1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. Disgrayland is 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: a production of Double Elvis. The stories about the characters 4 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: from Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska are insane. One went on an 5 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: unprovoked killing spree with his fourteen year old girlfriend in 6 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:37,520 Speaker 1: ten excuse me, eleven innocent people died. Another was classified 7 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: by the FBI as the most violent member of the 8 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: Philly Mob. And those are just the real life true 9 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:48,599 Speaker 1: crime characters from the album. The fictionalized characters were at 10 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:53,240 Speaker 1: least as compelling. One shot up a nightclub, another barely 11 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: restrained himself from murdering a state trooper, and a third 12 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: contemplated work as a hired hit man. Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska characters, 13 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: both the real and the imagined, drew from a deep 14 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: well of twentieth century American desperation characters who Springsteen found 15 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:17,040 Speaker 1: in conversation with Flannery O'Connor's The Misfit and Charles Lawton's 16 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: Harry Powell, played so forcefully by Robert Mitcham in Knight 17 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: of the Hunter in the Hands of the Boss. These 18 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: inspired character studies made for great music unlike that music 19 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: I played for you at the top of the show. 20 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: That wasn't great music. That was a preset loop for 21 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: my melotron called Jack, Johnny and Jimmy MK one. I 22 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,279 Speaker 1: played you that loop because I can't afford the rights 23 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: to man Eater by Holland Oates. And why would I 24 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: play you that specific slice of she Cat Tamed by 25 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: a Jaguar Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was 26 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: the number one song in America on December seventeenth, nineteen 27 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: eighty one, And that's the day Bruce Springsteen sat down 28 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: to write the title track for what would become one 29 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:13,639 Speaker 1: of his greatest albums, Nebraska. On this episode, Charles Starkweather, 30 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,959 Speaker 1: The Chicken Man, Johnny ninety nine, a meeting in Atlantic City, 31 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: and Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska. I'm Jake Brennan in This Is 32 00:02:25,040 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: Disgraceland December of nineteen eighty one. Bruce Springsteen was not 33 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: yet the biggest pop star in America, but he was 34 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: one of them. Hungry Heart, the lead single from his 35 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: previous album The River, released in nineteen eighty, went to 36 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: number five on the charts. It was Bruce's first top 37 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: ten hit, and it changed everything. He'd come up from 38 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: the streets in New Jersey and transformed himself into an 39 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: American success story. He had, it seemed everything, women, the 40 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: respect of his peers, a new Chevy camaro Z twenty eight, 41 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: and more money than he knew what to do with. 42 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: What to do with the money was a new challenge 43 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: for Bruce. Previously, he'd just hauled whatever he'd made into 44 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: the recording studio and lighted on fire. This was the 45 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: approach taken with The River and his previous masterpieces Born 46 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: to Run in Darkness on the Edge of Town, released 47 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy five in nineteen seventy eight, respectively. But 48 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: The Boss, as Bruce had affectionately come to be known 49 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: from his role as band leader of the East Street Band, 50 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: due to his early days responsibility of dolling out the 51 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: Knight's earnings to the rest of the group, The Boss 52 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: wasn't about to make the same financial mistake again. The 53 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: studio wasn't a playground, a place where you showed up 54 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: without a plan and let your creative ideas run wild. 55 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,279 Speaker 1: Doing so was a waste of time. You could quite 56 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: literally drain your bank account running up a studio tab, 57 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: blowing hours, days, weeks trying to find the sound that 58 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,239 Speaker 1: was in your head. No, the studio was a place 59 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: of work, a place where you showed up with not 60 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,359 Speaker 1: only a plan for what you wanted, but with a 61 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: plan for how you were going to get what you wanted. 62 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: That's how the great ones did it. Anyway, Barry Gordy, 63 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: the head of Motown Records, ran his studio like a factory, 64 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: and you couldn't argue with the results. If the Boss 65 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 1: wanted his follow up to the River to do it, 66 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: that album and his previous records hadn't done make him 67 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: money despite their success. He needed to act like an 68 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: actual boss and bring his employees, his band, an actual plan, 69 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: and make his studio run tight like one of those 70 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: refineries glowing off the New Jersey Turnpike. So the Boss 71 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: bought himself a little tape machine. He had only four tracks, 72 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: but it was enough enough to pre produce his ideas 73 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,599 Speaker 1: for his next studio record. He rented a house in 74 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: Colts Neck, New Jersey. It was modest, somewhat secluded, no frills. 75 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: He holed up and got down to work with a 76 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: big Gibson acoustic, a mandolin, a glockenschebiel, a harmonica, an 77 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: echoplex tape delay in a taskan four track, and with 78 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 1: a Z twenty eight in the driveway for long rides 79 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: at night to spur his imagination. Bruce Springsteen had it all. 80 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 1: You know who didn't have it all? The guys in 81 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 1: the new songs. Bruce was demoing guys out in the margins, 82 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: hand to mouth grinders, the refinery workers, the veterans and 83 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: union humps, the guys the American dream left behind, the 84 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: runoff guys like these. The rhythm from the wipers on 85 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: the windshield lashed out a hypnotic beam. It did nothing 86 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: to take his mind off his problems. His debts, debts 87 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: yeowed across the river. His hands gripped the steering wheel 88 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: at ten and two. The words love and hate tattooed 89 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: across both sets of white knuckles. The way out was simple, 90 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,359 Speaker 1: do the job, take the cash, pay the man on 91 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,840 Speaker 1: the other side of the river. She'd understand, she'd ride 92 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: with him, She'd take that long ride. What was there 93 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: for the two of them here anymore? Anyway? He woke 94 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: up early and punched in before the sun rose. The 95 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: days inched by just the same as the winters. He 96 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: punched out into darkness, hit the bar on the arm, 97 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,720 Speaker 1: and pa ate off your tab on Friday. All weekend 98 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 1: you blue steam hard, like a work whistle. When Sunday came, 99 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: you skip masks, watched the giants lose, and started another tab, 100 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: and did the whole thing all over again on Monday. 101 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: If you were lucky, the giants would cover, or your 102 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: pick six would come in and to gate their loss. 103 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: But most times neither thing happened. In Mudoh, so you'd 104 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: bet more the nets, the devil's seat in hall, anything 105 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: to outrun the vague and get you back in black. 106 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: There wasn't a life, not the kind they showed in 107 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: the movies anyway, or the kind they promised you in school. 108 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: She knew this now as well as you did. She'd 109 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,480 Speaker 1: ride with you. She knew the score. Out west. There 110 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:46,119 Speaker 1: was gold here. You already had a foot in the grave, 111 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: and you weren't quite yet forty. Do the job a 112 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 1: little favor for the man, Take the cash, leave, don't 113 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: look back, and start over. It was simple. But what 114 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 1: if you got caught. Getting caught wasn't so simple. Getting 115 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: caught would be hard, hard time, and maybe the death penalty. 116 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: New Jersey abolished the death penalty back in nineteen sixty five. 117 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: But what if the man you were going to do 118 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: this little favor for decided it had to take place 119 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: in Philly or on the other side of the river. 120 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: And what if a cop got popped? What that was 121 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: so hard to imagine. Cops got killed in the line 122 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: of fire in Manhattan every year. What if the line 123 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: of fire led straight back to your piece? 124 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 2: What then? 125 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: All he could think about was stark Weather in the 126 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: electric chair, Charles stark Weather. He and his girlfriend Carol Fugame. 127 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: She was just fourteen. Stark Weather was nineteen back in 128 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 1: fifty eight. When the news broke it was everywhere. He 129 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:48,319 Speaker 1: was a teenager, just like stark Weather and Carol stark Weather. 130 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,440 Speaker 1: He had to get out too, so that's what he did, 131 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: and Carol rode with her man. The duel was nineteen 132 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: fifty eight's biggest news sensation. Two teenagers on a murderous 133 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: ramp age who cut out from Nebraska. In Lincoln, Nebraska 134 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty nine, the executioner didn't wear a hood. Instead, 135 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: he stood anonymously behind a ragged curtain inside the death chamber. 136 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:48,080 Speaker 1: A few feet from the electric chair. The executioner entered 137 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: the penitentiary without fanfare. To him, it was simple, do 138 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:56,079 Speaker 1: the job. Take the money, two hundred dollars. It went 139 00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: a long way towards supplementing his electricians paycheck. Inside the 140 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: prison walls, about fifteen teenagers had assembled with beer and 141 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: soda pop. They blared their radios and listened in for 142 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,439 Speaker 1: the moment one of their own, Charles Starkweather, was executed 143 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: by the state. The wardens sent some guards out to 144 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 1: control the situation, but they mostly just fell into the festivities. 145 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 1: With the locals back inside, Charlie's family said their last byes. 146 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: Charlie was self confident to the end, though cracking gallows, 147 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,320 Speaker 1: humored jokes and flashing that James Dean smile of his. 148 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: The only thing that betrayed any sense of fear or 149 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,440 Speaker 1: guilt or remorse was the plastic cross Charlie held in 150 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: his hand, given to him by the prison chaplain. Charlie 151 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: occasionally mild a few words to himself from the Bible, 152 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: I Will fear no evil. Thirty minutes before the big 153 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 1: show at eleven thirty PM, with Charlie entertaining his parents 154 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: and thirty five newsmen and morbid minded civilians setting in 155 00:10:56,679 --> 00:10:59,360 Speaker 1: outside the death chamber to bear witness to the execution. 156 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 1: Something strange happened. The doctor on site to pronounce Charles 157 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: stark Weather dead upon execution dropped dead himself heart failure, 158 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: out of nowhere, right there outside the Wharton's office, Lincoln, Nebraska, 159 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:20,200 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty nine. Death was in the air. The clock 160 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: waited for no one dead. Doctors weren't going to stop 161 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: the inevitable at midnight. The murder is Charles stark Weather 162 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: was going to die. The first murder A fucking gas 163 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: station attendant so smug about his job. He was a 164 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:42,760 Speaker 1: goddamn gas station attendant, not a doctor. Charlie reckoned he 165 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: had it coming. Who the hell did he think he was. 166 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: Charlie wanted that little stuff bear for Carol on credit, 167 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,679 Speaker 1: and the gas station attendant wouldn't give it to him 168 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:53,600 Speaker 1: on account of the fact that Charlie had no job. Well, 169 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:56,079 Speaker 1: the hell with him. Charlie was going to take the bear, 170 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: and then some the cash from the till, and then 171 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:01,720 Speaker 1: the gas station attendant's life if he so much has 172 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: looked at him sideways. So that's what he did. Two 173 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: shotgun blasts. The first to his stomach put him on 174 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 1: his knees, and the second to the back of his 175 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,959 Speaker 1: head put him out of his misery. Charlie Starkweather left 176 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: the scene confident. Dead men don't talk. The next murders 177 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 1: Carol's family. They hated him, misjuvenile, delinquin looks, his long hair, 178 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 1: his denim and dirty T shirt. The cigarette permanently perched 179 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: between his lips, But mostly they hated the fact that 180 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: he was nineteen and didn't have a job. He hated 181 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:36,839 Speaker 1: that fact too, but what was he gonna do after 182 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,680 Speaker 1: losing his job hauling garbage? The word was out around Lincoln. 183 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: Don't hire the stark Weather kid. He's lazy, He's a punk. 184 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: He kills dogs in his spare time. He was a 185 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 1: conspiracy is what it was. Charlie knew it, but that 186 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: didn't make the reality any different. He loved Carol and 187 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: she loved him. And with that gas station attendant's dead 188 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: body causing a real life who'd done it on the 189 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,080 Speaker 1: pages of the Lincoln Journal, it was only a matter 190 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:04,320 Speaker 1: of time before authorities came looking for Charlie. He and 191 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:06,520 Speaker 1: Carol needed to get out of Nebraska, and they would 192 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: shoot their way out if that's what needed doing. Carol's 193 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:14,440 Speaker 1: parents wouldn't hear anything about marriage. They assumed Charlie had 194 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:18,680 Speaker 1: knocked Carol up. Charlie persisted he wouldn't leave the subject alone, 195 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 1: and he wouldn't leave their house until he got their approval. 196 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: It started with a slap, then another, both from Carol's mother, Marian. 197 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:29,679 Speaker 1: Then her father gave Charlie a humiliating kicking the ass 198 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: on the way out the door. Charlie returned for Carol 199 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:36,120 Speaker 1: minutes later. Enraged, he fought his way through the kitchen 200 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:40,160 Speaker 1: door past Carol's mother. Carol's father, Velda, tried to stop Charlie, 201 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:42,520 Speaker 1: but Charlie broke past and made a bee line for 202 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: Carol's room, where he knew his twenty two shotgun was. 203 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: Carol's father knew it too, He took off after Charlie 204 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,839 Speaker 1: with a clawhammer. Charlie got to his gun just before 205 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: Velda attacked him. Charlie spun around and blasted a shell 206 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: through the old man's head, with Carol standing right there 207 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 1: next to him. Carol's mother then rushed in bedroom with 208 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:03,640 Speaker 1: a butcher's knife. Charlie reloaded and shot her in the 209 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 1: face behind them on Carol's bed. Her little two year 210 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: old stepsister wailed away in fear, and Charlie wrapped her 211 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: in the head with the butt of the gun. But 212 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: that would shut her up, so he picked up the 213 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: butcher's knife and flung it across the room, straight into 214 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: the little girl's abdomen, killing her. It was a massacre. 215 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: It seemingly sprung from nowhere, but the truth was that 216 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: there had been a deep reservoir of rage and insecurity 217 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: brewing in Charlie for some time. He had long been 218 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: out of options. All he had was Carol, and her 219 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: parents had tried to deny him even that he had 220 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: to kill. And now that he had killed, he and 221 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: Carol had to run before dead. Before they started their 222 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: long ride, and the body started to pile up fast. 223 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: Augie Meyer one shotgun blasted the head, and another for 224 00:14:55,920 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: his dog, Charlie. He hated dogs. See Laura w a 225 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 1: wealthy industrialist, his wife, Clara, and their maid, and Charlie 226 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: killed mam. He said, Carol killed Clara, and Charlie also 227 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,960 Speaker 1: killed the word's dog. He snapped its neck with his 228 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 1: bare hands. The killing spree brought national media attention to 229 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: Lincoln Nebraska, and no one knew where the two teenage 230 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: killers would strike next. A salesman, Merle Collision dead, the 231 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: two kids, Robert Jensen and Carol King dead dead, and 232 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:35,160 Speaker 1: all told eleven innocent people dead. The white paint on 233 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: the walls of the execution chamber was shipping away, a 234 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: slow decay, the opposite of what awaited Charles Starkweather on 235 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: the night of June twenty fifth, nineteen fifty nine. His 236 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:49,360 Speaker 1: head was shaved in preparation for the electrodes that would 237 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 1: be attached to his skull, and they led him into 238 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:56,240 Speaker 1: the chamber, and the executioner avoided eye contact. The thirty 239 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 1: or so onlookers couldn't see him, but they could see 240 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 1: Charlie rock Star. The James D. Cool went the way 241 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 1: of the shaved hair, but that defiant rebel without a 242 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: cause attitude was still there in those final moments. When 243 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:13,200 Speaker 1: they strapped Charlie to the electric chair, he told them 244 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: to make him tighter. The onlooker shifted uncomfortably on the 245 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 1: other side of the glass. One electrode connected to his calf, 246 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: another was fastened to his shaved head by a partial 247 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 1: leather mask. Charlie closed his eyes and thought of Carol. 248 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: She was going to avoid the chair. He knew him. 249 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: He imagined her in her front yard, just like she'd 250 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: been on that day he first Saar twirling her baton. 251 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: It was love at first sight, too real to last. 252 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: He wished he was right there with him, now, sitting 253 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: on his lap in the electric chair. But Charlie opened 254 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: his eyes. He gave a half moon smile to the crowd, 255 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 1: and the warden gave the executioner the nod, and the 256 00:16:53,880 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: executioner gave Charlie Starkweather two two hundred volts. Charlie's head 257 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 1: snapped back, his body pressed out against the straps, and 258 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: the executioner gave him another two thousand plus volts. Charlie's 259 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:11,359 Speaker 1: inside sizzled at two hundred and ten degrees fahrenheit, The 260 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 1: backs of his eyeballs began to melt from inside his skull, 261 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: and the executioner threw the switch again, another massive voltage, 262 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: a third and final time. Charles Starkweather was pronounced dead 263 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:31,200 Speaker 1: at twelve oh four am. The warden cried. Some say 264 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: it was because the warden lost his friend that night, 265 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: the doctor who dropped dead earlier in the evening. Charlie 266 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: had that effect on people. Natural charisma for a natural 267 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 1: born killer. That's what they said in the papers anyway, 268 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 1: back in the day, back before the love and the 269 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: hate tattoos. He had that charisma when he was younger, 270 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: that extra something that caused everyone at the bar to 271 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: perk up when you walk. Didn't cause the foreman to 272 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: give you some extra shit in that way that only 273 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:07,480 Speaker 1: working men bond. Caused her to open her eyes a 274 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 1: little wider when you came through the door, too. But 275 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: that was then. That charisma was gone, now dead, like 276 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:20,920 Speaker 1: Charles Starkweather. Now all you had where debts no honest 277 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:30,200 Speaker 1: man could pay. We'll be right back after this. We're we're, 278 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: we're as far as killers went. Charles stark Weather had 279 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: no code. He killed indiscriminately. Sure he'd tell you he 280 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: had his reasons, but they were bunk. A man needs 281 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 1: to know where the lines are, and he needs to 282 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: do his best to stay within those lines. Otherwise the 283 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: world is just chaos. That's in part what Mass on 284 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:58,119 Speaker 1: Sunday provided, not just a reason to believe, but a 285 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 1: set of rules to keep you from spinning off the earth. 286 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:04,320 Speaker 1: Be it the Ten Commandments, the Apostles, creed or just 287 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,879 Speaker 1: living by Christ's example, It all added up to the 288 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:12,439 Speaker 1: same thing, a code. The mafia had a code. It 289 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:16,679 Speaker 1: affected most everything its members did. There were rules. You 290 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,480 Speaker 1: didn't kill women or children, first of all, not like 291 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: stark Weather did. Ever, And if you were going to 292 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:28,160 Speaker 1: kill you needed a reason, good reason, then you needed permission. 293 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: Charles stark Weather wouldn't have lasted ten minutes in Atlantic 294 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:34,959 Speaker 1: City in March of nineteen eighty, which was about as 295 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,200 Speaker 1: much time as Philly mob boss Angelo Bruno had left, 296 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 1: except Angelo Bruno's killers didn't get permission. Angelo's driver pulled 297 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:48,399 Speaker 1: up outside Angelo's home on March twentieth, only to be 298 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 1: greeted by an unsanctioned shotgun blast through the window of 299 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: his new Chevy four door sledge. Some wise guy with 300 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,439 Speaker 1: juice called in a favor with the Philly PD and 301 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,159 Speaker 1: made sure Angelo's body was left untouched in his car 302 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,880 Speaker 1: for a couple hours. It wasn't much, just long enough 303 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: for reporters to show up in snap picks. It was 304 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,919 Speaker 1: a truly gruesome picture. The aging mob boss, the so 305 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,879 Speaker 1: called gentle Dawn, sitting upright in the passenger seat, a 306 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: bullet hole in his head, his mouth, a gape in 307 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:19,720 Speaker 1: a look of shock. If the photo was meant to 308 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: send a message, it was this in Atlantic City, war 309 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: had just been declared. Angelo Bruno was murdered for power 310 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,199 Speaker 1: control of the rackets at Philadelphia, which meant control the 311 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 1: gambling profits in Atlantic City. The man who ordered the 312 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: hit on Angelo Bruno, his own underboss, Antonio Capo Negro, 313 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,679 Speaker 1: was quickly ordered dead by the mafia's ruined commission for 314 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:47,119 Speaker 1: not seeking permission for the assassination of Bruno for not 315 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:51,400 Speaker 1: adhering to the code. Capo Negro has found naked, beaten, 316 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: and crammed into the trunk of a car in the Bronx. 317 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: A couple weeks later, Angelo's job as boss of the 318 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: Philadelphia Mafia was filled by Phil Testa aka the Chickenman. 319 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: During his rule, power in Atlantic City was still disputed. 320 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: The Chickenman was on borrowed time March fifteenth, nineteen eighty one, 321 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 1: the IDEs of March, almost a year to the day 322 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,440 Speaker 1: from Angelo Bruno's on sanctioned hit. Another group of wise 323 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,720 Speaker 1: guys decided to color outside the lines with blood from 324 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: the Chickenman. Three am Sunday morning, two one one seven 325 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: West Porter Street, Philly, phil Testa aka the Chickenman, was 326 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: returning from a night out at Virgilio's restaurant. Up the 327 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:41,119 Speaker 1: road a piece. At Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 328 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,400 Speaker 1: the local priest was up early preparing for that morning's 329 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 1: early mass. The Chickenman pulled up his black Chevy Caprice 330 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,879 Speaker 1: Classic outside his South Philly home. The priest ready to 331 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:56,200 Speaker 1: chalice and linen. Across the street from the Chicken Man's house, 332 00:21:56,760 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 1: a man sat silently in an inconspicuous car. He had 333 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:04,439 Speaker 1: his hands on a ramote At the church. The priest 334 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 1: spread his hands across the linen, flattening out the square 335 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:12,840 Speaker 1: cloth embroidered cross side up. The Chickenman walked up the 336 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 1: steps to his porch. The man in the car watched 337 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,719 Speaker 1: and waited. The priest donned his vestment and said a prayer. 338 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,680 Speaker 1: Washed me clean, Lord, and cleanse me from my sin, 339 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: that I may rejoice and be glad unendingly with them 340 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 1: that have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. 341 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:34,720 Speaker 1: The Chickenman opened his front door, and the man in 342 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 1: the car flicked the switch on the remote. The priest 343 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:41,400 Speaker 1: blessed himself in accordance with his faith in Jesus' unwavering 344 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: forgiveness of sinners everywhere. 345 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 2: And then. 346 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 1: When they found the Chicken Man's body, it had been 347 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,879 Speaker 1: blasted through a thirty inch hole in his house's front wall, 348 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: shredded through brick, mortar and drywall. His lower torso was 349 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,680 Speaker 1: one cop who arrived on the scene put it completely mangled, 350 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: looked like he had went through a paper shredder. Yet 351 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 1: somehow the Chickenman was still alive, unconscious. They rushed him 352 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:15,120 Speaker 1: to Saint Agnes Hospital, where he woke. He didn't ask 353 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:18,680 Speaker 1: for his son, he didn't ask for his priest. Instead, 354 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: he spit out his final words to the attendant doctor, 355 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:28,560 Speaker 1: defiantly telling him quote, it didn't hurt. The nail bomb 356 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:31,159 Speaker 1: they used to destroy phil Testa's house and to shred 357 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:34,920 Speaker 1: his body did the trick. Philadelphia's mob boss was dead. 358 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,760 Speaker 1: The headline the next day nailed it too, saying they 359 00:23:39,800 --> 00:24:12,480 Speaker 1: blew up the Chickenman and Philly last night, seventy miles 360 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 1: up the Jersey Turnpike from Philly in Coltsneck, New Jersey, 361 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: Bruce Springsteen was holed up in his little ranch home 362 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 1: writing those words, they blew up the Chickenman in Philly, 363 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,879 Speaker 1: last night, and they blew up his house too. The 364 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: Boss was documenting the death of Another Boss, a documentation 365 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:33,440 Speaker 1: that would eventually end up on the UK and international 366 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:37,640 Speaker 1: album charts. The writing and homemade recording session in Colts 367 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:40,840 Speaker 1: Neck were intended to be demos, a roadmap for the 368 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:42,879 Speaker 1: eas Street Band to follow in the studio in an 369 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: effort to get down on tape, a full fledged rock 370 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: and roll follow up to The River, one that would 371 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:51,159 Speaker 1: document the desperate, true crimes of Charles Starkweather and the 372 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: Chickenman's assassins, as well as other fictionalized characters, all of 373 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 1: them on the Ropes. But something funny happened along the way. 374 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,119 Speaker 1: The demos proved too powerful to top in the studio, 375 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 1: so the demos became the album, the album we know 376 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: today as Nebraska. It was both a small production and 377 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:16,000 Speaker 1: a large statement. Bruce Springsteen didn't tour to promote the record. 378 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: He simply released it to great critical acclaim, if not 379 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: commercial success, and then he went straight back into the 380 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 1: studio to record what would become the biggest selling album 381 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 1: in his catalog and one of the biggest selling albums 382 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:32,160 Speaker 1: by any artist of all time born in the USA. 383 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,400 Speaker 1: The characters on Board in the USA are an extension 384 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: of the characters Springsteen first sang about on Nebraska, characters 385 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:45,520 Speaker 1: both real and imagined, vivid characters that refused to be ignored. 386 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: Ralph held a gun to the night Clerk's neck. He held 387 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 1: him close, his hand gripped around his collar. It wasn't 388 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:56,800 Speaker 1: the money in the till he wanted. It's like stark 389 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:00,879 Speaker 1: Weather twenty two years before him. Ralph wanted respect. The 390 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,200 Speaker 1: night clerk had none, just had that smirk. Ralph's head 391 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,359 Speaker 1: rang with a sharp sound of steel on steel. The 392 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: auto plan had been closed a month now, and Ralph 393 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,880 Speaker 1: could still hear the clanging from the line inside his head, 394 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:18,280 Speaker 1: a constant reminder of the job he'd lost. And here's this, 395 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: three dollars and thirty five cents an hour. Ma wi 396 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:26,439 Speaker 1: motherfuck's smirking at him. The gin, the wine, the confused things. 397 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 1: Ralph was tired. Ralph was tired of a lot of things, 398 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: of working too hard, of working too little, of working 399 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: too hard for too little. Ralph was tired of being drunk. 400 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,480 Speaker 1: Ralph was tired of being confused. Ralph was tired of 401 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:46,920 Speaker 1: that fucking smirk. So Ralph pulled the trigger, He tore 402 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 1: out of the store, raced downtown, blew a red light, 403 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,240 Speaker 1: and when he entered the club, tiptop the jukebox cut 404 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,320 Speaker 1: and the crowd hushed. What does a man do in 405 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:58,639 Speaker 1: that situation, A smart one puts his head down and 406 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 1: stares into his beer. Ralph was supposed to meet the 407 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,680 Speaker 1: man there because it was out of the way, inconspicuous, 408 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 1: a meeting not only on the other side of the river, 409 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: but in the part of town where no one would 410 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,879 Speaker 1: recognize him unless you came barrowing through the door like 411 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,800 Speaker 1: Ralph with that wild stare, the one that dared everyone 412 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:18,639 Speaker 1: in the damn place to ask him what his fucking 413 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:22,120 Speaker 1: problem was, because the way he looked, Ralph clearly had 414 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 1: a problem. The man needed a driver. Ralph needed money, 415 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,639 Speaker 1: just like the man did, but Ralph had other ideas. 416 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,439 Speaker 1: It was immediately confronted once he entered the bar. It 417 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:37,440 Speaker 1: was what he wanted. He wanted the confrontation. Ralph pulled 418 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:40,440 Speaker 1: his piece. He waved his gun around, daring anyone in 419 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:42,880 Speaker 1: the joint to come for him, and off duty cop 420 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:44,760 Speaker 1: got the drop on him from behind out in front 421 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 1: of the club, and that was that. Ralph pulled judge Brown, 422 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:50,880 Speaker 1: and the judge gave Ralph ninety eight in a year 423 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: and called it even Johnny ninety nine. The man got 424 00:27:56,040 --> 00:28:00,360 Speaker 1: in his car, hit the turnpike and headed north New 425 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:06,480 Speaker 1: Jersey Turnpike at night went relentless rain in the rear 426 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:10,520 Speaker 1: view a state trooper just what the man needed. He 427 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 1: played it cool. It was just a cop, and he 428 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:15,919 Speaker 1: was just a guy on the road. He kept his 429 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,240 Speaker 1: car at the edge of the speed limit and prayed 430 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:20,680 Speaker 1: to the Lord above that the trooper didn't run his plates. 431 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:24,000 Speaker 1: He just needed to get to the boardwalk. She was 432 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: going to meet him there, and he was going to 433 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,400 Speaker 1: be early. But it didn't matter. His mind was made up. 434 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,160 Speaker 1: He wasn't going to do it. He couldn't do it. 435 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,080 Speaker 1: The job didn't matter how much he owed. He didn't 436 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: know Rocko and Sure as the sun shine down on 437 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,440 Speaker 1: the swamps of Jersey. He didn't know Chickie, the two 438 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 1: men who blew up the Chicken Man. But still he 439 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:46,520 Speaker 1: couldn't push their buttons. He couldn't do the favor for 440 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: the man. He saw what had happened to Ralph worse 441 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: than Stark war there. Ralph wasn't going to the electric 442 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 1: chair he was going to prison for the rest of 443 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: his life with nothing but the thoughts in his head. 444 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:01,120 Speaker 1: That was torture, the guilt of it all. How do 445 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 1: you come back from that? That sealed it. He was out. 446 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:08,200 Speaker 1: Forget his debts, forget the fact that he'd already agreed 447 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:11,719 Speaker 1: to do the thing. She would understand, she'd take that 448 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:17,280 Speaker 1: long ride out west. They'd go and never return. He 449 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,240 Speaker 1: had to. He had no other options. But you don't 450 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: agree to do that kind of favor for that kind 451 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 1: of man, and then we neg he'd be as dead 452 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:26,720 Speaker 1: as a chicken man Bruno, Starkweather and all the rest. 453 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:30,240 Speaker 1: So he drew what literally had from his account. It 454 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: was enough for two Coast City bus tickets, enough to 455 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: get out of town. He'd figure out the rest later. 456 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 1: He stared at the state trooper in the rear view 457 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: to calm himself. He thought about the man's life. Maybe 458 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:45,600 Speaker 1: he had a kid, maybe he had a wife. Maybe 459 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: he had a code. Rocco and Chicky didn't have a code. 460 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: They were on the wrong side of that line. He 461 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:56,120 Speaker 1: had a code, he did he couldn't kill even if 462 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 1: he'd already agreed to. But what did that mean? What 463 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 1: would his make make of that? How would that go over? 464 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: In confession? Forgive me, father, for I have sinned. I 465 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:07,840 Speaker 1: agreed to put a bullet in Rocco and another one 466 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: in Hickey, so as to make a brown paper bag 467 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: full of cash to pay off my gambling debts. But father, 468 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:16,479 Speaker 1: it's okay. I didn't do the damn thing. Thinking it 469 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 1: and doing it weren't the same. But thinking you could 470 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 1: do it? What did that mean? Who was he? What 471 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,720 Speaker 1: exactly was he capable of? What did he become? What 472 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:30,120 Speaker 1: if the trooper pulled him over? What would he do? 473 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:34,840 Speaker 1: His mind went hazy. He prayed, Oh Lord, deliver me. 474 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: Mister state trooper pleased, don't stop me, and the Lord 475 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,959 Speaker 1: was in a listening mood. The trooper peeled away at 476 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: the next off him, Sein said, Atlantic City, five miles 477 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:50,200 Speaker 1: from here. He drove on. But what had he done? 478 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,000 Speaker 1: What had he learned? He was going to do it? 479 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: He was, He was set. It wasn't any moral revelation 480 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: that stopped him. It was fear of getting caught, fear 481 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:02,479 Speaker 1: of life alone behind bars with nothing but unbearable guilt, 482 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: total selfishness. He had no code. The code said thou 483 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 1: shalt not kill, And he didn't. But he wasn't absolved. 484 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:13,320 Speaker 1: He was guilty of the thoughts in his head. Maybe 485 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:14,920 Speaker 1: not in a court of law, but in the eyes 486 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: of his maker. And there was no forgiveness without penance, 487 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,560 Speaker 1: and there was no penance without sacrifice. He knew this, 488 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,920 Speaker 1: She knew this. He didn't deserve her. It was plain 489 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:28,200 Speaker 1: as day. He couldn't have her, not now. At least. 490 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:31,080 Speaker 1: He needed to sort this out on his own. That 491 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,080 Speaker 1: was the solution. He'd leave her behind, and if she 492 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: deemed him worthy over time, she'd come for him. That's 493 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:40,680 Speaker 1: the only way it could work. A man needs a code. Otherwise, 494 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: the thoughts in his head turned to chaos. Salvation is 495 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:45,960 Speaker 1: a last minute business, and he wasn't going to let 496 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 1: it come down to that. Redemption stayed open all night. 497 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 1: He wheeled his stolen car off the highway and headed 498 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: toward the boardwalk. He parked across from a bus without 499 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:58,960 Speaker 1: a stap plates near the promenade. He told her he'd 500 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 1: be waiting in the chevy with Nebraska plates, but now 501 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: he wouldn't be. It was a necessary lie, one that 502 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:11,200 Speaker 1: could be easily forgiven. When she arrived, she'd get the message. 503 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:14,720 Speaker 1: One cost city bus ticket on the driver's seat, a 504 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,479 Speaker 1: Meexico road map and a business card from the Sands 505 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:22,600 Speaker 1: Gold Motel out west. He was gone and maybe she'd 506 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:26,600 Speaker 1: join him if he was worthy. Either way, he'd saved 507 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: himself from eternal disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan. 508 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 2: This this Disgraceland, all right. 509 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:51,760 Speaker 1: I hope you doug this episode. Apple podcast listeners, make 510 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 1: sure you have auto downloads turned on so you never 511 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 1: missed an episode of Disgraceland. 512 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:59,480 Speaker 2: This week's question of the week is which songwriter best 513 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 2: told the story of true. 514 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:04,320 Speaker 1: Crime and song really working our side of the street? 515 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:04,520 Speaker 2: Here? 516 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:07,440 Speaker 1: Was it the Boss with Nebraska? Was it Johnny Cash? 517 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,720 Speaker 1: The Killers? The Cure? Em and m so many choices? 518 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 3: Hit me up and let me know six one seven 519 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:14,040 Speaker 3: nine oh six six six three eight, Leave me a 520 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 3: voicemail or send me a text and. 521 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:17,400 Speaker 1: Be part of the show. We play and read some 522 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:19,640 Speaker 1: of your answers on the app for party bonus episode, 523 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:21,360 Speaker 1: It's coming up right after listening to your Feet. 524 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:25,640 Speaker 3: I can also be reached on Instagram, Facebook, X, and Disgrace. 525 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:28,080 Speaker 1: Lampod at gmail dot com. Leave a review for the 526 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:31,160 Speaker 1: show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You might win some 527 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:36,040 Speaker 1: free merch. All right, you've come some credits. Disgraceland was 528 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:38,680 Speaker 1: created by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership with 529 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:41,800 Speaker 1: Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found on 530 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:45,440 Speaker 1: the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. If you're 531 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:48,440 Speaker 1: listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for 532 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,360 Speaker 1: supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And if not, 533 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 1: you can become a member right now by going to 534 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:56,720 Speaker 1: disgracelampod dot com Slash Membership. 535 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:00,720 Speaker 3: Members can listen to every episode of Disgraceland ad free, 536 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,600 Speaker 3: Plus you'll get one brand new exclusive episode every month, 537 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 3: weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special audio collections, and early access 538 00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:14,120 Speaker 3: to merchandise and events. Visit disgraceslampod dot com slash membership 539 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:16,759 Speaker 3: for details, Rate and review the show, and follow us 540 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:20,759 Speaker 3: on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook at disgracelampod and on 541 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:24,359 Speaker 3: YouTube at YouTube dot com slash at disgracelampod. 542 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:30,000 Speaker 1: Rock a rolla Hee The bed Don Man