: what they should have done. I'm disturbable the fact of 109 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: something and he's still going on it. An I wake you. 110 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: I'm Josh Stein and this is camp hell an Awake. 111 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: By the mid nineteen eighties, an Awaki had reached its 112 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: highest attendance numbers. Yet not only was it operating on 113 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: three different campuses Douglasville, Rock Martin, and Carabelle, it was 114 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,359 Speaker 1: now taking its patients on trips to other countries. In 115 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: a board meeting from nineteen eighty three, plans for an 116 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: Antawaki University were discussed, a program that would continue on 117 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: through graduate degree status. Disruptions in the organization had started 118 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: to occur. One catalyst began with a legal dispute over 119 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: the recording rights to the songs written by the patients 120 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: you just heard from Terry. During this dispute, it was 121 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: also brought to her parents attention other wrongdoings which occurred 122 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: while her and her brothers attended, in particular that maybe 123 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: they weren't getting the treatment which their parents had been 124 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: paying for. The fact that Terry's brothers had also been 125 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 1: involved with the annual trip to Mexico made matters even worse. 126 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: Here's journalist Albert Edgin. At the same time, there was 127 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: a parent whose daughter had written a song about Anna 128 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: Wake and there was a complaint. There was some dispute 129 00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: over the whether she was going to get paid for 130 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: the song or how the boarding studio was going to 131 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: be paid. But that parent then, in coincidental parallel track 132 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: learned about the trips to the Mexican brothels. This cause 133 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: for alarm regarding payment to Anawaki was not a rare instance. 134 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: With an Awaki now collecting payments from its patient's insurance, 135 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: Oftentimes parents would not realize what they were actually paying 136 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: for the school. One quota number for yearly tuition to 137 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: an Awaki was thirty three thousand dollars a year in 138 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: the early eighties, the equivalent of over one d thousand 139 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: dollars today. Receiving payment from medical insurance policies was just 140 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: one of an Awaki's multiple revenue streams. With the purchase 141 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: of land for its three campuses and properties in Mexico 142 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: and Canada, and Awaki had set up a shell corporation 143 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:59,319 Speaker 1: called Anawaki Estates. This LLC would own the real estate 144 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: and Awake had acquired and would then lease the property 145 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: to its other corporation and Awaki Incorporated in essence shifting 146 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: funds from the patients back to the owners of aniwaki Estates. 147 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,960 Speaker 1: And who were the owners of the shell corporation none 148 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,599 Speaker 1: other than Lewis Petter's three daughters, Tina, Rita and Marcia. 149 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 1: They were leasing them just like anybody else would be 150 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:28,199 Speaker 1: leasing real estate from another company, any other business. So 151 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: the non profit was paying the profit corporation. The nonprofit 152 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,839 Speaker 1: aniwaki E was paying an awaki Estates rent for lack 153 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 1: of a better way of putting it. And I don't 154 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: recall the amounts and involved there, but the ownership of 155 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 1: that was the three daughters. This is Frank Win. He 156 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,680 Speaker 1: was the d A for Douglas County in the ninet eighties. 157 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: He says the business behind Anawaki's financial interest was largely 158 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: tied to the pattern family. Pet His daughters would go 159 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,080 Speaker 1: on to marry others involved in the organization. Marcia Petter 160 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: to Bud Pedigo in a week he's main accountant, and 161 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,319 Speaker 1: Rita Petter to James Henry Evans one of in a 162 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: week he's heads of management an awaki Estates. Who would 163 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: have been the name of that corporation. Anawaki Inc. Was 164 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 1: the not for profit or nonprofit organization that you know. 165 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 1: I believe most of the board of directors thought when 166 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: they authorized stuff that they were authorizing purchases in the 167 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: name of Anawaki Inc. And actually they were leasing a 168 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 1: lot of the facilities from Anawaki Estates. So the family 169 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: that was the big picture of the family's involvements. You 170 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:50,679 Speaker 1: had three of them that owned the for profit corporation. 171 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,439 Speaker 1: Both of his daughters were in charge of different departments, 172 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 1: two of his son in law's were involved. His wife 173 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: was also involved. All of them in a director type position. 174 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:06,719 Speaker 1: It is around this same time that some changes were 175 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: happening in the law enforcement agencies of Douglas County. For years, 176 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: the sheriff had been Claude Abercrombie. Sheriff. Abercrumbie two had 177 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: close ties with Anna Waki, even teaching a horse breaking 178 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: class to the boys who would come and work on 179 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 1: his horse farm. Abercrumbie's term ended in the mid seventies 180 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: after his deputy sheriff, Earl Lee, decided to run against 181 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 1: him for the position and was elected. Earl Lee became 182 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 1: a known character of Douglas County Lore. Here's what Frank 183 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:44,960 Speaker 1: Winn remembers about him. Well, Early was sheriff of Douglas 184 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:48,559 Speaker 1: Canty when when I came along, he had a reputation 185 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: that clearly was a walking tall type of sheriff. Some 186 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: of it was very much talk. I learned the no 187 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: Earl and and love him because I could see just 188 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: how obsessive he would get investigating a homicide. He couldn't 189 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: stand that someone was killed and that there wasn't justice 190 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 1: trying to find who did it, and he would work 191 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: very hard. He wouldn't just jump in and arrest somebody. 192 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: He's certainly the kind of person that would not back 193 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: down or somebody that you didn't want to have a 194 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: fight with. So he had developed a reputation with a 195 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:31,959 Speaker 1: lot of people local from Douglasville. Pat Kirkland remembers how 196 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,439 Speaker 1: Earl Lee was thought of at the time. Early has 197 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: a reputation on his own. Early was an old West lawman. 198 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: He was the law. I mean, everybody knew that Earl 199 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 1: Lee is the law in Douglas County. Early was just 200 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: a good old boy, old small town you know, sheriff 201 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: and everything. Of course he was you know, he was 202 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: elected by the people and everything, but he just really 203 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,080 Speaker 1: it and put up with too much stuff from anyone. 204 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: Back several years ago, there he was, he had a 205 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 1: prisoner in the back of his car, and I remembered 206 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 1: this somehow that prisoner and handcuffs committed suicide in the 207 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: back of Early's car. Now how and they had did 208 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 1: that happen? Earl Lee had a reputation in the county. 209 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: I think he did a lot of good for the 210 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: county and everything. But Earl Lee was an old West lawman, 211 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 1: and it's gonna be my way or you ain't gonna 212 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: like the circumstances or the what happens at with it. 213 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: I know that there were some a couple of instants 214 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: where people got shot. People believe that Earl had shot him. 215 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 1: But I had reviewed the files when I first came along, 216 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: just out of curiosity, and had had talked to some 217 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 1: people in the Sheriff's department, and the truth was Earle 218 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: had not been the one that shot the people. But 219 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: he never for with back down from letting people believe it. 220 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 1: He wouldn't correct them because he felt like it helped 221 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: his reputation as far as uh, you know, law enforcement, 222 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: as far as the criminal UH elements were concerned. There 223 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: were a lot of people. I heard tapes of people 224 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: that would we're doing drupe transactions and would say I'm 225 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:26,760 Speaker 1: not going to Douglas County or I'm not going to 226 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 1: Earl Leaves County. That was more likely how they would 227 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: say it. It was amazing. Sometimes. I'll never forget one 228 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: case where he told me said, I tried to let 229 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: my people do the job on their own and let 230 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: them branch out and be able to do it. And 231 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: they had actually gone and searched an apartment and came 232 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: back and told him they couldn't. They just didn't find anything. 233 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: And an Earl believed that just didn't make sense in 234 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 1: relation to this case, that that person had to have 235 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: been somehow involved. And the body that we found in 236 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: Douglas County, Earl, he asked the guy, you still give 237 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: us consent search, and Earl went back and searched with 238 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: the same officers and the first thing he notices is 239 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 1: just a few little red spots, real minor red spots 240 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 1: on the wall. And he realizes that nobody has turned 241 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: the bed over, so he makes his officers flip the bed, 242 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: and the first thing they see is some blood, and 243 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: then they find some on the bottom side of a pillow. 244 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: And whether it's true or not, I remember Earl after 245 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: they started, after they clearly had found blood, he said, 246 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: let me show you where the gun is. And he said, so, 247 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: I took him into the guy's closet and started patting 248 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: down the clothes, and the gun had been placed on 249 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: the inside pocket of a coat. This was clearly the 250 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: murder weapon, but his officers had missed it. And Earl, 251 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: once he found the blood, he knew exactly where somebody 252 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: might hide a gun, and and that his officers might 253 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: not have looked at and that still might have been 254 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: a problem. But he he brings the guy into his 255 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: office and very politely interviews him and and goes over 256 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 1: his rights with him and talks to him for a 257 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,440 Speaker 1: little while, reaches under his desk and pulls up the 258 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: jacket and says, tell me about this jacket, and the 259 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 1: guy immediately starts explaining why the gun was there. And 260 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: Earl had made had spent thirty minutes never mentioning the gun, 261 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 1: never told the guy the point of the coat, And 262 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: like Earl told me when we were prosecuting the case, 263 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 1: it was better than a confession. Frank says that while 264 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: Earl Lee had his suspicions about an AWAKEI, he never 265 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: had enough of a case to make an arrest or 266 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: conduct a formal investigation. This outlook changed after a tragic 267 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: incident occur on the Douglasville campus. From Earl's Lee's standpoint, 268 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,360 Speaker 1: one of the things that had caught his attention had 269 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: been that there was a situation where UH kid had 270 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: killed himself. He had jumped off of I'm going to 271 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:23,440 Speaker 1: call it an old rock or brick type of chimney 272 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:27,679 Speaker 1: structure and landed onto a concrete slab. And that was 273 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:33,639 Speaker 1: something that Earl was very uh touched anytime a kid 274 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 1: died and he would get involved, uh and he would 275 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:43,719 Speaker 1: become obsessive, compulsive. Carl Moore remembers his reaction when he 276 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:48,440 Speaker 1: was informed there had been a suicide at Annawaki. There 277 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: was a a chimney of one of the cabins that 278 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 1: was left. I can't I think it was just a 279 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: chimney with the slab. I don't remember why it was 280 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: that way, but he climbed to the top of that 281 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: and uh dove off. I had been on a trip somewhere. 282 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:15,159 Speaker 1: I can't remember what I was doing now, but I 283 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: had someone had picked me up the airport and told 284 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: me that one of the kids who killed themselves. It 285 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,640 Speaker 1: just devastated me to hear that. I think I actually 286 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:28,200 Speaker 1: arrived back at the campus as the ambulances were still there. 287 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: I got the idea that a lot of the kids 288 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:35,320 Speaker 1: knew him. It was a big deal. That was something 289 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:40,479 Speaker 1: he never could figure out why that kid did what 290 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: he did. That just he wasn't provided with enough information 291 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: from Mannawaki that made him comfortable that it explained the 292 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:54,719 Speaker 1: kid committing suicide. And so that was just something that 293 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 1: bothered him, and he spoke to me about it, and 294 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:01,360 Speaker 1: so it was something that we sort in our minds 295 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,400 Speaker 1: had in the back of our thought process when when 296 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: other things developed. By eighty Lewis Petter's friend and confident 297 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: Jim Parham had completed his term as a part of 298 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:34,959 Speaker 1: Jimmy Carter's presidential cabinet and had returned to serve as 299 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: a member of the board of directors for Anawaki. With 300 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:42,160 Speaker 1: Anawaki licensed as an official medical hospital, it was now 301 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 1: subject to receive state funding as a mental institute as 302 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:48,639 Speaker 1: part of a new mental health program put in a 303 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: place by the DHR, the same organization which Parum was 304 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: once head up. In a document from the Georgia Department 305 00:19:56,040 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 1: of Human Resources from January eighteenth night, it is recorded 306 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:04,120 Speaker 1: that the State of Georgia paid an Awake the sum 307 00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: of eight hundred and seventy two thousand dollars of taxpayer money, 308 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: the purpose of which was to build a brand new 309 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:15,200 Speaker 1: evaluation and observation or E and O building that could 310 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: house up to forty five additional patients. While Annawaki was 311 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:24,160 Speaker 1: clearly still in good graces with state government agencies, others 312 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:27,920 Speaker 1: were beginning to become suspicious of the tax exempt organization. 313 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:33,719 Speaker 1: Following the suicide on campus in Antawaki's resistance to investigate it, 314 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: local authorities were now looking more closely into the financial 315 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: organization behind in Awaki. In nine two, Douglas County decided 316 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: to revoke an Awake's nonprofit tax exemption, followed by an 317 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:51,920 Speaker 1: attempt to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes. 318 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:56,080 Speaker 1: The county felt it was owed. Insurance companies, who were 319 00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:59,640 Speaker 1: now being charged hundreds of thousands of dollars also began 320 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 1: to question the validity of an Awaki's treatment. An early 321 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:08,720 Speaker 1: correspondence from shows Blue Cross Blue Shield arguing that the treatment, 322 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:12,119 Speaker 1: costing upwards of one thousand dollars for a patient was 323 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: not covered under their plan. Another correspondence from the United 324 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: States Department of Defense Division of Health Affairs regarding the 325 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: son of a retired Army officer shows a decline to 326 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: cover the treatment provided it Innawaki upon further review and 327 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 1: called the treatment quote not medically necessary. While state agencies 328 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: and insurance companies alike were beginning to grow skeptical of 329 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: Anawaki's practices, other things were starting to make parents of 330 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,120 Speaker 1: the students and even board members of an Awaki suspicious. 331 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 1: One of these board members that would greatly affect the 332 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: future of an Awaki was one Sarah Tillis. Here's journalist 333 00:21:54,880 --> 00:22:01,400 Speaker 1: Albert Edgin. Sarah Tillis was the mother of several children 334 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,760 Speaker 1: who had been treated in an Awake and who are 335 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,159 Speaker 1: still being treated at an Awake in the eighties, but 336 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:09,679 Speaker 1: also an important member of the board, a very influential 337 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,040 Speaker 1: member of the board of directors, and eventually the chairman 338 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: of the Board of Directors. She and her husband were 339 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,400 Speaker 1: very involved in all sorts of activities there and very 340 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 1: supportive friends with Petter and wealthy in their own right 341 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:27,679 Speaker 1: and had been seduced by Petter. Petter made sure that 342 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:31,919 Speaker 1: her children were given special attention. At the end of 343 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 1: the day, Petter was a good counselor. If he wanted 344 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: to be a good counselor, he could be a good counselor. 345 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,560 Speaker 1: So if he had somebody he needed to curry favor with, 346 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 1: and the way to do it was to counsel her 347 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:46,439 Speaker 1: children in a very professional and accomplished way, he did it. 348 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: And that's what he did with Sarah tell Us, he 349 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,159 Speaker 1: lured her in. He seduced her in the same way 350 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:55,440 Speaker 1: that he seduced those boys through his manipulation of her emotions. 351 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: So Sarah became an Antiwaki advocate on deroids. I mean, 352 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:04,680 Speaker 1: she was the she was an awake's face. And in return, 353 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: her children were taken care of, and she was introduced 354 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:11,400 Speaker 1: by Petter to the you know, political hierarchy in two 355 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: different states. You know, she could go to all sorts 356 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: of affairs and events with the governor of Florida or 357 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:21,160 Speaker 1: the governor Georgia away. It was very you know, very 358 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: high cotton for a suburban housewife in Atlanta. He gave 359 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:30,159 Speaker 1: her those avenues. During one of an Awake's annual Mexico trips, 360 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: in a group of board members joined along a number 361 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: of incidents occurred which gave alarm to Sarah Tillis and others, 362 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:43,400 Speaker 1: in particular witnessing what she believed to be an inappropriate 363 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:49,720 Speaker 1: relationship with Carl Moore and Petter's teenage granddaughter Shari. You 364 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,920 Speaker 1: have to think that was a pretty well developed system 365 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:57,639 Speaker 1: by four when Sarah stumbled onto just one aspect of it, 366 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,439 Speaker 1: and the aspect of it that she stumbled on was 367 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 1: is important in the narrative because it changed her opinion 368 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 1: of Petter, and that was that Petter's granddaughter, who was fourteen, 369 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:16,359 Speaker 1: was engaging in sexual for play with the driver of 370 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 1: a van that was taking an Awakey officials around Mexico, 371 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,400 Speaker 1: and Petter knew this was happening. It was his granddaughter. 372 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 1: A couple of the the board members, Sarah Tillis being 373 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:33,399 Speaker 1: the main one, noticed that and complained about it. Looking 374 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 1: back on it, it's amazing and it's sort of as 375 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:41,359 Speaker 1: a testament to Petter's um sheer control over the over 376 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: people he could control people's opinion of him, and so 377 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: even though this was something that that Sarah disapproved of, 378 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,520 Speaker 1: she was able to put that in some sort of 379 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: a uh place where it was something that troubled her, 380 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,680 Speaker 1: but it didn't completely alter her opinion and initially, Peter 381 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,880 Speaker 1: I asked Carl Moore about his involvement with Petter's then 382 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:10,600 Speaker 1: teenage granddaughter. He says this was just another sign of 383 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 1: how bad things had gotten for him. There was a 384 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 1: larger context to it. Um doesn't justify or really change 385 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 1: anything about it. I think it was another example, in 386 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: a way of how twisted things were for me at 387 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 1: the time. And I don't think it's I don't think 388 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:36,919 Speaker 1: I can say anything else about it. I have to 389 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:41,199 Speaker 1: think it was smoke screen in some ways. After this 390 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: episode published, I was contacted by both Carl and Sari. 391 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,440 Speaker 1: Carl and Shery both stated that their relationship was strictly 392 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: as friends and never sexual. When asked about her relationship 393 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:59,640 Speaker 1: with Carl, Charis stated quote, Carl has never been anything 394 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,919 Speaker 1: but good to me. He cared about what happened to 395 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: me without ever wanting something in return. When asked again 396 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:12,199 Speaker 1: about his relationship with Shari, Karl stated quote, I was 397 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,879 Speaker 1: being her friend without being sexual. I knew there was 398 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: a risk that my affection was being misunderstood by others, 399 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,560 Speaker 1: and I did not care what they thought. It is 400 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 1: ironic to me that, after all these years, that an 401 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,400 Speaker 1: act of kindness caused the outrage required for the Board 402 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:35,120 Speaker 1: of Directors at Annawaki to ultimately act. Sarah Tillis would 403 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,120 Speaker 1: later give a written statement outlining this trip to Mexico. 404 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:42,160 Speaker 1: A group from Anauake's board of trustees flew to Mexico 405 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:44,880 Speaker 1: City to join the rest of the group from Anawaki. 406 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: A lavish trip is recorded, with the group being housed 407 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:54,440 Speaker 1: by presidents of different areas in Mexico and other government officials. 408 00:26:54,480 --> 00:27:00,840 Speaker 1: She describes inappropriate behavior involving Karl Moore, then Petter's fourteen 409 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:05,080 Speaker 1: year old granddaughter Sharie. When Petters confronted by some of 410 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:09,080 Speaker 1: the board members, he states, quote, it's not any of 411 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,359 Speaker 1: your goddamn business or the trustees as to why I 412 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,359 Speaker 1: brought Cheri to Mexico, even stating that he will call 413 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:19,880 Speaker 1: a board meeting himself to tell the trustees the same thing. 414 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:25,399 Speaker 1: No such meeting ever happened. I think the turning point 415 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:31,399 Speaker 1: was when he was dismissive of the complaints about the 416 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:36,959 Speaker 1: relationship that was observed between his granddaughter and Karl Moore. 417 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,359 Speaker 1: What he said after that he heard complaints about this 418 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 1: relationship with Karl Moore was something like, she's going to 419 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 1: get screwed by somebody, it may as well be Karl Moore. 420 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: So that was shocking to the people that heard that 421 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,640 Speaker 1: and heard that he had said that, and that set 422 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: up a sort of a permanent avenue that he would 423 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:08,439 Speaker 1: never get out of, a permanent avenue of disapproval that 424 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 1: he had never had to deal with before. Really, it 425 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:16,440 Speaker 1: was later in the fall when board members who knew 426 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:22,360 Speaker 1: about the relationship between Petter's granddaughter and Karl Moore. Now 427 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,680 Speaker 1: we're learning that some of the children, some of the 428 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: kids had gone to brothels at the same time, which 429 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: would then, I mean, that's just an example of how 430 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,919 Speaker 1: it began to get out of that one avenue and expand. 431 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:40,040 Speaker 1: And it took a long time before uh, it exploded, 432 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,480 Speaker 1: But maybe not that long when you think about it 433 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 1: in retrospect, because if he was doing it since nine, 434 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: somebody notices in and the disapproval sticks in their mind. 435 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 1: It only took a year and a half from there 436 00:28:54,360 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: for it to fall apart. Upon returning from Mexico trip, 437 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: Sarah Tillis began asking questions to the upper management of 438 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,720 Speaker 1: an Awaki. She claimed that she had been told by 439 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 1: one of the patients who had consistently not been given 440 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: a bet on the trip, that it was due to 441 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: Petter wanting to quote play the sex game, according to 442 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 1: a statement by Sarah Tillis, When this was brought to 443 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:25,760 Speaker 1: Petter's wife, Mabel's attention, her response was that those types 444 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:30,959 Speaker 1: of matters were not reported, possibly influenced by the confrontations 445 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 1: by board members or issues involving receiving payment from insurance companies. 446 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:40,040 Speaker 1: Louis Petter attempted a sale of an Awake shortly after 447 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:45,320 Speaker 1: the Mexico trip. In according to his statement by Jim Parren, 448 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:49,120 Speaker 1: Petter had received offers for up to thirty million dollars 449 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,320 Speaker 1: for the center. The only problem was that Petter was 450 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:56,320 Speaker 1: not willing to let an Awak's books be scrutinized. The 451 00:29:56,360 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 1: deal shortly fell through. Board members were beginning to become 452 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:04,840 Speaker 1: suspicious not just a Petter's actions, but also of how 453 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:27,719 Speaker 1: in a week's finances were being handled. Suspicions had begun 454 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 1: to build around in Awaki and its multiple revenue streams. 455 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,600 Speaker 1: An incident would bring further scrutiny to the program on 456 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: March of that year, when a youth being evaluated for 457 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:43,959 Speaker 1: in Aweki treatment escaped from his Florida caseworker and fled 458 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 1: the property. Fourteen year old Billy Ray White disappeared into 459 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:53,280 Speaker 1: the center's wooded surroundings. Three days later, while attempting to 460 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: steal a dump truck, White shot and killed local resident 461 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:01,240 Speaker 1: James D. Hall with a revolver stolen from a truck 462 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: in the neighborhood. The death shocked the community, raising concerns 463 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: to Anawaki was not properly watching over what could sometimes 464 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: be dangerous patients being kept there. The whole community will 465 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 1: miss him because he's lived here most of his life, 466 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:27,560 Speaker 1: sure will, Frankie Gibbons says. The killing continues to worry homeowners. Yeah, 467 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:31,400 Speaker 1: we tried to have meanings upcoming alert systems so that 468 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:35,000 Speaker 1: they would let us know when one was off. Doesn't 469 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,600 Speaker 1: worry you when some of them get out, Yeah, we've 470 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:41,160 Speaker 1: reported since we've been out here. We call him running 471 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: through our property, property across road rolfe and call him 472 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 1: I not mad and we've notifiedment Leaf for the time. 473 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:53,120 Speaker 1: An Awaki officials had been warned months earlier that White 474 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 1: was a quote homicidal threat and could possibly kill without 475 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: feeling any remorse. Sheriff Earl Lee responded at the time, 476 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:05,400 Speaker 1: I would have intensified my search for him if I 477 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: had known what they knew, but they wouldn't tell me 478 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:14,000 Speaker 1: anything at all. Government agencies and insurance companies were both 479 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:20,360 Speaker 1: beginning to inquire into Antawak's financial irregularities. Soon, another tragic 480 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:24,280 Speaker 1: event would take place that would shake the foundation structure. 481 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 1: Bud Pedigo was Antawak's main accountant and the person who 482 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 1: would have to answer to anyone looking into its finances. 483 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:37,880 Speaker 1: He was also married to Petter's daughter Marcia, both largely 484 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 1: involved with the inner workings of the organization. In May 485 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:46,959 Speaker 1: of Pedago was killed in an automobile accident just a 486 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:52,160 Speaker 1: few blocks away from Antawaki. A drunk driver struck Pedigo's 487 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:55,600 Speaker 1: car with him and his young daughter in the front seat. 488 00:32:56,440 --> 00:33:00,360 Speaker 1: His daughter thankfully lived, but Bud was not so lucky. 489 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: Carl Moore remembers being one of the first people to 490 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:09,720 Speaker 1: be notified about Pedigo's death. I think Bud was. He 491 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,000 Speaker 1: was a nice guy. He was the financial losser like 492 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:17,160 Speaker 1: the CFO. I can't even remember how I heard about it, 493 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 1: but I went there. It was right almost on the campus. 494 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:24,800 Speaker 1: I went there and the car was pushed off the road. 495 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 1: There was a van there that had run into him 496 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:33,880 Speaker 1: almost ahead on wreck that hit the driver's side of 497 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 1: the car. When I got there, Bud was actually in 498 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: the passenger seat, and Uh, I went down there. I 499 00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:43,640 Speaker 1: didn't know why there was nobody down there. I went 500 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:47,479 Speaker 1: down there like I was gonna help him out, and 501 00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:51,200 Speaker 1: and he was gone. I didn't know it for a 502 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:54,760 Speaker 1: little while. His daughter was in the car. This is 503 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:58,720 Speaker 1: uh youngest daughter. I think she was four or five. 504 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: She had crawled out the back window of the car. 505 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:06,360 Speaker 1: What I understand. The guy driving the van, he was 506 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 1: drunk and he was injured. He said, Hey, the guy 507 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:13,359 Speaker 1: that's driving the van ran off through the woods, which 508 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:16,359 Speaker 1: was a lie. It was actually him and I think 509 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:19,239 Speaker 1: he was charged with it. Yeah, it was a hard thing. 510 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:27,680 Speaker 1: Then Bud Pettigo died. Between the Mexico revelations in the 511 00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:30,800 Speaker 1: middle of the summer of eighty four and his death 512 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:35,440 Speaker 1: in March, there was a lot of conversation going on, 513 00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 1: a lot of rumors were swirling around and that encouraged 514 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 1: children who may have been abused to talk about it 515 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:49,759 Speaker 1: among themselves at least. And if you think about Douglas County, well, 516 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:53,960 Speaker 1: Douglas County is a small place, so a lot of 517 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:57,480 Speaker 1: people began hearing about these things. All of those things, 518 00:34:57,560 --> 00:35:02,239 Speaker 1: taken together, contributed to an environment in which, in the spring, 519 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:04,600 Speaker 1: a couple of board members started saying, we need to 520 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:07,440 Speaker 1: see an audit, We need to see what's going on 521 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,040 Speaker 1: with the money. Things that they had ignored about the 522 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 1: money began to become of interest to them. With a 523 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:19,920 Speaker 1: murder and suicide both connected to an awake. Within a 524 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:23,720 Speaker 1: few years time, law enforcement began to take a closer 525 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,359 Speaker 1: look at in awake. What they would find out would 526 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:33,080 Speaker 1: go far beyond what they ever could have imagined. Law 527 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: enforcement became aware in Douglas County of the abuse. Once 528 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:40,840 Speaker 1: that happened, then the genie was out of the bottle. 529 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:44,160 Speaker 1: There was no way that it was going to become 530 00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:48,239 Speaker 1: anything other than what it became. Once Sheriff Eli knew 531 00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:52,000 Speaker 1: about it, that was the end. Former d A. Frank 532 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:55,920 Speaker 1: Winn says that he and his assistant David McDade had 533 00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:59,040 Speaker 1: begun to hear complaints about in Awake for some time, 534 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,759 Speaker 1: and had even begun to keep a file of said complaints. 535 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,560 Speaker 1: One afternoon, he received a visit from Sarah Tillis. It 536 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:11,400 Speaker 1: seemed to confirm some of the suspicions when and Sheriff 537 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:17,440 Speaker 1: Earl Lee had had m she believed that Petter had 538 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:21,719 Speaker 1: been misleading her and the other board members, so it 539 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:25,080 Speaker 1: wasn't just sexual. She gave me enough details that I 540 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:27,440 Speaker 1: sat there to ten thirty with the lady that when 541 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:29,840 Speaker 1: she walked in the office that morning, I would have 542 00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:34,319 Speaker 1: thought she was possibly a crazy lady. I had no 543 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:38,400 Speaker 1: idea why somebody is just showing up to talk about anawake. 544 00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:41,600 Speaker 1: But she wasn't crazy enough for me to refuse to 545 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:45,160 Speaker 1: talk to her, And she certainly immediately caught my attention, 546 00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:47,640 Speaker 1: and I didn't feel like she's crazy at all after 547 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,759 Speaker 1: I got talking to her. But I was there till 548 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:55,960 Speaker 1: late that evening, and and so the investigation that actually 549 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,120 Speaker 1: started was I talked to David McDade a little bit 550 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,520 Speaker 1: about some of the things that had bothered us. David 551 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:06,560 Speaker 1: and I realized we had information that bothered us from 552 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:11,319 Speaker 1: multiple sources. Some of the sources would have been teachers, 553 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:15,400 Speaker 1: some of it administration, uh some of its kids that 554 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:21,200 Speaker 1: were at an awake and now we had a board member. 555 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,440 Speaker 1: So we made the decision at that point that to 556 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:31,120 Speaker 1: ask early to start an investigation. And Earle always believed 557 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:39,120 Speaker 1: that Lewis better was something wasn't right. Earl started working 558 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:42,399 Speaker 1: so hard it was impossible for anybody to keep up 559 00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:47,520 Speaker 1: with him. An official criminal investigation and now begun to 560 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:50,680 Speaker 1: look into the inner workings of an Awaki and follow 561 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:55,120 Speaker 1: up on the numerous complaints against the center. But Pedico's 562 00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:58,600 Speaker 1: death would open the center to a financial audit from 563 00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:02,480 Speaker 1: the board, and fighting amongst the upper management was only 564 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:06,520 Speaker 1: getting worse and soon they too would be answering to authorities. 565 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,640 Speaker 1: Petter's empire was beginning to fall apart at the seams, 566 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 1: and he was going to do everything he could to 567 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:25,240 Speaker 1: save himself along with it. Next time on camp held 568 00:38:25,719 --> 00:38:32,600 Speaker 1: in awaking. After Earle started talking to whoever the ones 569 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:35,319 Speaker 1: were that he interviewed to start with, it was like 570 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:40,600 Speaker 1: a snowball going downhill. It became overwhelming. His whole family 571 00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:43,360 Speaker 1: was involved and not awaking. If it was something to 572 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:49,200 Speaker 1: do with the Petter family, the cooperation was minimal. We 573 00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:51,719 Speaker 1: had no way of knowing anything that was going on. 574 00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:54,080 Speaker 1: We can't talk to our parents. For the most part, 575 00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:58,120 Speaker 1: we were in this bubble. It wasn't long after that 576 00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:01,520 Speaker 1: that I went down to meet Petters at They essentially 577 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:06,680 Speaker 1: wanted to videotape me denying everything anything sexual or inappropriate, 578 00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:10,280 Speaker 1: or financial or anything. He calls me him, he said, 579 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:15,319 Speaker 1: doc Raham. I said, yes, sir, he said, we got 580 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:25,960 Speaker 1: the s LB. Camp hell anna Waki was created and 581 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:29,759 Speaker 1: hosted by Josh Thane, with producer Miranda Hawkins and executive 582 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:33,840 Speaker 1: producers Alex Williams and Matt Frederick. The soundtrack was written 583 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:38,000 Speaker 1: and performed by Josh Thane and Adrian Barry. Archival footage 584 00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:41,880 Speaker 1: provided by ws B and CBS News. Find us on 585 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:45,560 Speaker 1: Instagram at camp hell pod. That's c A M p 586 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:50,120 Speaker 1: h E L L p O D Educate yourself about 587 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:52,600 Speaker 1: the issue of child abuse and things that you should 588 00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:55,439 Speaker 1: look for at the Darkness to Light website, d too 589 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:59,640 Speaker 1: well dot org. That's D the number two L dot 590 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:03,200 Speaker 1: O r G. Camp hell Anawaki is a production of 591 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:06,200 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, 592 00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:09,760 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever 593 00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:11,120 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts,