1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:03,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. The other day, I 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: have to say I was reading this article and I thought, 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: this is crazy. The story about this family. The dad 4 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: was a firefighter and then come to find out after 5 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: he was injured on the job and he ends up 6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: with a drug addiction through the pain meds, that he 7 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:26,640 Speaker 1: actually had a secret life as like this main mafia 8 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: hick guy in Chicago. So he's known as like Kenny 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,199 Speaker 1: the Kid in Chicago. But his kids don't know anything, 10 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: his wife doesn't know anything. So I read this and 11 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,639 Speaker 1: it's from the perspective of his son. His son has 12 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: a podcast called Crook County because it was done and 13 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: I'm assuming Cook County, Illinois, and so I'm like, well, 14 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: I got to reach out to this guy. His name 15 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: is Kyle Tequila and he's here on the show today. 16 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:52,240 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being. 17 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 2: Here, Thank you for having me appreciate Your. 18 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: Story is wild. And I think, you know, I'm one 19 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: of those people that's always kind of had a fascination 20 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: with did this really ever happen? 21 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 2: Was? 22 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: How serious is the mafia? You know? And having grown 23 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,400 Speaker 1: up I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, so 24 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: I was there when this was happening, you know, and 25 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:16,479 Speaker 1: I think we think al Capone happened a million years ago, 26 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,559 Speaker 1: but this was like the al Capone group. Your dad 27 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:20,399 Speaker 1: was a part of this. 28 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,759 Speaker 2: Yeah, the Mob was was pretty much, you know, at 29 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 2: a peak power through the sixties, seventies, and eighties and 30 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 2: started to fall apart in the nineties, and then Operation 31 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,680 Speaker 2: Family Secrets was a huge federal investigation and sting that 32 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 2: took down pretty much all the Five families in the 33 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 2: early two thousands, which you know is twenty years ago 34 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 2: but still fairly recent, you know. And so yeah, my 35 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 2: dad was deep in the Mob during the time that 36 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 2: they were still very much powerhouse in Chicago. 37 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: So his story is like he gets recruited as a kid, 38 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: he gets kicked out of the house at sixteen, at seventeen, 39 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: he gets recruited to be kind of a hit man, right, Well. 40 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 2: Didn't start out as a hit man. I mean, basically 41 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 2: he was a homeless kid. His mom kicked him out 42 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 2: of the house at gunpoint because he was protesting their 43 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 2: divorce that they were getting. And I mean that just 44 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 2: kind of tells you right away with kind of family 45 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:18,079 Speaker 2: environment that he was used to. 46 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 3: So when he hit the streets. 47 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 2: He was living out of his car, and you know, 48 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,239 Speaker 2: he's seventeen years old. He doesn't really know what the 49 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,079 Speaker 2: hell to do with his life, and he doesn't have 50 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 2: any assets. It's not like she gave him any money. 51 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 2: So he was desperate and he decided to rob this 52 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 2: local drug dealer that he saw kind of running around 53 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 2: and figured that he can get some cash and some 54 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,679 Speaker 2: drugs and start a little drug dealing business. Unfortunately, this 55 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 2: drug dealer was related. He was the nephew of one 56 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 2: of the top coppos in that part of Chicago. You know, 57 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 2: there's multiple crews all over the place. His crew was 58 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:53,079 Speaker 2: the South Side crew. 59 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 3: He was the nephew. 60 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 2: And when he robbed him, of course, the guy goes 61 00:02:57,760 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 2: to his uncle and tells him what happened, and then 62 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 2: they go and find him. And so Kenny's sitting at 63 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 2: this restaurant, you know, with all this stuff, about two 64 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 2: days later and feeling pretty good about himself, and then 65 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 2: he sees these two dagoes walk up to him and 66 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 2: he knows it's all over at that point, and they 67 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 2: basically question him and he goes, did you rob my nephew? 68 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 2: And he goes, yeah, and he admitted to it and 69 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 2: told him the story, and the guy thought he had 70 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 2: spunk and basically, instead of punishing him, invited him into 71 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:24,919 Speaker 2: the mob. 72 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: I mean, it's an interesting situation because it's like, Okay, 73 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: what could have happened. He probably could have ended up 74 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: dying himself or he goes into this life. And I 75 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: feel like that's somewhat of a recurring theme as I 76 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: listened to him speak on your podcast. And that's the 77 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: interesting part about your podcast is it's actually him speaking 78 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: about this life. The recurring conversation that he seems to 79 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: go back to is like I didn't know what else 80 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: to do. I kind of felt like I had to 81 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: be in this. And yet the mom and me, the 82 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: mom of today, here's your mom talking and your mom 83 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: is so frustrated, like how did this happen under my nose? 84 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: And how did he How did he choose this over 85 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: our family? And it seems like there must have been 86 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: a point when the family was doing well enough without 87 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: this that he could have walked away. But can you 88 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: walk away from the mob? 89 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 3: That's exactly it. 90 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 2: You can't once you're in, and once you've done the 91 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 2: things that he did, you know, kind of going back 92 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 2: to what we were saying, he didn't start off as 93 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 2: a hit man. He kind of started off as almost 94 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 2: like an apprentice, and you would follow people around and 95 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 2: you would learn what they do. He learned, you know, 96 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 2: what this person does and what this person does, and 97 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 2: you know, his first, I guess real career in the 98 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 2: mob was was running their whorehouses, or one of the whorehouses, 99 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 2: and it ended up turning into multiple whorehouses. He was 100 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:46,239 Speaker 2: like one of their top managers who ran these these clubs, 101 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 2: and these clubs are where a lot of extortion happened 102 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 2: and where they got a lot of their leverage over 103 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 2: elected officials and the sheriff, et cetera. You know, because 104 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 2: they all got their kinks and they all go to 105 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 2: this place which is safe and very well regulated. They 106 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:00,720 Speaker 2: did they tested all the girls. Like my dad explains 107 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,919 Speaker 2: it to me, it's very professional, very business like. But 108 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,360 Speaker 2: of course, you know, it's still mob related and there's 109 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 2: a lot of crazy stuff that happens. And you know, 110 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 2: there was a robbery at one of the clubs and 111 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 2: it was actually an inside job. It was discovered and 112 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 2: they tasked my dad with taking him out, you know, 113 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 2: and that was his first hit, and so they realized 114 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 2: that he could do that and he had that in him, 115 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:26,720 Speaker 2: and then that's when that started. But that didn't start 116 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 2: till his early twenties. So he was probably in the 117 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 2: mob for about five years before he did his first 118 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 2: you know, hit, but he became a very trusted man 119 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 2: and they could rely on him. But you're right, you know, 120 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 2: he when he was twenty eight, he wanted out really bad. 121 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,039 Speaker 2: And you know, he was about ten years eleven years 122 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 2: into the mob at this point, and he had been 123 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:52,920 Speaker 2: studying to become a firefighter paramedic after being inspired by 124 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 2: watching American Airlines Flight one seventy nine crash right out 125 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 2: of OHAA Airport, which killed about two hundred and eighty people, 126 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 2: the largest domestic airline crash in history and I think 127 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:07,599 Speaker 2: it still might be. And he said he was close 128 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 2: enough to that crash this was, yeah, nineteen seventy nine, 129 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:14,720 Speaker 2: that he could feel the heat of all that jet 130 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 2: fuel burning. You know that O'Hare is very near where 131 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 2: one of the clubs was that he was working that night, 132 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 2: and that inspired him seeing all these people go in 133 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 2: and try to save the day. And so he'd been 134 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 2: studying on his own to become a firefighteror paramedic, and 135 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 2: when he was twenty eight, he passed all his tests 136 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 2: and he basically asked the same guy that recruited him 137 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,920 Speaker 2: into the Mob, that same Coppo, if he could go 138 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 2: and try to start a civilian life. He had been 139 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 2: dating my mother for years and they had a serious relationship. 140 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 2: They wanted kids, and they basically made a deal that 141 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 2: he can go and do that, he can have his 142 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 2: little life, but when they call on him, he needs 143 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 2: to answer. And so that was their agreement. So basically 144 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 2: they had an inside man in the Chicago Fire Department 145 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 2: doing their dirty work as a first responder whenever they 146 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 2: needed him to. So it kind of worked both ways. 147 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,599 Speaker 1: Wow, so you have to think about the psychology behind 148 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: that for your dad too, to be to see that 149 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: tragedy happen while he's working at a club owned by 150 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: the Mob and then saying, man, maybe that's what I 151 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: want to do. There's got to be some part of 152 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: you that feels so much guilt that you have to 153 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: replace that with heroism. So here you have a guy 154 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: who can save lives and a guy who can take lives. 155 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, a hero by day and hit man by night. 156 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: That's pretty wild. And you guys don't know any of. 157 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 2: It, No, not until twenty thirteen. And I was twenty 158 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 2: eight at that time, which is kind of funny because 159 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 2: he was twenty eight when you decided to go, you know, 160 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 2: become a civilian. But yeah, we just thought he there's 161 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 2: so much here. Obviously, this is a very there's a 162 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 2: lot of threads to this story, so it's hard to 163 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 2: kind of crack it all in a couple of minutes. 164 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 2: But yeah, so he had, like you said in the beginning, 165 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,120 Speaker 2: he had this really bad injury as a firefighter. And 166 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 2: at that point, I was like, you know, thirteen or 167 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 2: fourteen years old, so we had been living a very 168 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 2: normal suburban lifestyle in West Chicago. 169 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: And he really was your hero. 170 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I loved it. 171 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 2: I mean he was a wonderful dad. I mean he 172 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 2: was so big and charismatic and you know, the center 173 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 2: of attention always. He just had this electric personality and 174 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 2: I mean he was a special guy. And then you know, 175 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 2: you could really start to see the change after that 176 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 2: accident happened. He's on a lot of opiates at that 177 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,559 Speaker 2: time because the pain was so bad, and of course, 178 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 2: you know, like a lot of people. 179 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 3: They have the same story. 180 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,319 Speaker 2: The opiate pills are not enough for the doctor stuff's 181 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 2: prescribing them, and they had to take to the streets 182 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 2: to continue their addiction to it. 183 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:39,559 Speaker 3: And that's what happened. 184 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 2: He started doing Heroin, Street Heroin, and then it just 185 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 2: completely overtook his life and everything changed. Basically by the 186 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:49,839 Speaker 2: time I got into high school, by the time I 187 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 2: got out of high school, like it was one man, 188 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 2: and then by the end of it, he was a monster. 189 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 2: And for me, that was really hard because I didn't 190 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 2: understand why. I mean, he had everything. He had a 191 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 2: great family. We had a great family, he had a 192 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 2: great life. 193 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 3: We were happy. 194 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 2: I remember being a kid and being like, wow, like 195 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 2: I'm so lucky my parents aren't divorced. I had so 196 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 2: many friends who had divorced parents, so it was it 197 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:12,960 Speaker 2: was hard. It was a shock to me, and so 198 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 2: I left home. I went to college and I basically 199 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 2: just focused. 200 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 3: On my life. 201 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 2: I couldn't deal with the pain of home selfishly. But 202 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 2: I was young and to mature and I didn't want 203 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:25,559 Speaker 2: to deal with it and started my career in film 204 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 2: and TV, which is something I always wanted to do. 205 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 2: Met my wife when I moved to Atlanta right out 206 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:33,560 Speaker 2: of school and got married really young, got married at 207 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 2: twenty three. And I think that's one of the reasons 208 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 2: why I got married really young, because I wanted to 209 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 2: build my own family and kind of like erase the 210 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 2: pain of my you know, my first family. And so 211 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 2: I lived my life and I was a strange for 212 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 2: my father for five six years. You know, we'd every 213 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 2: now and then talk on the phone, but it just 214 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 2: got less and less and less until there was none 215 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 2: for several years. 216 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:57,080 Speaker 3: And then he called me in twenty thirteen. 217 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 2: I'd been living in LA, had already deep into my career, 218 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 2: it's already married, and we were talking about having kids 219 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 2: of our own, and he calls me and he says, 220 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 2: this is it. I need help or today is my 221 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:10,840 Speaker 2: last day. Come to find out later that he had 222 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 2: a gun in his hand and he was going to 223 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 2: kill himself. So flew him out to LA the next day. 224 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 2: I had no idea what to do, so I just 225 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 2: kind of figured out how to deal with the rehab 226 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,560 Speaker 2: thing and booked him at a spot and dropped him off, 227 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 2: picked him up at the airport, dropped him off, and 228 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 2: didn't talk to him for a couple of weeks until 229 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 2: he you know, do you do this detox thing? And 230 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:33,839 Speaker 2: so once he got through detox, we started talking again, 231 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 2: and that's when you can see the change in him. 232 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 2: You can see that he was starting to wake up. 233 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 2: And that's when he started laying these little hints on me, like, 234 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 2: you don't know anything about me. 235 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: There's so much so you're an adult before you even know. 236 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 2: I just thought he was a fucked up heroin addict. Gosh, 237 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 2: and that's bad enough, by the way. 238 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,479 Speaker 1: And your mom doesn't know either, no. 239 00:10:57,640 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 2: No, And you know, that's one of the things I 240 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 2: had to dig into because I'm like, how do you 241 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 2: not know? 242 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, they've known. 243 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:06,080 Speaker 2: Each other since he was nineteen and she was twenty. 244 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:08,959 Speaker 2: So he was working the clubs and you know, he 245 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 2: was on the scene and hanging out with all these 246 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 2: you know, big mafia guys. 247 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 3: But she didn't know. 248 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 2: She admits that she was very immature and ignorant of 249 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 2: all of it. She and you know, there's a term 250 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:23,320 Speaker 2: ignorance is bliss, and I think that really might totally 251 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 2: applies to my mom, and willful ignorance too, you know. 252 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 2: She I think if there was something nefarious going on. 253 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 3: She would willfully ignore it. 254 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: What was her family life like before that. 255 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 2: Well, there's a lot of she has a lot of 256 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:39,280 Speaker 2: daddy issues, let's put it that way. 257 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:42,400 Speaker 1: I mean, and not to like try to dig into that, 258 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: but it seems like. 259 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:44,320 Speaker 2: Man, that's what we're doing. 260 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: Really wanted that perfect life, you know. So it was 261 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: almost like she was looking past everything else because she's like, 262 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: I've got the two kids, the white picket fence. I'm good. 263 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 3: That's exactly right. 264 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:57,559 Speaker 2: And the reason is is because her dad died when 265 00:11:57,600 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 2: she was really young of cancer, and then a year 266 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,200 Speaker 2: later her brother died of leukemia at her older brother. 267 00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:04,360 Speaker 2: So the two men in her life and she was 268 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 2: probably fourteen fifteen when these two deaths happened and completely 269 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 2: sug her. Yeah, she one hundred percent was looking for 270 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,440 Speaker 2: the perfect life and the perfect man and to replace 271 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 2: those two men that she lost way too young. 272 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,120 Speaker 1: And then you've got this guy, and he I mean, 273 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: when you do have these powerful friends, it seems like, wow, 274 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: he's cool, he's got all this going on, and then 275 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,360 Speaker 1: he becomes a firefighter. But that to me, you said, well, 276 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: then they had somebody on the inside. But you talk 277 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 1: in the podcast about how they owned cops. And that 278 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:42,439 Speaker 1: is so awful in my mind because we I had, honestly, 279 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: before I got into this, before I got into the 280 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: political world, I had this Pollyanna view of people go 281 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: into service because they want to save people. They're all 282 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 1: good hearted, Like, I just don't know what I was thinking. 283 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: I just didn't realize the amount of corruption. But as 284 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 1: I'm listening to this, I think about the corruption in 285 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 1: Washington and the amount of I mean, even when you 286 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: talk about the whorehouses, I remember a few years ago 287 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: there was they were starting to expose that there was 288 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 1: I guess essentially like a whorehouse in a modern day 289 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: whorehouse in these outskirts of DC, and a lot of 290 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: the elected officials were using this and they're all freaking 291 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 1: out like they're going to expose us. But I mean, who, 292 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,079 Speaker 1: how do people get trapped in this? But how deep 293 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: does this go? What does owning cops mean? 294 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 3: There's a lot there. 295 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 2: Well, you know, there's a line that my dad says 296 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 2: in the show where he goes guys are horny bastards, 297 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,440 Speaker 2: and he's one hundred percent right. I mean, they'll you know, 298 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 2: and look, I mean, let's just be honest, A lot 299 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 2: of the people that go into politics, they weren't the 300 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 2: coolest kids in school, and I think they are trying 301 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,839 Speaker 2: to find that that power, you know, to try to it. 302 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: Has been called the Hollywood for ugly people, so. 303 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,079 Speaker 2: I mean it kind of it kind of makes perfect sense, honestly. 304 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 2: So yeah, and why do you think there's so many 305 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 2: people in power that have to fuck their interns? You know, like, 306 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:10,960 Speaker 2: just go find a real woman. You know. I'm not 307 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 2: to say that she's not a real woman, but like, 308 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 2: stop trying to use your power position to you know, 309 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 2: get laid. I think it's disgusting. But but yeah, I 310 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 2: mean that's why they go and find whorehouses because you know, 311 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:22,400 Speaker 2: it's supposedly secret and then get their kinks out and 312 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,160 Speaker 2: they could feel like big powerful men or whatever. And 313 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:27,840 Speaker 2: they pay for it, and that's of course an asset 314 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,200 Speaker 2: that's going to be used against them by by people 315 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 2: on the other side or other even other governments or whatever, 316 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 2: and of course by the mob, you know, so. 317 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 3: They can get leverage. 318 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 2: So they took advantage of that and they did it 319 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 2: very very successfully. But yeah, owning cops, it wasn't just 320 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 2: through that, but it was through payola, through I mean, like, 321 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 2: it's not like police officers back in the eighties were 322 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 2: making a lot of money, so you know, they would 323 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 2: pay them of course. And also there are a lot 324 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 2: of bad people back in the seventies and eighties. And 325 00:14:55,680 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 2: the Jeff Cohen, who is the Chicago Tribune reporter who 326 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 2: I kind of recruited to to do commentary on the show, 327 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 2: He's got a great take on this. He's like a 328 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 2: lot of the police officers up until the late eighties 329 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 2: and early nineties were legacy police officers, Like their grandfather 330 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 2: was a police officer, the father was a police officer. 331 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 2: Now they're a police officer. And corruption goes way back 332 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 2: to the root of law enforcement, like the beginnings of 333 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 2: organized law enforcement in every major city, it's like all payola. 334 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 2: It's all you know, pay to look the other way. 335 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 2: It's tons of corruption. And they knew that and that 336 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 2: was half of their business was just getting payola. They 337 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 2: were basically like their own little mob. And so a 338 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 2: lot of that like is trickled down tradition, and so 339 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 2: it's easy for them to get caught up in the 340 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 2: mafia because they see, you know, people, they see these 341 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 2: guys giving them money to basically do things that they 342 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 2: would do anyway of so of course they're going to 343 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 2: do it. And it wasn't until there was all this 344 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 2: like internal affairs and you know, investigation stuff and hiring 345 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 2: outside of the family legacy, so to speak, that started 346 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 2: to kind of come to an end. And you know, 347 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 2: it's obviously not the same now. Of course, there's still 348 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 2: people that are corrupt. Back then it was, it was 349 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 2: very different. 350 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 1: I have more of this crazy story with Kyle Tequila 351 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 1: coming up, but first let me tell you about my 352 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 1: partners at Preborn. The news has been moving so fast 353 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: it's hard to keep up and easy to get distracted. 354 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: Here's something you don't hear much about, and it matters 355 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: more than almost anything. There are babies in their mother's 356 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 1: womb who need our help right now. 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There 375 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:37,000 Speaker 1: had to be something else that was gluing this all together. 376 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 2: Sure, well, I mean a lot of it is. What's 377 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 2: the stereotype of They always own waste management companies and 378 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 2: construction companies. Well, how do you think they get those 379 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 2: giant contracts? You know a lot of those are government contracts, 380 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 2: like federal buildings or like huge commercial buildings. So they're 381 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:56,199 Speaker 2: making legitimate money through nefarious means by leverage. You know, 382 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 2: It's not like there's a bidding system, and then they 383 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 2: got the fair bid and they're the. 384 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,080 Speaker 1: And waste management comes in handy when you're murdering people. 385 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 3: Yep, you said it. 386 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:10,239 Speaker 1: Gosh. I mean, honestly, I feel like it's something we 387 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: all watched at movies growing up and we were like, oh, 388 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,160 Speaker 1: that's crazy, but you your dad lived this. 389 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 3: Yeah. 390 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 2: There's a lot of stuff that I can't even put 391 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,680 Speaker 2: in the show just for safety reasons. And that was 392 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,440 Speaker 2: one of the things that we talked about before releasing 393 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 2: the show was how deep can we go? So I 394 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 2: feel like we did a pretty good job of really 395 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,359 Speaker 2: telling the story and so the audience can understand the 396 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:40,040 Speaker 2: world and there's enough there's enough stories, like specific stories 397 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 2: to really like put yourself in there and like imagine 398 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,159 Speaker 2: yourself in these moments without having to literally dig up 399 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 2: bodies or point a finger at someone and say that 400 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,640 Speaker 2: guy killed this guy or whatever. And we did that 401 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 2: specifically to protect us because we didn't want to be, 402 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 2: you know, a snitch or a rat or whatever. Like 403 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 2: you have to be really careful with that stuff. Even today, 404 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 2: the way I describe the show is more like a 405 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 2: family show, a family drama with a father and a son, 406 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 2: kind of unraveling the relationship and the history of their 407 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 2: family wrapped in a mafia package. 408 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 3: And it sounds like. 409 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:15,800 Speaker 2: You've listened to a few episodes, so maybe you can 410 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:17,720 Speaker 2: agree with that if you've heard it. 411 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, family from the standpoint of it's about a family, 412 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:23,240 Speaker 1: maybe not listening to. 413 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 2: It with the kids, definitely don't listen to it. 414 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: What you did not that kind of a family show. 415 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: But no, yeah, I mean, honestly it is. It's fascinating because, 416 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:37,880 Speaker 1: like I said, we've all kind of heard about this 417 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:40,920 Speaker 1: from the outside, and you've heard about the stories of 418 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: somebody who had a double life, so it's kind of 419 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: like a double whammy of everybody's sort of major morbid curiosities. 420 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:49,600 Speaker 1: What is the mob like and what would it be 421 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 1: like if we had a family member that we found 422 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:54,640 Speaker 1: out was having a totally separate life. And I think 423 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,960 Speaker 1: your mom when I hear her, I probably relate most 424 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,840 Speaker 1: to your mom because as the mom of the family, 425 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:04,600 Speaker 1: I think about, Yeah, I can see how she would 426 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:08,480 Speaker 1: choose to not want to dig any deeper or question 427 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:10,880 Speaker 1: why you were seeing things. But you and your brother 428 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: saw some things that I would say, like in my life, 429 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 1: it would have been really weird for me to see 430 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: my dad have a road rage incident and knock somebody, 431 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,879 Speaker 1: like punch someone in the face on the side of. 432 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 2: The road multiple times. 433 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:25,959 Speaker 1: By the way, you guys didn't it didn't like it 434 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,120 Speaker 1: was like you must have known something about keeping your 435 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: mouth shut because he wasn't violent at home, but you 436 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:33,920 Speaker 1: didn't say anything when he got back in the car. 437 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: You know. 438 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:37,880 Speaker 2: It's one of those things like you look back at 439 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,119 Speaker 2: it and you go, how did you not? But when 440 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 2: you're twelve years old or ten years old and you 441 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:43,919 Speaker 2: see your dad beat the shit out of somebody on 442 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 2: the side of the road and then get back in 443 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 2: the car and he's back to dad again, it shocks you. 444 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 2: You don't you have no idea how to deal with that. Yeah, 445 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 2: I mean it's weird. It's weird to look back at 446 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,200 Speaker 2: it because it feels like a dream. And those memories 447 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,880 Speaker 2: kind of faded away until I started talking to my dad, 448 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 2: until he started opening up to me, and then all 449 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 2: these things, these waves of things came back to me 450 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 2: like oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. 451 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:08,960 Speaker 3: Now it makes sense. 452 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 2: But it literally felt like a dream, and so you 453 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:13,200 Speaker 2: kind of put it away like a dream. 454 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: You know, yeah, I guess if you don't have the 455 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: context of why it's happening, then your child mind would 456 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 1: be like, wow, that's weird. Obviously he's really mad. I'm 457 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: not going to say anything. Don't want him to get 458 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:25,639 Speaker 1: mad at me. I mean, I imagine my own like 459 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: situation with my kids if I freaked out. I think 460 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: they they wouldn't think it was something deeper because you're 461 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: a kid. But when you're listening to it at the time, 462 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,200 Speaker 1: you're like, oh my gosh, how do you not kind 463 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: of start to put the stuff together. But your mom 464 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: really seems like she's in the dark. And then she 465 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: she's even in the dark about the fact that he's 466 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: an addict until was it his brother that came to 467 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 1: her and was like, he's an addict. 468 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:52,119 Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, Again, she had this wilful ignorance, you know, 469 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 2: and she she's still you know, I love my mother, 470 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 2: but like she still kind of has this like fantasy 471 00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 2: like that she relies on in her head to kind 472 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 2: of keep her with from going absolutely insane, and so like, 473 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 2: you know, she doesn't even have a TV. She just 474 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:08,119 Speaker 2: watches home videos from like the good old days. Like 475 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,720 Speaker 2: that's literally what she does, like she's like reinforcing the 476 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,280 Speaker 2: memories that were good in her life, and like that's 477 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 2: the family that she lives in in her head every day, 478 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 2: not the family that it turned into, you know, and 479 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 2: that's hard. I mean, I don't even try to tell 480 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:23,639 Speaker 2: her not to do that anymore. I just say, you know, 481 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:24,959 Speaker 2: I just want my mom to be happy. And if 482 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 2: that's what makes you happy. Looking at you know, home 483 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:28,960 Speaker 2: videos of home videos of us when we're five and 484 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 2: six years old makes you happy, then good for you. 485 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:32,639 Speaker 3: You know so. 486 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:35,560 Speaker 2: But you know, I think that goes back to her 487 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,560 Speaker 2: being completely destroyed by the two men in her life 488 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:43,720 Speaker 2: dying within a year of each other when she was ten, eleven, 489 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:44,320 Speaker 2: twelve years old. 490 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:45,760 Speaker 3: I can't remember exactly how old she was. 491 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,400 Speaker 1: Well, And I'm sure she saw him as a hero too, 492 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 1: because here you have this life that you've always wanted. 493 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: You can go out and say, my husband's a hero. 494 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 1: He's legitimately a hero. He goes out and saves lives 495 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 1: every day. He saved your life when you were young. 496 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 1: She looked at him as like this bigger than life figure, 497 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:05,119 Speaker 1: and he seems like he was a bigger You talk 498 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 1: about him being very charismatic, and I imagine that helped 499 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,919 Speaker 1: him out quite a bit in his in his side business, 500 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: in both businesses, you know, being me, he was attractive guy. 501 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,200 Speaker 1: I'm sure that people just kind of like they were 502 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,199 Speaker 1: probably drawn to him. And then she finds out that 503 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:23,399 Speaker 1: he's an addict, and that starts, and you say, through 504 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:27,239 Speaker 1: your high school years he really changed. Still, at what 505 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: point does your mom find out that he was working 506 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,120 Speaker 1: in the mob because she says that she's taking him, 507 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,360 Speaker 1: I think, to rehab when he says I've killed peep 508 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,639 Speaker 1: in and holds his hand up to her head like 509 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:42,159 Speaker 1: a gun. Does she know at that point he really 510 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: has no. 511 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:46,879 Speaker 2: She just thinks he's fucked up on heroin and saying 512 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 2: stuff and just basically being like as mean and evil 513 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 2: as possible. 514 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:52,679 Speaker 1: So imagine what that's like. That's the last time she 515 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 1: saw him, right, Yeah, So there's no closure there. 516 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 2: No, No, It's taken a very very long long time 517 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 2: and a lot of kind of hard tough love on 518 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 2: my part to kind of like wake her up and 519 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 2: try to get her to move on and try to 520 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 2: rebuild her life because she, I mean, she just went 521 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,840 Speaker 2: through a serious depression after he finally like left the 522 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,239 Speaker 2: house and went into rehab because now everybody's gone. Now 523 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 2: it's like real, you know, Like it's weird because it's 524 00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 2: a lot of psychology here and a lot of layers 525 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 2: to it. But it's like, as long as he was around, 526 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:26,639 Speaker 2: you know, maybe he would he would go back to 527 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 2: the old Ken, Like there's a chance maybe he would 528 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:30,719 Speaker 2: be you know. So it's like she kept holding on 529 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,199 Speaker 2: to this dream, like again, she watches home videos from 530 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 2: twenty five thirty years ago of the good old days, 531 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 2: like that's what she wants in her That's what she 532 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,560 Speaker 2: wants a reality to be. So she keeps holding onto that. 533 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,159 Speaker 2: And so when he finally came to California and I 534 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,399 Speaker 2: put him into rehab, and he starts telling me all 535 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 2: these things, and then I have to have this conversation 536 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 2: with my mom. 537 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 3: Be like do you did you know this? 538 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 2: And then that's when I start my really my investigation 539 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 2: was once I find out from Ken, when I'm twenty 540 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 2: eight years old and twenty thirteen, then I have to 541 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:01,239 Speaker 2: go and ask my mom if she knew about any 542 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:02,959 Speaker 2: of this, and when she tells me she doesn't, then 543 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 2: now I got to go ask his brother. And then 544 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 2: I then the whole thing unravels, and that's kind of 545 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 2: how this whole thing came together. 546 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 3: This wasn't a podcast. 547 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 2: It was an investigation of a son trying to figure 548 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:15,080 Speaker 2: out who the hell's family really is. 549 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 1: And then so does anybody in the family, now, did 550 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 1: anybody know? 551 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 2: So his brother, he has a twin brother, a fraternal 552 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,880 Speaker 2: twin brother. His brother knew that he was working with 553 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:30,919 Speaker 2: mob people, like at a club, not that club, but like, 554 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,440 Speaker 2: you know, bartending at like a bar that they owned, 555 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 2: that kind of stuff, hanging out with you know, goof 556 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:40,199 Speaker 2: falls that he knew or were connected, et cetera. But 557 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 2: he they had a very tumultuous relationship to growing up 558 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 2: with their own family, and there was a lot of 559 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,520 Speaker 2: separation there. So his brother's name is Rich, So, you know, 560 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:51,640 Speaker 2: he says in his interview, is like I didn't want 561 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 2: to know, I didn't care to know. I didn't talk 562 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 2: to Ken at that time. I didn't want to talk 563 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:56,919 Speaker 2: to Ken at that time. So whatever you want to 564 00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 2: do with his life, he could do. So there was 565 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 2: a lot of like operation and so people didn't dig. 566 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:03,439 Speaker 3: You know. 567 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 2: The only person that had a real opportunity. 568 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:05,960 Speaker 3: To dig was my mom. 569 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:10,239 Speaker 2: She didn't, So it's like Ken had this kind of 570 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,480 Speaker 2: like you know, open lane to do all the stuff 571 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:14,159 Speaker 2: because no one was pressuring him and no one was 572 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:18,760 Speaker 2: asking questions. And the other interesting thing too, is being 573 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,439 Speaker 2: a firefighter paramedic, your schedule, your work schedule is like 574 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 2: twenty four hours on and forty eight hours off or 575 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,480 Speaker 2: somewhere in between, so there's a lot of time that 576 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:29,640 Speaker 2: he can go. I got another extra shift, so he's 577 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 2: got a full twenty four hours to go do whatever 578 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,119 Speaker 2: the hell he wants without any questions. So it's not 579 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 2: like you worked in nine to five and like, oh 580 00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 2: where you go and you're staying late at the office, 581 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,000 Speaker 2: Like you know, he's gone for days without any questions. 582 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 3: So it's just wild. 583 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:43,880 Speaker 1: Man. 584 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:45,680 Speaker 2: It's like once you add up all the pieces, it's 585 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 2: like the perfect it's like this crazy perfect situation. 586 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 3: You know that that is very unique and interesting and 587 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 3: sadly it's my family. 588 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:56,440 Speaker 1: Are you mad? 589 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 2: I'm mad that. 590 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 3: I'm mad that. 591 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 2: My brother had to my younger brother had to go 592 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,400 Speaker 2: through high school with a monster of a father. He 593 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,720 Speaker 2: was at home during the worst of it. I'm mad 594 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 2: that that my own son doesn't have a functioning set 595 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:23,400 Speaker 2: of grandparents. I'm mad that there isn't people in our lives, 596 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:26,160 Speaker 2: adults that we can look up to that are family members. Really, 597 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 2: my wife and I both she's got kind of, you know, 598 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:31,600 Speaker 2: not a similar situation. 599 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 3: No one really has a similar situation. 600 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 2: Her family's a little messed up too, you know. She 601 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 2: was like abandoned by her biological father as an infant, 602 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,760 Speaker 2: and she's had a couple step dads, you know, so 603 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,919 Speaker 2: there's like there's like no like really like we are 604 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 2: the patriarch and matriarch of this new generation. Like we 605 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:53,119 Speaker 2: have to be the rock that the rest of that 606 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 2: my son and his kids if he has them, and 607 00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:57,679 Speaker 2: you know, and going down the line, like we have 608 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,800 Speaker 2: to be the foundation that starts this family. And there's 609 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:02,720 Speaker 2: no one before us that we can rely on or 610 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 2: point to that and that that pisses me off, But 611 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 2: you know, it's something that I'm done being mad about it. 612 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:10,800 Speaker 3: And my son's ten years old. 613 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:13,120 Speaker 2: I've my wife and I have taken on that role 614 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 2: and we're proud that we can craft I guess, like 615 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,239 Speaker 2: a new family legacy out of the ashes of an 616 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:21,400 Speaker 2: old one. 617 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:23,399 Speaker 1: Do you ever feel like you're looking over your shoulder 618 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:24,639 Speaker 1: from your dad's past. 619 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:28,520 Speaker 3: No, you know not, I don't. 620 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:35,159 Speaker 2: Actually there were times before where there where things were happening, 621 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 2: like when I was putting him through rehab and he 622 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,160 Speaker 2: was living closer to me in Los Angeles, you know, 623 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,840 Speaker 2: he was using our address for mail, and so like 624 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 2: we'd get weird stuff and every now and then they'd 625 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 2: be like we'd see like a car, and it was 626 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:50,960 Speaker 2: maybe it was a lot of paranoia because we just 627 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 2: found out all this shit. I'm not saying it was 628 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:55,960 Speaker 2: actually real and we were in any real danger, but 629 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 2: it was a weird period of time where we didn't 630 00:28:58,320 --> 00:28:59,960 Speaker 2: know what to think. We didn't know if you was 631 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 2: still connected, We didn't know if any of this stuff 632 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,120 Speaker 2: was real at all. 633 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:05,440 Speaker 3: It was it was a very bizarre time. 634 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 2: And I think all this stuff has kind of sorted 635 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 2: itself out, and now we're at the point where, you know, 636 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 2: I'll tell you a one story and I think kind 637 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 2: of encapsulates it is that when the trailer for the 638 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,840 Speaker 2: show came out a couple of weeks ago, it's the 639 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:23,200 Speaker 2: first time it's been announced to the world, right, And 640 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 2: within a day, I get a a instant message, you know, 641 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 2: on Instagram DM on Instagram from this guy, and it's 642 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:33,640 Speaker 2: a name that I know. It's a last name that 643 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 2: is a historically very significant last name within the Chicago mafia. 644 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 2: And so I'm looking at this last name and I'm going, 645 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 2: oh my god. And so I DM him back and 646 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:44,840 Speaker 2: I go, you know, I say his last name like 647 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 2: as in this guy, like as in the alias, and 648 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 2: he's like, yeah, that's my grandpa. So I'm like day one, 649 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 2: I'm like, oh my god, I'm on the radar. That 650 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,280 Speaker 2: That's when I started freak out a little bit. Then 651 00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 2: a day later, I'm trying to like smooth it over with. 652 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:01,720 Speaker 2: I'm like writing stuff down. I'm like, hey, don't worry, 653 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 2: I'm not snitching. 654 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:03,239 Speaker 3: I'm not this. I'm not that. 655 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:04,840 Speaker 2: Like, it's a really great show. You should give it 656 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,040 Speaker 2: a listen and check it out. It's like nothing like 657 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,719 Speaker 2: silence for twenty four hours. So the next day I 658 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 2: open up Instagram and I see a message from him, 659 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:14,480 Speaker 2: and it's like, this looks insane. 660 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:15,480 Speaker 3: This looks so cool. 661 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 2: I actually have my own book and I'm trying to 662 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:20,680 Speaker 2: get a screenplay going, and we should talk about maybe 663 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:24,120 Speaker 2: doing like a podcast. So it's like, Oh, these guys 664 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,120 Speaker 2: just want to tell their story, Like, there's no longer 665 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 2: that like take the guy out for talking. It's like, no, 666 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 2: they all have their story. The mob is not what 667 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:33,400 Speaker 2: it used to be. It's still around, but it's not 668 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:35,120 Speaker 2: what it used to be. A lot of these guys 669 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 2: have legitimate businesses and a lot of their you know, 670 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:42,040 Speaker 2: their children and their grandchildren live very very normal lives 671 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 2: that are not connected to the mob, and people just 672 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 2: want to tell their story. I think I think we're 673 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 2: kind of in the clear. 674 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:51,680 Speaker 1: It's interesting. I mean, I think that's the number one 675 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 1: thing when people start listening to this, like how can 676 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: you talk about this? How can he talk about it 677 00:30:57,920 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: without getting in trouble legally? 678 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:04,600 Speaker 2: That would be I think more realistic than some kind 679 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 2: of mob retaliation. Is some old fed listens to it 680 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:11,120 Speaker 2: or whatever and goes, oh, man, that sounds like this. 681 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 2: That's a possibility, absolutely, And that's something that we did 682 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:17,720 Speaker 2: talk about. I talked to a criminal defense attorney and 683 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 2: he's like, do not release this. So unless your dad 684 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,000 Speaker 2: is dead or in jail for the rest of his life, 685 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 2: do not release this. And I played that clip for 686 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 2: my dead and he said, look, you know I did 687 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:34,280 Speaker 2: what I did. I've made peace with it and for him, 688 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:39,120 Speaker 2: he telling his story to me and kind of getting 689 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,479 Speaker 2: rid of all these secrets and opening up and like 690 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 2: lifting that burden off of him that he's held on 691 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 2: for so long is more important than anything any kind 692 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 2: of redemption that comes his way. You know, he's not 693 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 2: living a great life. 694 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,239 Speaker 3: Let's just put that right now. He's not living a 695 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:54,920 Speaker 3: happy life. 696 00:31:55,160 --> 00:32:01,120 Speaker 2: He's a mess still, and you know, I think I 697 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:03,760 Speaker 2: think it would be a release actually if something happened. 698 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:06,760 Speaker 1: Stick around for more coming up with Kyle Tequila, But 699 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: first let me tell you about my partners at IFCJ. 700 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:12,640 Speaker 1: After more than a year of war, terror and pain 701 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 1: in Israel, there is still a great demand for basic 702 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:20,200 Speaker 1: humanitarian need. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has 703 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:23,520 Speaker 1: supported and continues to support those in the Holy Land 704 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,760 Speaker 1: still facing the lingering horrors of those who are in 705 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 1: desperate need. Right now, your ongoing monthly gift of forty 706 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:34,080 Speaker 1: five dollars will provide critically needed aid to communities in 707 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: the North and South devastated by the ongoing war. Your 708 00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: generous donation each month will deliver help to those in need, 709 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:45,600 Speaker 1: including evacuees and refugees from more torn areas. First responders 710 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 1: and volunteers, wounded soldiers, elderly Holocaust survivors, families who have 711 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,800 Speaker 1: lost everything, and so many more. You can provide hope 712 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 1: during a time of great uncertainty. Give a gift to 713 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 1: bless Israel and her people by visiting support IFCJ dot org. 714 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:06,080 Speaker 1: That's one word, it's support, IFCJ dot org. Or you 715 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:09,720 Speaker 1: can call eight eight eight for eight eight if CJ 716 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:14,240 Speaker 1: that's eight eight eight four eight eight if CJ eight 717 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: eight eight four eight eight four three two five. Now 718 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:23,760 Speaker 1: stay tuned. We've got more after this. There's so much 719 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:26,320 Speaker 1: I want to dig into about his life, but I 720 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:28,479 Speaker 1: know that it's all there and I want people to 721 00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 1: listen to it. So it is the Crook County Podcast. 722 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 1: You really should listen to it. But I want to 723 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,960 Speaker 1: ask you just I want to end on this. You 724 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,000 Speaker 1: said you grew up with this hero like you loved him. 725 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 1: He was bigger than life. Your mom thought he was great. 726 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,400 Speaker 1: Then there was the the injury, which to me is 727 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:50,640 Speaker 1: interesting in and of itself that this guy who was 728 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:54,080 Speaker 1: obviously living this wild lifestyle outside of your family home, 729 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:57,480 Speaker 1: what took him down was an injury and the opioid 730 00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:00,800 Speaker 1: crisis really, it's like crazy to me, what would be 731 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:03,320 Speaker 1: happening if he had never had that injury? Would you 732 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 1: would you know, what would have happened to your family? 733 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:05,800 Speaker 3: You know? 734 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:08,600 Speaker 1: And that I mean it's kind of twofold. You've got 735 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:11,520 Speaker 1: the mob, but you also have like, Okay, really this 736 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:13,680 Speaker 1: is an example of these families that have been torn 737 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,960 Speaker 1: apart by this opioid crisis as well because your dad 738 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:19,960 Speaker 1: turned into a different person. So your dad was this great, 739 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:24,480 Speaker 1: amazing guy that you held in high esteem in your 740 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:26,719 Speaker 1: high school years, then your brother's high school years, he 741 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:31,040 Speaker 1: turns into what you've described as a monster. Has he 742 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:34,480 Speaker 1: Have you seen that charismatic guy return as a sober 743 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:37,400 Speaker 1: person or he's is he totally changed now? 744 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,880 Speaker 2: That that guy, sadly, I think is dead. He's he's old, 745 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,120 Speaker 2: he's exhausted, he's not healthy, he's on a bunch of 746 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:49,520 Speaker 2: medications for a bunch of different things, and he's you know, 747 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,680 Speaker 2: kind of barely hanging on. He goes in and out 748 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:56,560 Speaker 2: of like mental hallucinations. 749 00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 3: Even it's bad, it's not. 750 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:02,480 Speaker 2: It's really ugly, and you know, I feel I feel sad, 751 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,200 Speaker 2: I feel really sad for him. But yeah, sadly, that 752 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 2: guy's dad, the old Ken is dead and if he 753 00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:15,040 Speaker 2: had never had that injury, I think he would have 754 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:18,640 Speaker 2: kept a secret for the rest of his life. 755 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:23,320 Speaker 1: Wow. Wow, that's wild. So tell people where they can listen. 756 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 2: It's everywhere you get podcasts, Apple, Spotify, Amazon. It's currently 757 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,279 Speaker 2: the number two series out of all all series right 758 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,760 Speaker 2: now on Apple Podcasts and number number two true crime 759 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:41,440 Speaker 2: on Spotify. It's doing really well and I'm thrilled and humbled, 760 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,400 Speaker 2: and the responses that I'm getting from people when they 761 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:46,880 Speaker 2: text me or dm me just off the charts. 762 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 3: And I think you'll love it. 763 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:50,920 Speaker 1: Give it a listen you will, I mean, and I 764 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,279 Speaker 1: do think it's unique in the fact that it is 765 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 1: your journey and you take us along on your journey 766 00:35:56,239 --> 00:36:00,440 Speaker 1: to learn more and just kind of pick the brains 767 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:03,200 Speaker 1: of your mom and your family members and your brother, 768 00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:06,040 Speaker 1: and that I have to say. I mean, I appreciate 769 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:10,120 Speaker 1: it because I think your journey, although it is radical, 770 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:15,080 Speaker 1: like you said, your wife's life, had similar similarities in trauma. 771 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:18,680 Speaker 1: I think anybody would look at this and go, man, 772 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:21,960 Speaker 1: that's crazy. But I like the way he did it. 773 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:23,480 Speaker 1: I like the way he talked about it because it's 774 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:24,520 Speaker 1: hard to confront family. 775 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:27,520 Speaker 2: It is, but you know what, once you do, once 776 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:29,160 Speaker 2: you get the strength to do it, it feels really 777 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:32,520 Speaker 2: good and it clears a lot of it exercises. 778 00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:32,680 Speaker 3: A lot of demons. 779 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:34,880 Speaker 2: So yeah, I think one of the lessons just to 780 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:37,520 Speaker 2: end this thing is one of the takeaways of the 781 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:42,200 Speaker 2: show is that secrets do kill, and having an open 782 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,760 Speaker 2: conversations about the hard truths you know is the only 783 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:49,799 Speaker 2: way that you know that you can have a very 784 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,839 Speaker 2: strong family and keep a strong family. If you can't 785 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:54,640 Speaker 2: talk about hard things, then it's all going to fall 786 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:55,359 Speaker 2: apart at some point. 787 00:36:56,520 --> 00:37:00,400 Speaker 1: Powerful Kyle Tequila, thank you so much for coming out today. 788 00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:02,279 Speaker 3: Thank you for having me Tutor. 789 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:08,200 Speaker 1: Absolutely everybody check out Crook County. It is really very fascinating, 790 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:11,600 Speaker 1: and I thank you for joining this podcast. For this 791 00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:15,000 Speaker 1: podcast and others, always go to Tutor dixonpodcast dot com, 792 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:18,160 Speaker 1: or you can head over to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 793 00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:20,919 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts and join us next time. 794 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:21,920 Speaker 1: Have a blessed day.