WEBVTT - S05 Episode 5 Extra: Coming Down Fast

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain Smith, where

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<v Speaker 1>for the weeks in between episodes we look at stories

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<v Speaker 1>and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make

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<v Speaker 1>it into the previous show. In the last episode, when

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<v Speaker 1>Love Breaks Down, we followed two young women on two

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<v Speaker 1>very different paths, albeit ones that were destined eventually to

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<v Speaker 1>collide in devastating and tragic circumstances. With all the conflicting testimonies,

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<v Speaker 1>it isn't known exactly what took place inside the main

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<v Speaker 1>house of one hundred and fifty Cello Drive on the

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<v Speaker 1>night of August eighth, nineteen sixty nine. What is known, however,

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<v Speaker 1>is that sometime around midnight, Susan Atkins, Patricia Cremwinkle, and

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<v Speaker 1>Charles tex Watson entered the property uninvited, while Linda Kasabian

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<v Speaker 1>remained outside on lookout. By the time they'd left, Sharon Tate,

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<v Speaker 1>eight months pregnant at the time, j Sebring, Abigail Falger,

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<v Speaker 1>and Voycheck Frykovsky, who were staying with Sharon that night,

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<v Speaker 1>and Stephen parent who'd been visiting the property's caretaker, William

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<v Speaker 1>Garretson in the guest house, had all been murdered. Though

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<v Speaker 1>at first tex Watson attempted to take responsibility for all

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<v Speaker 1>the murders, it was made clear in the subsequent trial

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<v Speaker 1>that although he may have taken the lead, he was

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<v Speaker 1>far from acting alone. Reports vary as to whether Techs

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<v Speaker 1>murdered Sharon Tate single handedly, or whether, in fact, she

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<v Speaker 1>was also stabbed by Susan Atkins. The killing spree continued

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<v Speaker 1>the following night, when Watson and Kremwinkle joined, this time

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<v Speaker 1>by then nineteen year old Leslie Van Houghton, were ordered

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<v Speaker 1>by Charles Manson to kill Rosemary and Lino Labianko at

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<v Speaker 1>their home in Los Felis in Los Angeles. The Tate

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<v Speaker 1>Labyanka murders, perpetrated by some of the members of the

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<v Speaker 1>Manson family, as they have since come to be known,

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<v Speaker 1>occupy a complicated place in the annals of twentieth century culture,

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<v Speaker 1>occurring as they did within the context of the counterculture

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<v Speaker 1>movement of the time, and at the center of it all,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, was Charles Manson. Although Manson didn't take part

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<v Speaker 1>physically in the killings, he was through the influence he

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<v Speaker 1>exerted on his followers, judged by the law to have

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<v Speaker 1>been equally responsible for them. It wasn't a particularly controversial ruling,

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<v Speaker 1>and certainly few would argue against it, much less defend

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<v Speaker 1>Manson for his involvement. Manson has been described as both

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<v Speaker 1>a psychopath and a sociopath, devoid of any empathy for

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<v Speaker 1>those he harmed, whose sole intention was to manipulate and

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<v Speaker 1>control people for his own deluded ends. Nonetheless, we are

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<v Speaker 1>still left with the rather thorny issue of trying to

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<v Speaker 1>decipher what it was exactly that encouraged so many seemingly

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<v Speaker 1>ordinary young men and women to perpetrate murder on his behalf.

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<v Speaker 1>It would certainly be far too easy to dismiss them

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<v Speaker 1>as simply drug adult drifters with psychological problems. Central to

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<v Speaker 1>Manson's power was the landscape and era in which he

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<v Speaker 1>was operating. The term hippie is largely a pejorative one

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<v Speaker 1>that goes back to the Beach Generation, a term itself

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<v Speaker 1>coined by Jack Carouac in nineteen forty eight as a

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<v Speaker 1>way to describe the growing anticonformist creative scene in New

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<v Speaker 1>York at the time. As the scene developed and became

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<v Speaker 1>more widely dispersed into mainstream culture, many of the early

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<v Speaker 1>Beat generation became scornful of the sudden influx of people

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<v Speaker 1>trying to participate in it, the problem being that since

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<v Speaker 1>the scene was no longer underground, it could no longer

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<v Speaker 1>be anticonformist. Those who arrived late to the party were,

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<v Speaker 1>in effect deemed to be merely mimicking Beat sensibilities, as

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<v Speaker 1>opposed to really embodying what made the scene in the

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<v Speaker 1>first place. Hippy was coined by the Beat generation to

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<v Speaker 1>describe any one who wasn't considered hip enough. Ironically, this

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<v Speaker 1>term would later be used by more conservative elements of

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<v Speaker 1>society as a pejorative to describe any one they took

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<v Speaker 1>to be a member of the new anticonformist creative movement

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<v Speaker 1>of the nineteen sixties, in effect completely reversing its meaning.

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<v Speaker 1>Hippy quickly became shorthand for virtually any one who didn't

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<v Speaker 1>readily adopt conservative values and fashion styles. However, anyone who

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<v Speaker 1>might genuinely have considered themselves part of the counterculture movement

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<v Speaker 1>would rarely use the term, preferring instead to describe themselves

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<v Speaker 1>as freaks or children of love. The central tenet of

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<v Speaker 1>that counterculture fostered in the communes and collect gives of

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<v Speaker 1>hate Ashbury and to Panga Canyon was the rejection of

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<v Speaker 1>the stale, rigid norms of society. It encouraged people to

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<v Speaker 1>be open to who or what they could be, and

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<v Speaker 1>to remove all inhibitions and worries about how others might

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<v Speaker 1>perceive them, but also not to be coerced into having

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<v Speaker 1>to be a certain way just for the comfort of others.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a movement that also rejected notions of property

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<v Speaker 1>and possession, where everyone and everything was free and equal.

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<v Speaker 1>Such things, they believed encouraged repression and competition, and ultimately violence,

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<v Speaker 1>things that destroyed humanity rather than enriched it. Rosemary Kent,

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<v Speaker 1>Curse of the Blair Witch. Whether Manson actually believed the

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<v Speaker 1>things he said or was merely exploiting the philosophies of

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<v Speaker 1>the culture, much of what he said and claimed to

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<v Speaker 1>stand for, it could be argued wasn't wholly reprehensible to

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<v Speaker 1>all intents and purposes. Anyone traveling to San Francisco to

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<v Speaker 1>take part in the Summer of Love would have struggled

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<v Speaker 1>at first to separate Manson's ideas from the real thing.

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<v Speaker 1>By way of example, Manson's testimony at his trial makes

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<v Speaker 1>for some uncomfortable reading. As he said, then, I never

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<v Speaker 1>went to school, so I never growed up to read

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<v Speaker 1>and write too good. So I have stayed in jail,

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<v Speaker 1>and I have stayed stupid, and I've stayed a child

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<v Speaker 1>while I've watched your world grow up. And then I

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<v Speaker 1>look at the things that you do, and I don't understand.

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<v Speaker 1>You eat meat and kill things that are better than

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<v Speaker 1>you are, and then you say how bad and even

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<v Speaker 1>killers your children are. You made your children what they are.

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<v Speaker 1>These children that come at you with knives, they're your children.

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<v Speaker 1>You taught them. I didn't teach them. I just tried

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<v Speaker 1>to help them stand up. Most of the people at

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<v Speaker 1>the ranch that you call the family were just people

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<v Speaker 1>that you did not want. Much of Manson's proselytizing was

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<v Speaker 1>directed towards society at large and its inherent hypocrisies. How

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<v Speaker 1>was it he reasoned that he could be branded a

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<v Speaker 1>murderer while someone like President Nixon was free to be

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<v Speaker 1>leader of the most powerful country in the world, while

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<v Speaker 1>simultaneously be sending America's children off to die in Vietnam

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<v Speaker 1>for a cause that many did not support, therefore also

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<v Speaker 1>contributing to the deaths of hundreds and thousands of Vietnamese

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<v Speaker 1>or As Manson said, I know this that in your

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<v Speaker 1>hearts and your souls you are as much responsible for

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<v Speaker 1>the Vietnam War as I am for killing these people.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't judge any of you. I have no malice

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<v Speaker 1>against you and no ribbons for you. But I think

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<v Speaker 1>that it is high time that you all start looking

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<v Speaker 1>at yourselves and judging the lie that you live in,

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<v Speaker 1>none of which is by any means an attempt to

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<v Speaker 1>justify what Manson and his followers did, but rather to

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<v Speaker 1>ask what is one guilty of that the other is not.

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<v Speaker 1>Embedded also in Manson's words is another uncomfortable truth about

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<v Speaker 1>just what it means to be human. That to be

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<v Speaker 1>human is to be both love and hate, good and evil,

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<v Speaker 1>whatever we take those terms to mean. Whether or not

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<v Speaker 1>we consider ourselves to be practitioners of nefarious deeds, we

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<v Speaker 1>cannot escape the reality that if we are to consider

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<v Speaker 1>ourselves part of a collective human species, we have to

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<v Speaker 1>also accept that any action perpetrated by a human being

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<v Speaker 1>is in a sense perpetrated by us. We cannot pick

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<v Speaker 1>and choose what we do and don't want to be

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<v Speaker 1>considered human within That too, is perversely a logical extension

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<v Speaker 1>of the peace and love philosophy of sixties counterculture, in

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<v Speaker 1>which we are encouraged to look beyond the boundary of

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<v Speaker 1>ego and self in order to recognize that we are

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<v Speaker 1>all one and the same with everything in the universe.

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<v Speaker 1>It is precisely this idea, catalyzed by the use of

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<v Speaker 1>hallucinogenic drugs like LSD, that led Manson's followers into a

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<v Speaker 1>state whereby they no longer recognize the people they were

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<v Speaker 1>murdering as being individuals. Since all was one and the

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<v Speaker 1>ego and self were just illusions, what is left to

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<v Speaker 1>actually kill? For many, it is this that is the

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<v Speaker 1>ultimate horror of the Manson family murders, or the true

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<v Speaker 1>horror of having to confront any kind of such fanatical

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<v Speaker 1>reasoning for that matter, For if that person no longer

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<v Speaker 1>occupies the same reality that you do, there is no

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<v Speaker 1>knowing just what they might be capable of. I remember

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<v Speaker 1>I was screaming for help, and he was screaming for help,

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<v Speaker 1>and then text came and helped me, and I was

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<v Speaker 1>left to sit and watch Sharantate. At about that time,

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<v Speaker 1>I can remember seeing peoples scattering in different places and

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<v Speaker 1>running in different places, and I was left sitting with

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<v Speaker 1>Sharantate and she was talking to him, and I remember

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<v Speaker 1>that I had absolutely I could help. I felt nothing.

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<v Speaker 1>I felt absolutely nothing for her as she begged for

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<v Speaker 1>her life and for the life of her baby. I

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<v Speaker 1>remember when we first went in, one of the people said,

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<v Speaker 1>who are you in Texan? I'm the devil and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>here to do the Devil's business. And I remember that

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<v Speaker 1>in my conscience. It's so alive in me even just

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<v Speaker 1>recalling it. I remember that I had gone so far

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<v Speaker 1>and there was no turning back. That even if I

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<v Speaker 1>had wanted to run, even if I had wanted to leave,

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<v Speaker 1>I couldn't. I was like I was caught in something

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<v Speaker 1>that I had no control over. I had absolutely no

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<v Speaker 1>say so as to what was happening now. I was

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<v Speaker 1>just like a tool in the hands of the devil.

0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:51.760
<v Speaker 1>Is the only way I can put it. And if

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<v Speaker 1>you enjoy unexplained and would like to help supporters, you

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