WEBVTT - Episode 2 : Man On A Mission 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:07.040 The first time Robert Chadler tried cocaine, he was twenty one, 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:10.360 and it was like falling in love. It wasn't just 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:14.440 a high, it was a feeling of connection, like he 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:19.560 was unlocking old memories. It felt so right. Scoring cocaine 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:22.680 was pretty easy in nineties Chicago, and Robert he was 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:27.200 a natural. Sure, the coumdowns weren't great, but the high 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:31.640 it erased all of that. Soon nothing else mattered. Robert 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:34.800 dropped out of business school, stopped playing with his skybad 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:40.000 pawned his trumpet for chump change. Childhood friends started avoiding him. 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:48.519 His girlfriend dumped him. He became that guy. Throughout his addiction. 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:51.640 There was only one period of relief, a summer job 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:55.000 looking after horses on a ranch in Wisconsin. The local 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:59.360 homage community helped to provide a buffer to any drug supply. Still, 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:05.959 Robert was clean and thriving. He came from a family 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.679 of animal lovers, but for it was more than that. 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.960 Rescuing and nurturing animals was a calling. As a kid, 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:16.720 he'd bring home wild animals to raise his pets, raccoons, 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:21.160 a baby fox, a monitor lizard. Even you might think 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:25.080 his mom would disapprove of this unusual hobby, but mother 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:27.920 and son were very close, and she knew that denying 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:32.240 Robert his passion would be cruel. Maybe Robert later told 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:35.240 me this behavior was the product of a lonely childhood, 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:37.520 or maybe he was just meant to be a vet 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:42.040 or something. Either way that calling to rescue would always 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:47.319 be a part of him. But then that happy summer 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.559 looking after horses ended, and as soon as Robert walked 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:53.920 off at Wisconsin Ranch, he was back in Chicago and 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:58.440 back in the grip of addiction. He'd walk his suburban 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:01.520 streets at night looking for unlikes cars, and when he 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:04.440 found one, he'd rifle through the seats and compartments for 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:07.920 whatever he could find. A few bucks, some loose change 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:10.800 he was stealing from his own mother when she left 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:13.840 her purse out. Stints at the local jail became a 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:16.520 regular feature of his life. He'd go in for a 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:19.960 couple of weeks here, a month there, and every time 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:23.320 he'd swear to himself that this was it. I'm never 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:27.359 using again, I can't use, I'm done. But then he 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.320 would get out and it would be the very next day, 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:33.880 or even that very night, that he'd be at it. Again, 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.120 and soon he reached the end of his rope. A 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.519 neighbor had seen him trying to break into their garage 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:45.040 and called the police. This time Robert would be sentenced 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:52.600 to three years in big boy prison. In prison, rob 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:56.680 would finally get clean, But that drive, that persistence he'd 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:59.679 shown and chasing his next high, that was gonna stay 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:03.160 with him and take on a whole new purpose, a 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:12.320 whole new life. From iHeart Podcasts, I'm Dax Stevlin Ross 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:32.680 and this is Crying Wolf, Episode two. Man on a Mission. 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:42.160 When Robert Chatler arrived at the threshold of Cell four three, 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:46.600 fourth gallery, second floor, he was scared to death. You see, 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.960 Robert's rap sheet was light. So his first stop was 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:53.240 a minimum security facility that felt more like a glorified 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:57.200 outpatient program. He even got weekend passes to go home. 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:02.360 But then came what we'll call the d incident. Robert 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:05.400 swears to this day he wasn't involved, but the system 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:08.480 it didn't care. They slapped him with an upgrade to 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:10.560 Joliet Maximum Security prison. 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:14.400 I had no idea what I was looking at. I 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:16.919 just figured that I was around people that committed some 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:20.760 really heinous crimes. So it was very scary, and. 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:23.440 His first selly had confirmed all his fears. 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:29.120 I was sharing a cell with a very troubled person. 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.720 Rob never asked directly, but he was pretty sure the 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:35.200 man was in for murder. And every day seemed to 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:37.520 bring a new wave of bad news for the guys. 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:40.280 One relative after another passed away. 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.920 And each time he'd get this news, he would start 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:51.279 acting insane, screaming, swearing. He'd look give me looks like 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:53.040 he wanted to attack me. 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:57.640 Imagine this situation, two men inside of a cell the 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:00.880 size of a closet. Rob thinks his life is at risk. 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:04.919 Pure survival mode kicks in. First, he tears off a 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:07.279 piece of his bed sheet in case he needs to 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:09.800 wrap it around his celly's neck, and then he tries 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:11.640 the only other thing he can think of. 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:14.440 I spent most of the time just preaching God and 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:19.520 Bible versus to try to get him through that difficult situation. 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:24.200 And I think that I was preaching more for myself 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:26.080 to get myself through the situation. 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:31.279 The preaching and praying payoff. One day, Rob receives word 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.479 that he's being moved, and so he finds himself on 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:38.160 the threshold of sell four to three, about to meet 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:44.360 his new Selly. Lee Harris was sitting on the bottom 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.160 bunk with his back to the door, but when Rob 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:50.280 walked in, he turned around and got up, reached out 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:55.480 his hand and introduced himself. Then, just as calmly asked 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:59.159 if there was anything Robert needed, anything he wanted, he 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:01.359 could sure do with the cigarette. 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:03.719 Lee pulled out a pack of cigarettes that happened to 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.440 be the brand that I smoke, and. 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.000 He offered me one. 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.719 I smoked a cigarette and it was at long before 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:14.240 he handed me the whole pack. 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.960 Lee didn't smoke, and in fact hated smoking, but in 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:22.960 prison cigarettes are a powerful currency. They can win favor 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:24.400 these tensions. 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:29.640 I remember being relieved after meeting him because I quickly 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:33.400 realized that Lee was a nice person. I wasn't in 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:34.560 a dangerous situation. 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.200 And so a new chapter begins in cell four three, 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:42.320 two strangers now Selly's spending day after day in a 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:45.560 room just big enough to stand and sleep in, and 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.320 it was somehow kind of normal. 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:57.159 We cooked, We cooked quite a bit, rice and beans, stew, burritos. 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:03.159 Commissary had all types of items that you can buy. 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:04.960 You can get cheese whiz in the. 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:09.400 Can commissary a prison bodega of source where you could 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:12.840 also get hot pots intended to warm up water, but 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:16.480 with a little ingenuity could be dialed up a few notches. 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:22.200 We learned how to retro fit our hot pots so 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:25.280 that we can make water boil. The prisons do not 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:29.280 want boiling water in the cells because it'd boiling water 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:32.800 is a weapon. But if you take it apart and 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.360 you turn the coil and you squeeze it together so 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:39.920 that the wires are closer together, it creates more heat. 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.080 So we were able to get hot pots to boil, 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:45.120 so we can cook pasta, We can cook macaroni and cheese. 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:48.400 Lee would make coffee. 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:51.600 They'd find other ways to while away their time, even 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.679 allowing themselves now and then to dream beyond the bars. 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:56.440 We watched a lot of TV. 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:03.360 Lee would receive magazines better homes and gardens, and we'd 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:06.800 thumbed through the magazines and talk about having a nice 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.760 house one day and where to put it. 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:11.920 It got to the point in their relationship where Lee 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:14.520 and Rob could go hours without uttering a word to 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:18.680 one another, Rob disappearing into his music, probably the Beatles. 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:22.520 Lee a sports fanatic, devouring anything as TV set could render. 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:26.239 But whatever the case, for Rob, the situation was clear. 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:29.480 I mean, this guy's given me cigarettes, He's given me food. 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:35.040 He even put my phone numbers on his call lists 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.720 so I can call my family members because I wasn't 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:39.920 able to at that time. 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:45.280 That last gesture that was huge. As part of his 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:48.960 punishment at Joliet, Rob wasn't allowed to make calls. So 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.920 for Lee to share his phone privileges, it wasn't just kind, 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:54.680 it was a lifeline. 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:58.960 I was just happy to be there with him, And 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:02.520 based on other groups of guys going down the gallery 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:07.120 and other cells, I knew that I'd won the jackpot 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:07.800 of sal mates. 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:11.720 So what about Lee? How had he sized up young 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:12.600 mister Chatler. 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.400 I don't think he cared about me one way or another. 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:19.680 I don't think he liked me. I don't think he 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:23.480 disliked me. I think Lee was just being Lee, wanting 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:26.880 to be helpful, which made him feel good about himself. 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:29.600 So if he could do something nice for somebody, it 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:31.400 would give him a good feeling. 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:36.200 Case in point, the cigarettes, the food, adding Rob's numbers 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:39.800 to his call list, This was Lee's thing, had always 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:43.880 been his thing, people pleasing, giving them what they wanted. 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:49.880 Rob had already learned the Max joint etiquette from his 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:53.760 first SELLI you don't ask what someone's in for odds 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:56.680 are you already know from the news or you can 0:09:56.720 --> 0:10:01.680 guess either way, it's not your place. Question can invite beef. 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:06.040 The only acceptable question is how much time you got? 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:11.200 But for someone like Rob with just a few years 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:14.880 on his sentence, even that question was tricky to answer. 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:19.839 Doing so meant outing himself as a lightweight opposer, but 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:23.800 more importantly, someone who was going home soon, and in 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:27.160 a place like Joliet, that could make you a target. 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.240 Well, you know, somebody that's got a life sentence is 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:32.640 watching somebody that's going to go home in months or 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:34.719 a year. They know all they got to do is 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:36.839 get in a confrontation with them, and that can keep 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:39.960 that person there five six years. It's the crabs in 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:43.520 the bucket kind of thing. The crabs can never get 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:45.280 out because the ones on the bottom are pulling the 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:49.120 ones that got to the top down. And there's a 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:50.280 lot of that in the prison. 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:55.600 In other words, don't trust anyone with anything. So when 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.400 it came to Robert and Lee, they shared that eighty 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:02.439 bitty space Dan and Dan barely knowing anything about why 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:07.960 the other was there. But then one night things changed. 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:20.680 It's after dinner one night. Lee and Rob are back 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:24.040 on their cell, settling in for another night in the bunk. 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:31.080 Rob's up top, Lee's below. Something's off. Lee, normally lighthearted, jovial, 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:36.880 isn't himself. He's agitated, fixating on the toilet. It needs 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.400 to be clean. He keeps saying it needs to be clean. 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:44.040 Rob's baffled. The toilet looks the same as it always does, 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:48.559 stayed steel, barely functional, but Lee won't let it go. 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.080 He wants Rob to clean it, and he's not really asking. 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:56.679 His voice gets sharper. The frustration builds, and just when 0:11:56.760 --> 0:11:58.600 Rob braces for it to boil over. 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.440 I remember him sitting on his bed, feet on the 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:08.120 floor and he said, Sally, I'm sorry if I'm taking things. 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:11.199 Out on you, and then out it comes I'm not. 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:15.120 Supposed to be here, and I just looked at him, 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:15.560 like what. 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:22.040 And Lee just reaches under his bunk and pulls out 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:26.960 a small box, the plastic bin that is used to 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:30.960 keep all your correspondence, court documents, mail things of that 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:35.199 nature in and he starts going through some transcripts and 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:37.520 if he finds the ones he wants and he pulls it. 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:41.560 Out in short, all of the documents from Lee's case 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:47.120 in nineteen eighty nine. That night, Lee tells Robert his 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:50.360 side of the story about what went down all that 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.119 time ago in nineteen eighty nine. I'm innocent, he proclaims. 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.720 I actually wasn't there the night Dana was killed. I 0:12:57.840 --> 0:12:59.960 was just helping out my old buddy's ward of aque. 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:03.680 With the information he was given, he'd be helping them 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:07.160 and their boss, Detective Zuli, close the case. Sure I 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:09.520 wanted the twenty five k reward, but that was it, 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:14.400 I swear. Lee explains how that simple win win scenario 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:18.480 snowballed into a florry of statements, with the officers pressing 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:22.560 him for more and different information each time. The whole 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:26.200 thing soon turned into a suffocating snare. When I'd go 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:29.320 to the precinct and not say the wrong thing, Zuli 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:31.520 would look at me through his glasses, perched on the 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:35.680 end of his nose and calmly say, well, I don't 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.960 think it happened like that. And that's when Lee says 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:42.440 they turned on him. He went from being a star witness. 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:45.319 He'd even been put up in a motel on police 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.480 dollars to being suspected of being part of the gang 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:52.120 that attacked Dana. It was crazy. It was the police 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:54.920 who made me say all those things, and now they 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:58.599 were using it against me. Then the dog walker identifies 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:01.920 him in a lineup enough to get him arrested. At 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.840 that point, he's the only guy that police are focused on. 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:12.720 The other three gang members are never pursued again. But 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.280 that was not the end of the madness. At his 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.840 trial a whole two years later, the thing that seals 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:22.880 his faith of all things a surprise witness brought out 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.920 last minute by the prosecution, a man by the name 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:28.880 of David Toles, who tells the jury that over a 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:31.960 game of prison Blackjack Lee confessed to him that he 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:35.400 had murdered Dana Pheitler. I had never met this guy 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:38.800 in my life, screams Lee, sweat pouring from his face. 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:43.000 Out of breath and exhausted, he looks expectantly at his cellmate. 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:48.800 You know, I didn't know what to make of any 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:51.360 of that. Did I believe Lee? No? 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:55.280 I didn't believe anybody. I figured everybody that was there 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:59.080 was supposed to be there. I knew ironed my seat, 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:01.080 I figured everybody else. 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:05.240 So Rob gives a respectful but non committal answer. 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:08.840 And I just said, okay, I'll look into it. How 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:12.000 far I would go was another question, you know, remain 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:12.800 to be seen. 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.680 And well that was kind of it. The two men 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:20.200 never spoke again about Dana Feitler. LEAs let his paperwork 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:23.040 back in his box and back under his bunk. In fact, 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:26.480 one day soon thereafter, Rob found himself evicted from their cell. 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.440 As accommodating as Lee could be, even he had his limits, 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:34.200 Rob smoking was just too much, so he called in 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:38.680 a favor moved this guy. Just like that, Robert and 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:42.320 his belongings were relocated to sell four or five two 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:46.960 doors down, but a world away. Rob was hurt and 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:53.360 real pissed. Turns out it didn't matter, because something much 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:55.920 more painful was about to make everything else feel small. 0:15:57.560 --> 0:15:58.800 I believe it was a Friday. 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:02.680 My mom answered the phone and I said hi, Mom, 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:07.200 and immediately she just said she's gone, and then repeated again, 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:09.000 she's gone. 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:14.040 She was Julie, Rob's older sister. Three weeks earlier, she'd 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:17.080 return from a family trip to Kenya. Julie had come 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:20.560 back with a viral infection that wouldn't let go. She 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:25.120 was twenty seven. To make it all worse, prison officials 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:27.320 denied Rob's request to attend the funeral. 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:32.400 I knew that I had to accept this piece of 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:36.320 news like right then and there, and it worked right 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.600 back into the cell house with it, and basically just 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:41.600 sat in my cell for days before coming out. 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:45.640 And this is where Lee re enters the picture. Sure 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:48.520 he kicked him out of their cell, but he's still 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:52.480 worried about his young friend. Moreover, they still sat together 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:54.840 at lunch, still sought each other out in the yard. 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:56.840 He goes to investigate. 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.120 He could easily walk down the gallery, pass his cell 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:04.159 and look into mind. After a couple of days of 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:06.679 not seeing me, he said, he asked me what happened? 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:09.640 What's going on? And I just gave him a blank 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:12.520 stare because I couldn't come up with the words. 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:13.920 It was just too hard. 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:18.320 Lee was undeterred, and I remember he was sitting there 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:22.600 asking me over and over and over until the correction 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:23.600 officers made him. 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:24.080 Go lock up. 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:26.199 The next day, Lee was back at it. 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:29.800 I mean I had to eat, I had to make 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:31.840 phone calls and you. 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:33.639 Know, talk to my dad, and. 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:37.360 He grabbed me out in the yard and I told 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:39.720 him what had happened, and he. 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:45.439 Was very empathetic. Was at the correct word, He was 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:46.360 very empathetic. 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:50.879 Lee felt Rob's pain his brother had been murdered in 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:54.399 nineteen eighty seven. Suddenly, and perhaps for the first time, 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:58.720 they bonded over a shared trauma. Lee reminded Rob that 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:02.080 he could make calls if he needed to. Rob was 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:03.080 more than grateful. 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:05.920 Without Lee, I would have never been able to communicate 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:07.960 with my family, not the way I was able to. 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:11.040 I would have never been able to call my mom 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:13.600 and find out what happened to my sister. I would 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.280 have never been able to call my dad and hear 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.760 him and his reaction to what had happened. 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:22.600 And without him that could not happen. 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.480 Not long after Julie's death, Release Day comes from Robert 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:33.679 Chatler December twenty third, two thousand and one, two days 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:37.560 before Christmas. As he packs up his things and prepares 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.880 to walk that gallery for the last time, he knows 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:45.120 he has to do one more thing, say goodbye to Lee. 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:46.840 I walked a couple cells. 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:52.080 He was there looking and he was Lee still call me, Sully, 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:58.960 and he said goodbye. I said goodbye. I said, you'll 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:00.320 hear from me. I promise I'll look in. 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:03.720 Tooson what started that night months earlier. As a courteous 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:07.680 I'll look into it had hardened into resolve. Robert wasn't 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:10.040 sure if Lee was innocent, but he's sure as hell 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:11.800 was going to help him however he could. 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:15.160 I made him my promise, I promised. 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:30.479 Not long after leaving jail, Robert is at work one 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:34.960 quiet afternoon. It's four o'clock, close to Quentin time. Rather 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:37.960 than ducking out early, he decides to look Lee up. 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:42.560 He goes to the Illinois Department of Corrections database types 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:45.840 in his name. Turns out finding the right Lee Harris 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:49.639 in the Illinois prison system is its own ordeal. But 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:53.359 he has Lee's birthday, and with that he's able to 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:56.720 whittle the list down to his friend. Rob jots his 0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:00.600 mailing address and starts his first letter. He opens it 0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:01.960 with a simple question. 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:05.920 Where do I start? And I got a letter back 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:10.520 like probably the next week. It came real quick. Hey, 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:13.199 you know, he was very excited to hear from me. 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:17.160 Lee tells him an investigative journalist has already been looking 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:20.240 into his case and tells Robert to get in touch 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:23.760 with him. Robert obliges, and he knows the question he 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:27.240 needs to ask the journalists first before he goes any 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:28.440 further on this journey. 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:31.119 Do you think it's possible that he's telling the truth? 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:34.919 He said, yeah, yeah, there's a very good possibility. So 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:36.800 I was like, Okay, if this guy is saying that, 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:40.760 which you know, I gave him a lot more credit 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:44.680 then as to coming up with he might be may 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.520 not have done it. So I'm like, okay, this is 0:20:47.560 --> 0:20:48.440 getting interesting. 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:53.080 Intrigued, Rob picks up the phone. Lately, he's gotten into 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:57.960 the habit of recording these calls. 0:20:56.240 --> 0:21:02.800 The prepaid collect call and inodnight quest Small's. 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:03.800 Called the subject you recording and monitoring. 0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:06.000 Thank you for using the curis. 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:07.399 You may start the conversation. 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:10.160 Now, what's happening man? 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:10.879 How are you. 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:14.400 I'm going Are you feeling Yeah, I'm all right, I'm 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:15.000 doing all right. 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:19.240 Robert wanted to understand more about Lee's case, maybe even 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:23.720 helped push that journalist to finally write that piece. The 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:26.800 calls become more frequent, each one carrying a little more 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:29.320 urgency for Robert and a little more. 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:33.320 Hopefull leey A coup, Lee, I didn't want to keep 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:36.560 you waiting. Yeah, I'm glad you didn't. What's going on? Well, 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:38.879 he he was really focused on. 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:44.679 At first they talked shop, but soon other things creep in. 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:47.040 Lee's favorite subject. 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:52.879 Sports, Wow, how are you? I'm well. 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:55.280 I'm well. The big game tonight? 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:59.879 Yeah yeah, yeah, big game, Big game, Carol. 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:01.080 I think it's gonna win. 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:04.919 I think so. Yeah, I mean. 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:11.879 From sports, the conversations evolve into Robert's favorite subject, politics. 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:15.639 I'm hoping for some real, radical, fundamental change. 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:15.880 Man. 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:19.600 If these Republicans really knocked that income. Corporate income texts 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:23.359 found from thirty six to fifteen percent, I get to 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:26.840 keep twenty percent more. As long as the business world 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:30.720 is good, everybody else is good around everybody else, if 0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:32.720 everything falls in the line and takes care of it. 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:38.000 So yeah, Lee lets Robert vind about all his usual gripes, 0:22:38.200 --> 0:22:42.919 but over time he also becomes something else, part sounding board, 0:22:43.040 --> 0:22:47.080 part co signer, someone to release his frustrations with and 0:22:47.119 --> 0:22:49.040 receive a measure of solace from. 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:53.320 It's gonna be okay. If everything was perfect, then you 0:22:53.359 --> 0:22:55.000 would be wondering class perfect. 0:22:55.680 --> 0:23:01.040 Yeah, I've gotta be roll. Yeah. While in my line 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:05.120 of work. There's something wrong every day, so I'm used 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:05.280 to it. 0:23:06.640 --> 0:23:09.080 Well, But isn't it bunny? It'll be okay. You made 0:23:09.080 --> 0:23:14.560 a good choice at the good always that way today, sometimes. 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:18.160 Before long, the relationship that started as sellies is developing 0:23:18.200 --> 0:23:22.560 into something deeper, a real friendship. Inasmuch as the calls 0:23:22.600 --> 0:23:26.040 become an important lifeline for Lee, they are just as 0:23:26.040 --> 0:23:29.800 significant for Robert, which was a good thing because for 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:36.080 a while, not much as moving on Lee's case. The 0:23:36.160 --> 0:23:39.159 obvious first step was the Center on Wrongful Convictions, a 0:23:39.200 --> 0:23:42.680 nonprofit legal clinic out of Northwestern Law School. It had 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:46.160 a reputation for taking on miscarriages of justice, and at 0:23:46.160 --> 0:23:50.639 first there was a flurry of interest, but then nothing. 0:23:51.400 --> 0:23:54.240 It felt like they were only looking for slam dunk cases. 0:23:54.720 --> 0:24:01.280 Lee's was just too complicated. It was also still too controversial. Next, 0:24:01.280 --> 0:24:05.240 there was that investigative journalist. For a while it seemed 0:24:05.280 --> 0:24:09.600 like something might happen, but the guy never filed a story. 0:24:10.359 --> 0:24:13.679 And as for other journalists, they were either impossible to 0:24:13.720 --> 0:24:18.800 reach or just not interested. The friends begin to get disheartened. 0:24:19.560 --> 0:24:22.680 I'm more worried about you, and like I said, I'm 0:24:22.680 --> 0:24:26.200 getting tired of this I'm just getting impatient with it, 0:24:26.359 --> 0:24:29.199 and I have a feeling, I've got a good idea 0:24:29.280 --> 0:24:33.760 how you feel inside, and I'm just as aggravated. There 0:24:33.760 --> 0:24:35.560 are things that I want to shame, there are things 0:24:35.560 --> 0:24:38.320