1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised. 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,319 Speaker 2: By the time I was ten, I had to find 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 2: myself in such a manner that I thought I had 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 2: no possibility to ever be happy, no possibility of ever 5 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 2: having a normal life. And I thought all the things 6 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,960 Speaker 2: that happened to me were things I deserve, that I 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,639 Speaker 2: came from bad people. I was bad people. I would 8 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 2: do bad things and my life would end bad. 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a nonfiction author and journalism professor 10 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,599 Speaker 1: in Austin, Texas. I'm also the host of the historical 11 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: true crime podcast tenfold More Wicked, as well as the 12 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: co host of the new show Buried Bones, both on 13 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: Exactly Right. I've traveled around the world interviewing people for 14 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: the show. I've interviewed some people in person and some 15 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: from my home studio over zoom, and they are all 16 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: excellent writers. They've had so many great true crime stories, 17 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: and now we want to tell you that those stories 18 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: with details that have never been published. Tenfold More Wicked 19 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: presents Wicked Words is about the choices that writers make, 20 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: good and bad. It's a deep dive into the stories 21 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: behind the stories. Author David Crowe wrote a memoir called 22 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,320 Speaker 1: The Pale Face Lie about his father. Thurston Crowe, was 23 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: a suspected killer who claimed to be a Native American 24 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: while he raised his children on various reservations. David's story 25 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,039 Speaker 1: is a survival story. But this turned out to be 26 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: a pretty controversial book. And I'll just let David explain why. 27 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:40,839 Speaker 1: So tell me where you were, where you were born, 28 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: and what your environment was like. 29 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 2: So I was born in nineteen fifty two, and I 30 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 2: was born about a year after my dad got out 31 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 2: of San Quentin Penitentiary for crime really could have gotten 32 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 2: into death penalty. He fled to the Navajo Indian Reservation 33 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 2: for two reasons. One, you could lie about being a 34 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 2: violent fella no one checked, just a very much needed 35 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 2: skilled labor. In the fifties and sixties, they didn't have 36 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 2: people that had the kind of education and background. And second, 37 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:08,799 Speaker 2: he thought his accomplice would never look for him there 38 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 2: because he would be impossible to find. He was right 39 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 2: on both counts, and my first memory is he would 40 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,799 Speaker 2: drive me out into the frozen tundra of the reservation 41 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 2: and spin the car around endlessly because he is kind 42 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 2: of like being in a Ferris wheel on the ground, 43 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,080 Speaker 2: and he thought it was funny, and I did too, 44 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 2: even I'm bouncing all over the car, hitting my head. 45 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 2: But my first memory, and this is really where the 46 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 2: book begins, is we have to get rid of your mother. 47 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,679 Speaker 2: She's crazy and if you grow up with her, you'll 48 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 2: be crazy too. We have to get rid of her, 49 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 2: and I'm going to need you to go along. 50 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,520 Speaker 1: He is right now when you're a young boy, fun dad, 51 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: without really having any context of what really that means. 52 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 2: Well, he was super powerful, very strong. He knew more 53 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 2: than anybody else, at least we always believed that. But 54 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 2: even early he scared me, and he wanted to because 55 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 2: he really wanted me to feel like he was the 56 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 2: only force I needed to believe in. Like he used 57 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,519 Speaker 2: to tie me to a tree so I wouldn't run off. 58 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 2: Of course, he wanted me to try to get out 59 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:10,239 Speaker 2: and run off. He would throw me up in the 60 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 2: air and catch me, but sometimes he'd let me hit 61 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 2: the ground, just because he wanted me to only trust 62 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 2: him and to believe that crime was the right thing. 63 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 2: And that's the law of the jungle. And you know, 64 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 2: everybody's your enemy, and you got to look after yourself. 65 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 2: And you've got to live by the code of violence. 66 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 2: And that's how he felt about life. 67 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: Where did your dad come from? How did he turn 68 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: out like that? Let's start there. His name is Thurston Crewe. 69 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he had a tough life, you know. 70 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 2: He grew up in the dust bowl and his father 71 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 2: was illiterate. The only time his father ever left Texas 72 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 2: to going to World War One, and he bought for 73 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 2: two or three years, got himself Mustard Gas came home. 74 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 2: But he was a very angry guy and he lost 75 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 2: everything in the depression. In the dust bowl, my dad 76 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 2: lived with his mom and dad in cars outside under bridges. 77 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 2: He had to pick cotton twelve hours a day. Sometimes 78 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 2: his dad beat him with a wet rope. So my 79 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 2: dad grew up very violent, very angry. He did something 80 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 2: of extreme violence when he thought someone crossed him. And 81 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 2: that's how I wound up in San Quentin. 82 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: Tell me about San Quentin. So you're not even born yet. 83 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: He meets your mom, so they have a courtship. Is 84 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: that what happens? 85 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 2: He was nineteen, she was fifteen. I mean it is 86 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 2: right after the end of World War two, nineteen forty six. 87 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 2: My mom got pregnant. Immediately a guy made a stupid 88 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 2: comment about how pretty she was and wishes he could 89 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 2: date her. My dad comes home, hears about it, gets 90 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 2: his boss, who's his best friend, and so they lord 91 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 2: of the guy who did it out and beat him. 92 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 2: But what they thought was his death, and he would 93 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 2: have led out and died, but his wife found him 94 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 2: with just a few minutes to go, or else I 95 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 2: probably would not be here. Dad thought that he did 96 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 2: the right thing. You know, if somebody says something wrong 97 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 2: to you, you beat him to death. If somebody crosses you, 98 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 2: you fight until one of you dies. I mean, he 99 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 2: just grew up believing that feeling that. I don't think 100 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 2: he ever changed. That's very very intelligent guy, amazing I 101 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 2: but he had a chip on his shoulder of the 102 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 2: size of a building, and an inferiority complex you can't 103 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 2: even imagine, and this profound sense that the world had 104 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,919 Speaker 2: done him wrong, had screwed him, somebody stole his future, 105 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,159 Speaker 2: and I think hated his mom and dad because he 106 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 2: felt like they did that to him. But those were very, 107 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 2: very tough times. No one had anything, and he was 108 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,679 Speaker 2: just a very angry guy from the start. He loved 109 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 2: to fight. He would tell me about other murders that 110 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 2: he had committed he got away with. He would tell 111 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 2: me stories about what the prisoners would talk about in 112 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 2: the yard in San Quentin. He would tell me about 113 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 2: all these guys that killed people and got away with it. 114 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: And he's telling you this as kind of a veiled threat. 115 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: You know, he obviously is a very powerful person. 116 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 2: He was He was built like an NFL linebacker. He 117 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 2: was very intimidating. Whenever anybody confronted him, if they didn't withdraw, 118 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:53,600 Speaker 2: he would have beat him to their death. I mean, 119 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,239 Speaker 2: he had no off button, and he had no sense 120 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 2: of right and wrong and no sense of letting something 121 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 2: go or if somebody cut him off. You know, we've 122 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 2: all had this, let me cut you off. Maybe they 123 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 2: give you the figure, they do something stupid, and ninety 124 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 2: nine percent of us will let it go, drop our 125 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,840 Speaker 2: car back and avoid people like that. He'd follow the 126 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 2: guy home and try to kill him and maybe his 127 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 2: dog and maybe burn the house down. I mean, he 128 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 2: just was a guy who felt like, if you cross me, 129 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 2: I'm gonna get even plus some and there's no end 130 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 2: to this game. 131 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: You grew up in a reservation, is that. Don you 132 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: tell me a little bit about that too. Where we 133 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 1: are in time, with what location, and what the reservation 134 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: life was like for you. 135 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,279 Speaker 2: Reservation was a very tough place for me in the beginning. 136 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 2: The Pathece light is really a metaphor for the whole book. 137 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 2: But Dad told us we were Cherokees. Sister tried to 138 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 2: the Navajos, and we grew up believing that. But I 139 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 2: could tell my Navajo classmates didn't think it. But it 140 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 2: was a tough place, and we lived in a part 141 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 2: of the reservation where white people aren't allowed to live. 142 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,280 Speaker 2: White people allowed to live in these little compounds where 143 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 2: doctors and teachers were and they were surrounded by barbed 144 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 2: wire and cattleguards. So we grew up inside of that. 145 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 2: And the Navjo kids didn't like us. Their parents had 146 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 2: been to the boarding schools where their heads were shaved, 147 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:05,799 Speaker 2: they had to eat lye soap, and they were told 148 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 2: every day, we have to kill the Indian to save 149 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 2: the man. 150 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 3: I went to school with their kids. 151 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 2: Their kids hated us, But what I learned over time, 152 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 2: when they knew that I wasn't going to move away, 153 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 2: we became friends. Once those Navajo kids started calling me gaggy, 154 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 2: which is the Navajo word for crow. 155 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 3: I became one of them. 156 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 2: It took a long time to get there, but once 157 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 2: I did, they treated me exactly like I was one 158 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 2: of them. I don't think I've ever been treated better 159 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 2: by anyone anywhere in my entire life. 160 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: So was your father a Native American? Was your mother 161 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: a Native American? Or neither? 162 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 2: The answer has to be the truth, which is no. 163 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 2: But one of the things that this book is about, 164 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 2: and a lot of people I think can identify this. 165 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 2: Families grew up with mis you know, many of them 166 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 2: completely false beliefs that are completely false, and assumptions about 167 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 2: life that are completely false. And Dad wanted to believe 168 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 2: he was a Cherokee because he didn't want to believe 169 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 2: and forgive my expression, that he came from white trash 170 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 2: depression era dust ball. 171 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 3: He didn't want to believe that. 172 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 2: And the Cherokees were powerful warriors and people he respected 173 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 2: and identified, but they were also a minority that had 174 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 2: been persecuted, picked on, and he identified with all of 175 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,239 Speaker 2: that and turned himself into a Cherokee in his head. 176 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 2: And over time I learned he was lying about that 177 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 2: and other things because when he would lie, his voice 178 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 2: got real loud, his eyes bugged out, his chest would 179 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 2: puff out, and you could tell that was pure lives. 180 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 2: But he projected himself into that as a way of 181 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 2: feeling sorry for himself, as a way of feeling superior 182 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,839 Speaker 2: even though people didn't treat him that way, and as 183 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 2: a way of kind of being a living martyr. 184 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: So he sounds like it. So he met your mom, 185 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: and your mom it sounded like how mental health struggles. 186 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 3: Is that right, very serious mental health problem. Believe it 187 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 3: or not. She's still alive. 188 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,440 Speaker 2: My mom is almost ninety one, and I would say 189 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 2: she's like a somewhere but six and ten in her 190 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 2: mentality with eighty years experience at being very angry and 191 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 2: very much a child. 192 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 3: But when she was young, she was beautiful. 193 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 2: And my dad thought that when he met her at fifteen, 194 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 2: And sometimes that's all it takes. But then everything unravels 195 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 2: when they couldn't have been more opposite in terms of 196 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 2: their mentality and what he wanted out of life. And 197 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 2: my mom had a very very tough life and he 198 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 2: was a huge reason. 199 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 3: For a bunch of it. 200 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:27,439 Speaker 1: Well let's start with that then. 201 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 2: So in the beginning, I just thought he was this 202 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 2: super powerful guy. What he was teaching me is what 203 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 2: every dad taught every kid, right, which is get away 204 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 2: with whatever you can trust me, and if he's something 205 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 2: wrong that I don't like, I'll beat you to death. 206 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 2: And if you do something makes me proud of clap. 207 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:44,479 Speaker 2: And so we kind of grew up in this crazy environment. 208 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 2: I guess by the time I was six or seven, 209 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 2: I could tell some of it was lies, because I 210 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:53,079 Speaker 2: could always tell his persona changed entirely, and that always 211 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 2: bothered me, so that people who worked with them were 212 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 2: afraid of him, but they also respected his brain power 213 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,040 Speaker 2: because he had a lot. But by the way, what 214 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 2: time I hit nine, ten years old, he was teaching 215 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 2: me how to steal tools from the Navajos and for 216 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,079 Speaker 2: me to be his lookout. He was explaining to me 217 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 2: why sometimes killing is the only answer. You have to 218 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,719 Speaker 2: live by your own rules. And eventually start telling me 219 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 2: stories about San Quentin and about murders and about violence 220 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 2: he had done, but always it was justified, right, And 221 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,200 Speaker 2: you'd say, an army is just a big group of murders, 222 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:30,080 Speaker 2: The FBI is just organized murders CIA. 223 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 1: And you're on a reservation, right, in California. 224 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 3: Is that where you all were Arizona, New Mexico. 225 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: Your father was saying you're Cherokee. Do people realize that 226 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,200 Speaker 1: he is not Native American when you guys are living 227 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: on this reservation? 228 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:42,200 Speaker 3: Two or three theories? 229 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,079 Speaker 2: I think yes. The Navajos knew. They're smart people. If 230 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 2: you had a skill set they needed, they would tolerate 231 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 2: darn near anything. And so that was smart. And he 232 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,440 Speaker 2: worked hard and people put up with that. I don't 233 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:56,440 Speaker 2: think it takes you long to know when you have 234 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:58,680 Speaker 2: a strong, violent person who's going to get in a 235 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 2: fight with you if you disagree. Read and he wound 236 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 2: up pushing a lot of what I think legitimate criticism 237 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 2: away because it isn't worth it right stay away. 238 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:10,719 Speaker 1: Are your father and mother married? Are they together at 239 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,199 Speaker 1: this point? And how is he treating her well? 240 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 2: He's sitting her terrible. They stayed together till he tried 241 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 2: to kill her and left her homeless. My mother was 242 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,240 Speaker 2: just a poor, wounded soul. She would have stayed with him, 243 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 2: but she really had nothing going in her life, and 244 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 2: she saw him as the only thing right. And she 245 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:30,559 Speaker 2: had four kids and she had a very very tragic 246 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 2: life and very very sad life, and it's still sad, 247 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 2: long suffering in every way. 248 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,720 Speaker 1: So tell me what is the next big event. You're 249 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 1: six or seven. Your dad's a liar, your mom is miserable. 250 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: Your dad is throwing his weight around everywhere. But he's 251 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:48,560 Speaker 1: valued on the reservation, which is why he's there. When 252 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 1: is the first time he involves you in his crimes. 253 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 2: We start going to warehouses on the reservation. These are 254 00:11:56,120 --> 00:12:00,960 Speaker 2: huge government quants at huts made out of aluminum side material, 255 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 2: and he is the safety officer and he keeps charge 256 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 2: of inventory. So he would wind up stealing expensive tools 257 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:11,719 Speaker 2: like electric tools and power saws and things like that 258 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 2: that were really very valuable, and he would fence them 259 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 2: to a group of Mexican men who then sold them underground. 260 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:22,520 Speaker 2: And there was so much inventory on reservation. There's so 261 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,839 Speaker 2: many warehouses that he could steal stuff from various ones 262 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 2: and no one ever figured it out. They didn't keep 263 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 2: good inventory, and he never stole so much from any 264 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:33,120 Speaker 2: one place that it was noticed. But that was his lookout. 265 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 2: We had a signal if somebody was coming along where 266 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,959 Speaker 2: you're looking at a flat area that might be miles 267 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:42,720 Speaker 2: and miles from the nearest town. So if a car's 268 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:45,680 Speaker 2: coming or truck's coming way, you know it is you 269 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 2: see the dust. If I thought a truck or a 270 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 2: car looked dangerous or something to think about, I threw 271 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 2: one rock up against the warehouse, and that just meant beware. 272 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 3: I might need to signal you that something's wrong. 273 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 2: If I threw two rocks and stop what you're doing 274 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 2: and pay attention and get to the door. If I 275 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 2: threw three rocks in a row, it meant run for 276 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 2: the car. We've got trouble. So he've taught me this system, 277 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:13,319 Speaker 2: and he taught me how to look for licensed tag 278 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 2: numbers and how to look for suspicious cars. And really 279 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 2: he was just a crime mentor. And then over time 280 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 2: he would tell me about murders he knew, about murders 281 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 2: he committed. And of course all this fascinated me, because 282 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,360 Speaker 2: I'm a kid. I learned how to trick him into 283 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 2: telling me things he didn't want to tell me, Like 284 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 2: I would know how to say something that would make 285 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:36,200 Speaker 2: him say something else. And if he was in a 286 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 2: talkative mood, he would tell you incredible things about. 287 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 3: What he had done, and they were all bad. 288 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 2: He never told anybody else in our family, But he 289 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 2: and I were crime buddies, and we spent lots of 290 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 2: time alone in the car because they're huge distances between 291 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 2: these warehouses and a reservation, and a lot of times 292 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 2: I would spend eight, ten, twelve hours a day with 293 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 2: him going around the reservation stealing tools. 294 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: So then when do things ask when do things become 295 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:03,839 Speaker 1: more violent? How old are you when you're the lookout man? 296 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 2: Started at about eight, and this went on for a 297 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 2: long time. So one day we're driving along this time, 298 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,080 Speaker 2: my younger brother and sister in the car, and we 299 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 2: pull up to a trailer which turned out to be 300 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 2: a gas station right on the reservation. You've got these 301 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:21,000 Speaker 2: especially then, like you know, kind of a rusted out trailer, 302 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 2: two pumps out front, and that's a gas station. So 303 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 2: we pull up to this gas station and there's chicken 304 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 2: wire in front of the trailer, and there's a giant 305 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 2: black bear trapped in this chicken wire cage. And the 306 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 2: guy spray painted above the trailer on wood black bear 307 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 2: gas station, Right, this is some sort of tourist attraction. 308 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 2: We pull up to the station and at that point 309 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 2: I'm used to reading my dad's face for clues of violence, 310 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 2: because you've got to catch him before he gets extremely angry. 311 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 3: If he's already angry. 312 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 2: The blood vessel between his eyebrows bulges where his eyes 313 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 2: are bults out. He's too mad, you can't stop him. 314 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 2: So I became the master of trying to read his 315 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 2: face and try to see why he was going to 316 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 2: be angry. So we pull up to this gas station 317 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 2: and I see my dad roll up his sleeves, puff 318 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 2: up his chest. The blood vessel between his eyebrows looks 319 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 2: like a garden hose, and his eyes were bugged out 320 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 2: like a Volkswagen, which means he's about to explode. So 321 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 2: I look over and he's in the back and he 322 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 2: gets out wire clippers, and he's really angry that this 323 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 2: poor black bear's been trapped, Like he had more compassion 324 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 2: for animals than people. He's just strange guy. So he 325 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 2: goes to let the bear out, and the bear's paw 326 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 2: gets through the chicken wire and the man who owned 327 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 2: the gas station, he runs out, sees what my dad's doing, 328 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 2: starts screaming at it. Leave my bar alone. So he 329 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 2: runs towards my dad. My dad hit him right in 330 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 2: the nose, so hard, busted his nose, busted his glasses, 331 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 2: knocked him upside down, picked him up with one hand 332 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 2: and held him up to the bear claw and said, 333 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 2: I'm going to come back in an hour. If that 334 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 2: bear's still here, he's going to eat your fat dumb behind. 335 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 2: The guy on the ground drove off, comes back, Bear's gone. 336 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 2: The trailer's padlock they never opened again. Stuff like that 337 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 2: happened every single day. So Dad was just extremely angry, 338 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 2: and he was going to confront you. If you were 339 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 2: in the wrong place with him, you're going to get 340 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 2: in a fight. And so this happened all the time. 341 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 2: You start realizing how violent he is, do. 342 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: You start committing crimes besides just being the lookout guy. 343 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 2: What happens then is he starts telling me that there's 344 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 2: a guy from his past who's looking to kill him. 345 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 2: He's really not afraid of his accomplice, but he's very 346 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 2: afraid of being ambush. We would go into nearby town 347 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 2: on the reservation, and he would make me go through 348 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,560 Speaker 2: the parking lots, look at all the license tags and 349 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 2: tell me which ones don't belong, Look at vehicles, tell 350 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 2: me which ones don't belong, look at people, and tell 351 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 2: me which ones look suspicious, which one just look like 352 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 2: they're passing through town or Navajo's family shopping. And he 353 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 2: trained me to look whenever we go in to public place. 354 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 2: He never sat near a window, and he always looked 355 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 2: at the door, and there was always a second exit. 356 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:06,439 Speaker 2: And my job was to case the little town. And 357 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,480 Speaker 2: I brew learned he's looking to make sure his accomplice 358 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,119 Speaker 2: hadn't tracked him down. He's never worried about it in 359 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 2: like real rural area, you know where we on the reservation, 360 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 2: but in town, he is very worried about it. He 361 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:20,680 Speaker 2: started telling me more and more about his criminal life, 362 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 2: and of course he's giving me the rosy view of it, 363 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 2: never what really happened. But I've become very much aware 364 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 2: that he has killed a couple of guys in fits, 365 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 2: and that he was in prison for something that was really, 366 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 2: really bad, and that he's got a guy who's trying 367 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 2: to come kill him, and I've become his confidant. The 368 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,160 Speaker 2: real fear I had with him was one we might 369 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 2: run into the accomplice and either have to kill him 370 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 2: or get killed, right, I mean, sort of the way 371 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,680 Speaker 2: Dad looked at it. But he became more and more 372 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,199 Speaker 2: aggressive when he thought people crossed him, and so they 373 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 2: were more and more violent upbursts. I would say, and 374 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 2: you're in a place where there's really not a. 375 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,200 Speaker 3: Ton of law. There's a lot of problems. 376 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 2: A lot of times he got away with these confrontations, right, 377 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 2: you could kind of get away with it, But I 378 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 2: was always scared that somebody would kill him, or that 379 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:10,439 Speaker 2: we would be in a fight that we were going 380 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 2: to lose, or there's going to be a body on 381 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 2: the ground. 382 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:15,680 Speaker 1: There was no one on the reservation, a teacher or 383 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:18,720 Speaker 1: anyone who you could confide in, or did that not 384 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: even occur to you at that age. 385 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 2: When somebody is getting beaten within an inch of their life, 386 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:28,200 Speaker 2: you have an extremely violent parent, confiding in them means 387 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 2: that that person will confront your father and you'll get 388 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:33,639 Speaker 2: beaten ten times worse. No one who grows up in 389 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 2: a situation like mine confides in anybody. And you don't 390 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,200 Speaker 2: trust adults because the ones you trusted are abusing you 391 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 2: and they've broken you, and some do. Getting outsider is 392 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:45,639 Speaker 2: just going to get you both killed. And you know 393 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 2: that the Navajo reservation, particularly then, was overwhelmed with problems, right, 394 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:56,879 Speaker 2: there's violence, there's alcoholism, there's incredible poverty, very very tough place. 395 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 2: When teachers came from the outside, they would get good 396 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,520 Speaker 2: pay and an opportunity, and they'd stay a year or two. 397 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 2: They couldn't get out of there fast enough because it's 398 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 2: just a very, very hard place. It's like a rural ghetto. 399 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:12,880 Speaker 2: I mean, these kids have gone through very hard times. 400 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,119 Speaker 2: And you know, I had a lot of teachers I loved, 401 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 2: I had angels along the way. Some of them knew, 402 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 2: some of them didn't. But no one in their right 403 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 2: mind would get involved with my dad. And there's no 404 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 2: way he's going to lose those kids. 405 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 3: He just not. We had nowhere to go. 406 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:44,719 Speaker 1: As you got older, though, did you just sort of 407 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: lean even more into this lifestyle as you became a 408 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: young man. 409 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 2: Well again, you know, he can beat you within an 410 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:52,919 Speaker 2: inch of your life, and he can also throw you 411 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 2: on the street, which he threatened many times. It's not 412 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,440 Speaker 2: like social services intervene or help you in situations like this. 413 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 3: Maybe different now you know you have nowhere to go. 414 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,159 Speaker 2: And I think until I fought back in my own way, 415 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 2: and I think I never did anything so criminal that 416 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 2: it hurt a person physically. I certainly did a lot wrong, 417 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,160 Speaker 2: but once I got out of the house, he still 418 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 2: tried to control me. And a good chunk at the 419 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 2: end of the book is how I ended that and 420 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 2: how I fought back. But I didn't live a perfect life, 421 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 2: and I did a lot wrong. It'd be a much 422 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,680 Speaker 2: stronger person than me that could have pulled away from 423 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,359 Speaker 2: his grasp. And I'm sure they're out there, But I 424 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 2: honestly tell you, unless you live through it, it's easy 425 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 2: to criticize it. I'm not saying you are. I'm just 426 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 2: saying it's easy to critique it. It's a much different 427 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:40,360 Speaker 2: thing to break free of it, very very different. 428 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:42,879 Speaker 1: I can't even imagine trying to get out of his grip. 429 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: That must have been a nightmare. At what point, as 430 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,120 Speaker 1: a young man, do things become more serious for you 431 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,199 Speaker 1: with what he's asking you to do. I'm assuming his 432 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,400 Speaker 1: tasks are becoming a little bit more age appropriate for you, 433 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:56,440 Speaker 1: Is that right? Well? 434 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 3: Lots of changes. 435 00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 2: So I'm about fifteen and my dad picks up a stepmother, 436 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:03,639 Speaker 2: the one he later wants to get rid of, and 437 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 2: she's a nurse on the reservation, and she's well educated 438 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:10,359 Speaker 2: from the East she's got property she owns on the 439 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 2: beach in North Carolina. She convinces him that he can 440 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 2: apply for a job with a Bureau of Indian Affairs 441 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,440 Speaker 2: in Washington, and she can get a really good job 442 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 2: because she's a nurse, and you know, she's got a 443 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 2: good college education. So we wind up moving for six months. 444 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,440 Speaker 2: We think he gets a training opportunity in a Bureau 445 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 2: of Indian Affairs in. 446 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 3: Downtown d C. 447 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:33,359 Speaker 2: And so we move and I hate it because I 448 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:35,840 Speaker 2: love the reservation at this point and I know it. 449 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 2: And I get to the East and we're years and 450 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 2: years behind in school. We're very unsophisticated. Nothing makes sense 451 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 2: to me, and I don't like it. So I think 452 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 2: we're going to move back. But we go back and 453 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 2: forth between the reservation and the east coast Kensington and Bethestern, 454 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 2: Maryland for a period of two or three years. But 455 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 2: we eventually stay in the East. But Dad's crime stuff continues. 456 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 2: He starts fencing tools with some guy in West Virginia 457 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,000 Speaker 2: and it leads to what is clearly a murder when 458 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:06,160 Speaker 2: somebody crosses he and his buddies. 459 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:08,840 Speaker 1: Can you give us any more information about that? Just 460 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: so people sort of understand the seriousness of your dad's crimes. 461 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: That he's not just a petty criminal. He was somebody 462 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: who sounds like committed murder. Can you give us any 463 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:19,679 Speaker 1: more where you feel comfortable talking about that? 464 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:21,879 Speaker 2: Sure, I am, because you don't write a book like 465 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 2: this unless you're willing to do that right. 466 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 3: And I'm no superman. 467 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,720 Speaker 2: I never stood up to him until way at the end, 468 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 2: when it was either he's going to kill my stepmother 469 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 2: and drag my sister into this or not. So you know, 470 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:35,679 Speaker 2: I don't think anybody's going to give me an award 471 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 2: for the Red Badge of Courage, but I do think 472 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 2: I did the right thing when it really counted, so 473 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:42,439 Speaker 2: to give you kind of an overview, So I knew 474 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:44,520 Speaker 2: that Dad went in and out of the service in 475 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,159 Speaker 2: one year. He was born in nineteen twenty seven. In 476 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 2: that class. By the time they got through Navy training, 477 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 2: Japan had surrendered. But he went through all the basic 478 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,199 Speaker 2: military stuff, and he got in a fight in New 479 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 2: Orleans on leave with the guy, and they went out 480 00:22:58,080 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 2: back and I think Dad beat him to death with 481 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:02,720 Speaker 2: the spare hands, and they found the guy, but the 482 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,159 Speaker 2: other people with him, the sailors. It was like one 483 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 2: of those things where you're going to go out back 484 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 2: and fight with this guy at three am. 485 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:10,080 Speaker 3: You get what you deserve. 486 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 2: He would tell me these kinds of stories and two 487 00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 2: or three times where he would repeat the same story 488 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 2: over and over where he killed somebody. 489 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 3: And then I knew what he did to get in 490 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:19,920 Speaker 3: San Quentin, right. 491 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 2: I mean, you know, you're not in a maximum security 492 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:26,160 Speaker 2: prison unless you really did something that violent, and he did, 493 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,120 Speaker 2: so I had picked up pieces of that, So when 494 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 2: the West Virginia thing came, I knew what he was like, 495 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:33,720 Speaker 2: and I knew he had killed that guy, and I 496 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 2: knew that he would kill anybody if he thought he 497 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 2: could get away with it. 498 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 1: Will you give me some more information about that? What 499 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:39,160 Speaker 1: ends up happening? 500 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,560 Speaker 2: One of the big pieces of this book, one I've 501 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:46,640 Speaker 2: been really criticized for and other people have been so critical. 502 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 2: I knew Dad was committing crimes when we moved to 503 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 2: the eastern United States. So I'm in my sophomore junior 504 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:56,640 Speaker 2: year in college. Dad at this point he runs off 505 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,119 Speaker 2: with women, different women all the time. My mother was 506 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 2: long gone, and he banned my stepmother then came back 507 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 2: to her. So he's living with like an eighteen year 508 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,040 Speaker 2: old Indian woman and he's forty three years old. They 509 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 2: had to bury what you would expect to be a 510 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:13,640 Speaker 2: really saine relationship. He started disappearing and she would call 511 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:16,159 Speaker 2: me once in a whild school name was Caroline. And 512 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,679 Speaker 2: so your dad disappeared for five days in West Virginia. 513 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 2: I don't know where he is, and these kinds of 514 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 2: things would go on, and of course these are patterns 515 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 2: that I'm used to from my life. 516 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,199 Speaker 3: Dad would go off and steal a bunch of stuff. 517 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,359 Speaker 2: He had safety deposit box and po boxes, and he 518 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 2: would have me memorize them. So if I disappear, don't 519 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,440 Speaker 2: come back, you need to go find these boxes and 520 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 2: stuff buried. I mean, we just always played this game, 521 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 2: right that the world's after you, and if anything happens 522 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 2: to me, you need to come and they'll give you 523 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 2: instructions on who to go get and get even with. 524 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,640 Speaker 2: He was always like that. One day, this Caroline woman 525 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:50,720 Speaker 2: called me. She said, your dad's now been gone a 526 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 2: week and people are calling and breathing into the phone 527 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 2: and hanging up, and a couple of them are threatening me. 528 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:57,920 Speaker 2: And I said, well, you know, you knew what you 529 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,159 Speaker 2: got when you lived with him. But he's tougher than anybody, 530 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 2: and no one's going to kill him. He's going to 531 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:05,919 Speaker 2: wind up killing him. Don't worry about him. So another 532 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,440 Speaker 2: week later she called and said, your dad called. You've 533 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,480 Speaker 2: got exactly five hours to get the wheeling West Virginia. 534 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 2: I want you to go to a truck stop and 535 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,200 Speaker 2: there's a pay phone. Call this number. He'll meet you. 536 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,199 Speaker 2: It's an emergency. Leave now. So I did it. I 537 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 2: get up there and it's dark at this point. I 538 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 2: call the number. He immediately comes and meets me. We 539 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 2: follow two guys all the way back in this dirt 540 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,000 Speaker 2: road way back into the woods. And he said, we 541 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,639 Speaker 2: had our signal. If I see anybody, I blink the 542 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 2: lights on three times, one to warning two. His lookout 543 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:38,600 Speaker 2: three is get the hell out of there, get the 544 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,399 Speaker 2: whole thing. He and two other guys they get up 545 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,680 Speaker 2: about a six foot blinked of something wrapped in blue 546 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:45,919 Speaker 2: tarp and they bury it. 547 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,440 Speaker 3: And I'm not stupid. I know this has got to 548 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:49,760 Speaker 3: be a human. You know what I mean? What else 549 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 3: are you burying? Right? Why are you hiding? Why are 550 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 3: we doing this? 551 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:55,600 Speaker 2: I know at this point the human blood's a lot 552 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 2: betder than dear blood and other blood. I know it's 553 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:01,119 Speaker 2: human blood on him. He's got blood splattered on his khakis. 554 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 2: So they bury this guy. I drive out. These guys 555 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 2: go off their own way and I'm driving Dad back 556 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,640 Speaker 2: five hours to DC area and we begin this epic 557 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 2: fight which you'll see in the book. And he starts explaining, 558 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:17,840 Speaker 2: you're a do gooder, you don't go along with anything. 559 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 2: And I said, well, I have to drive you straight 560 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:22,120 Speaker 2: to the police station, turn you in, never doing anything 561 00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:22,920 Speaker 2: with you ever again. 562 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 3: We're done. No longer your kid. 563 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 2: I'm not doing this and I should drive straight to 564 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 2: the police station right now. He grabs me by the 565 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:30,560 Speaker 2: throat and pulls me up, and he said, I could 566 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:34,320 Speaker 2: kill you with my bare hands. I own you, you stupid, 567 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 2: sob just shut up and get the hell out of here. 568 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 2: It was a big turning point for me, and people 569 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:41,400 Speaker 2: would say, why did it come so late? 570 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:43,920 Speaker 3: But it came when it came. Every day. I worried 571 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:44,720 Speaker 3: for years. 572 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,160 Speaker 2: But I'm not making any excuses for myself at all, right, 573 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,919 Speaker 2: And so I assumed this guy was just another scumbag 574 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 2: like he was that crossed him. They were stealing tools. 575 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:59,120 Speaker 2: They were fencing tools, and I'm imagining that something really 576 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,480 Speaker 2: stupid happened and this guy threatened him and they decided 577 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 2: to kill him, and Dad needed. 578 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:04,840 Speaker 3: A way out of there. 579 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,439 Speaker 2: And to my knowledge, no one ever found out about it, 580 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 2: and I never heard anything about it, and he and 581 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 2: I never discussed it again. 582 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:14,399 Speaker 3: But it haunted me, and really haunted me. 583 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:17,400 Speaker 1: Did they ever figure out who this person was? What happened? 584 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:17,680 Speaker 3: No? 585 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, you really have gotten raked over the 586 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,000 Speaker 1: coals from the things I've read about this. People are 587 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 1: criticizing you for this. 588 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, they're very critical of me. And I guess my 589 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:32,600 Speaker 2: skin's no thinner or thicker than anybody else's. Publisher and 590 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 2: even family said, you know, you need to leave this out, 591 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:36,919 Speaker 2: and I said, but you don't have an honest book. 592 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,479 Speaker 2: This book's an honest book. This book is all my words, 593 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 2: all my faults. So they're they're one of these of 594 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,439 Speaker 2: the books done well is because of that, because of 595 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 2: the honesty, the authenticity, And I carry these things with me. 596 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 2: I carry them now. Buring your soul at these coming 597 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,120 Speaker 2: clean and sort of being vulnerable to people who love 598 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,480 Speaker 2: you and who you know is very liberating, but it's 599 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:01,760 Speaker 2: an extremely hard thing to go and I don't recommend it, 600 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,399 Speaker 2: but I also knew that when people read it and 601 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 2: they saw the truth in it, that it could resonate 602 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,120 Speaker 2: for some of them and they would see it as 603 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,400 Speaker 2: an example of you can overcome things that you think 604 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 2: are impossible to overcome. 605 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,560 Speaker 1: Tell me what happens from how old were you when 606 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,439 Speaker 1: this incident happened with your dad? 607 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:21,360 Speaker 3: Almost twenty one? 608 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,320 Speaker 1: What happens over the next forty eight years for you? 609 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:26,720 Speaker 1: Did your dad have any other big incidences with you? 610 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: After the burial of this body. 611 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:33,879 Speaker 2: I get an incredibly amazing job in the political process, 612 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 2: and it's at a place where, through a reversal of fortune, 613 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:39,720 Speaker 2: my dad is actually working at a much lower level 614 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 2: than me at the same place. And it's a complete bluke, 615 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:45,800 Speaker 2: and it sent him into an outrageous envy that you 616 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:50,719 Speaker 2: cannot imagine. Right, he just goes blistic at me and 617 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 2: people I work with, and he starts creating huge problems. 618 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,960 Speaker 2: So he fakes an accident and is able to retire 619 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,120 Speaker 2: on disability, but he decides to he is so angry 620 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:03,480 Speaker 2: with me, he's going to have to in my life. 621 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 2: So what he does is he plans to murder my stepmother. 622 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 2: Now she's got money and land and a pension, and 623 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 2: he thinks he can get away at anything. 624 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: David, this is the nurse, is that right who he married? 625 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 3: Yeah? 626 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, initially at the reservation and then moved out to 627 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: North Carolina to live on her property. So they've been 628 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:20,960 Speaker 1: married for. 629 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 3: Probably thirty years at that point. 630 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 2: He's left her a couple of times and come back, 631 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:27,320 Speaker 2: but he sets up this murder and again, I understand 632 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 2: my dad at this point, probably better than he understands himself. 633 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 2: So he sets up this scenario where my younger sister 634 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 2: is going to help him. He owned and controlled her too. 635 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:40,800 Speaker 2: They're going to take my stepmother to this swampy area 636 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,960 Speaker 2: land she actually owns way back in the woods. He's 637 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,760 Speaker 2: going to kill her, chop her up, put concrete, sink 638 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,360 Speaker 2: her into this swamp. He's going to use my sister 639 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,440 Speaker 2: as the alibi so that she drives him to and 640 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 2: from He hides in the trunk so it doesn't look 641 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:57,640 Speaker 2: like he was there. My stepmother shows up to meet 642 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 2: him and she disappears. He gets a away with it. 643 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 2: So she calls me hysterically on a Wednesday night and says, 644 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 2: all of this is going to take place on Saturday. 645 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:09,320 Speaker 1: Your sister right calls you. Is that right? 646 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 3: Right? 647 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 1: Where did this plot take place? Where was your stepmother's property? 648 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 2: The other bank to North Carolina is about two hundred 649 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 2: and fifty miles south and east of Washington. She owned 650 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 2: a tunnel land there and she was you know, came 651 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,200 Speaker 2: from a family. They weren't rich, but they inherited land 652 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 2: back before. This was a beach haven, but they owned 653 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 2: this swampy property too, that where no one goes. So 654 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 2: he figures one he wants rid of her unto he 655 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 2: would like to have her money, which second he wants 656 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:38,080 Speaker 2: to get. 657 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 3: Away with it obviously doesn't want to go to jail 658 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:40,240 Speaker 3: with it. 659 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,320 Speaker 2: And third, by using my sister, he owns and controls 660 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:47,840 Speaker 2: her for life. So this is Dad's m But when 661 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 2: my sister called me, this is complicated for the listener, 662 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 2: but your true crime people, he knows that my sister's 663 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 2: going to call me, and he knows I'm going to 664 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:00,960 Speaker 2: try to stop it. And what he decided to do 665 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 2: was set a trap where he can get me, kill me. 666 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:05,600 Speaker 3: And I figured this. 667 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:09,000 Speaker 2: All out ahead of time and get to him before 668 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 2: it ever gets down to the outer banks. I woke 669 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:13,480 Speaker 2: up at three o'clock in the morning. Then I hold 670 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 2: my sister, go somewhere else, don't answer any phones, stay 671 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 2: with the friend, don't go back to where you live, 672 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 2: and avoid him completely, and give me time. Give me 673 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:26,880 Speaker 2: twenty four hours to think this through. So I begin 674 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 2: thinking it through, and I use a lifetime of my experience, 675 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 2: and I understand why he's doing it, how he's doing it, 676 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 2: and if he could get rid of me and my 677 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,400 Speaker 2: stepmother in the same day, that'd be the greatest day 678 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,200 Speaker 2: he ever had, like winning the lottery twice. And I 679 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,560 Speaker 2: know he really is that kind of guy. And I 680 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,360 Speaker 2: know that he knows that I will probably go straight 681 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:46,480 Speaker 2: down where my sister is. I'm going to be very 682 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:48,720 Speaker 2: predictable for him, and he's going to know how to 683 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:52,920 Speaker 2: catch me in his trap. And I realize that, and 684 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:55,640 Speaker 2: so I know that I have to get to him 685 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,719 Speaker 2: before he ever gets down there. And I don't want 686 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:01,520 Speaker 2: to give this part away. A really interesting part of 687 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,640 Speaker 2: the book, I think is what my thinking was, what 688 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 2: I did, and how I went about it. 689 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,440 Speaker 1: So you foiled the plan, I'm assuming because you're sitting here. 690 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, I did. 691 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:14,280 Speaker 1: He is I'm assuming after this furious? Is that right? 692 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:15,360 Speaker 1: That this has been spoiled? 693 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 3: It is? 694 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,959 Speaker 2: And because our family is so complicated and screwed up 695 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,440 Speaker 2: and every other word you can use, we kind of 696 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:26,720 Speaker 2: all pretend it never happened and go through our dysfunctional nonsense. 697 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,520 Speaker 2: But at some point my dad decides he's never speaking 698 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:31,880 Speaker 2: to me again, and so we went about fifteen plus 699 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:33,240 Speaker 2: years without speaking. 700 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:35,479 Speaker 1: Well wait, how old were you when that happened? How 701 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 1: old was he? And how old were you when that started? 702 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 1: You were an adult? Were you married? 703 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 2: Just before marriage? It's about twenty seven years old. Dad 704 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 2: needed me at some point because he was getting old 705 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 2: and sick. And I've made gone through a process of 706 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 2: deciding that I needed to forgive all this and just 707 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:52,720 Speaker 2: move on with my life and just be a good son. 708 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:54,840 Speaker 2: And well I've also been criticized for that. One in 709 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,680 Speaker 2: the world were you thinking? But I understood unless I 710 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,040 Speaker 2: cleared my mind of all this, I would never be free. 711 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:02,560 Speaker 2: And that's another part of what I tell people. You 712 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:04,959 Speaker 2: don't forget people because they deserve it or because they 713 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,480 Speaker 2: ask for it. A good person will, a bad person won't, 714 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 2: and a really bad person will never think they did 715 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:13,400 Speaker 2: anything won't. He's a psychopath, so I understood that. At 716 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 2: some point, I just wanted to be right with myself. 717 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:20,120 Speaker 2: But I confronted him at one point and he said, 718 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 2: you're a liar. You make things up. Your revision is 719 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,680 Speaker 2: everything about you is just weak and cowardly. I knew 720 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 2: you'd never be much of a man. You're nothing, and 721 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:31,880 Speaker 2: I expected that. But even after that, years later, I 722 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,640 Speaker 2: forgave all that decided I'm going to help him to 723 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:38,080 Speaker 2: his last couple of years before he dies. Also talked 724 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:39,520 Speaker 2: to my mother. I said, you know, you made me 725 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 2: feel like a ten years old that I left you 726 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:42,920 Speaker 2: to die and I was man of the house and 727 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:45,400 Speaker 2: I could have saved you. Her answer is you were 728 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 2: and you could have and you didn't. 729 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:47,840 Speaker 4: Wow. 730 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:50,280 Speaker 2: When you grew up with that, you think it's your fault. 731 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:52,960 Speaker 2: It's a very hard thing and you have to undo that. 732 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:55,920 Speaker 2: And again, the worst letters I get it from people 733 00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:58,320 Speaker 2: who never undid that damage. 734 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: This has probably come up and reviews. Did you consider 735 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:04,440 Speaker 1: turning him into police? I think you've mentioned that one time. 736 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 1: What would that have done or why wouldn't you have 737 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:08,880 Speaker 1: done that? As an adult who didn't live with him anymore? 738 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:10,200 Speaker 3: It wouldn't have made any sense. 739 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 2: And I to me, you know, I have two sisters 740 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:15,200 Speaker 2: and a brother to think about, and their lives have 741 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:18,800 Speaker 2: been really messed up through all of this. My sisters 742 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:21,839 Speaker 2: are still really struggling with issues they were caused by this. 743 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:25,399 Speaker 2: I just didn't see it helping. And you know, more 744 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:27,239 Speaker 2: than seven years has gone vi A. But you know, 745 00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:29,759 Speaker 2: there's no statue of limitation on murder. But I have 746 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:33,359 Speaker 2: no idea what happened in West Virginia. I really I 747 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:35,919 Speaker 2: just know what did happen. But I didn't see any 748 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,799 Speaker 2: value in any of that, anything that was healing or 749 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:41,040 Speaker 2: helpful or therapeutic or anything else. 750 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:42,680 Speaker 3: My own kids to think about. 751 00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:46,359 Speaker 2: And you know, whenever you mentioned our last name, I mean, 752 00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 2: it's just all they can do to I feel bad 753 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:51,200 Speaker 2: for them, right, I mean, they've had this what I 754 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:54,360 Speaker 2: call the Quo curse their whole life. I just realized 755 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:57,839 Speaker 2: that none of this helps anybody, and it doesn't help 756 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:00,279 Speaker 2: any victims, It doesn't do anything. 757 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:01,719 Speaker 1: Burn him in while he was still alive. Would that 758 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:05,279 Speaker 1: have prevented future violence from him? Do you think? 759 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:07,919 Speaker 2: No? I just think it would have raised up other 760 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,480 Speaker 2: ugly issues that in really bad families where this stuff 761 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 2: goes on, you always says, well, why don't people talk 762 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:16,279 Speaker 2: about it? Why didn't you say something earlier where they say, 763 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:18,360 Speaker 2: you know, you just wanted to go away. You just 764 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:23,880 Speaker 2: feel like you're jumping into a filthy bathtub and trying 765 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:26,480 Speaker 2: to get clean, and all you're doing is rearranging the dirt. 766 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:29,640 Speaker 2: It can be very, very difficult. Is it worth it? 767 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:34,040 Speaker 2: And if so, why so? Where's your justice? What do 768 00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:36,879 Speaker 2: you get? And don't believe me, you will pay one 769 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:37,800 Speaker 2: hell of a price. 770 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:41,759 Speaker 1: So writing this book, while I imagine for you, must 771 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:45,600 Speaker 1: have been very cathartic, was it difficult for I need 772 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,759 Speaker 1: to tell your mom, but for your wife or your siblings? 773 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:50,880 Speaker 1: Was that difficult for them to read about? 774 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,920 Speaker 2: Extremely My siblings tried to talk me out of it. 775 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:56,239 Speaker 2: My wife tried to talk me out of it. My 776 00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,120 Speaker 2: siblings made me change their first names, which is the 777 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 2: only part that's not accurate. And since bus sisters have 778 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:05,760 Speaker 2: married last names, you know, I figured they're saying, what's 779 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,080 Speaker 2: really interesting, No one wanted me to do it. Now 780 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:12,600 Speaker 2: that it's been extremely successful, and obviously they come off 781 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,440 Speaker 2: as my heroes. They are, I mean, they live through 782 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 2: this with me. So the book now it's like, Oh, 783 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:19,160 Speaker 2: I'm really glad you did it. But believe me, no 784 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,840 Speaker 2: no one wanted me to do this, no one. 785 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,319 Speaker 1: This has taken an emotional toll on you. Obviously, what 786 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:27,640 Speaker 1: good do you see coming of it? I know you're 787 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:29,759 Speaker 1: getting a lot of feedback from people who have had 788 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:34,360 Speaker 1: similar upbringings, which is just terrible, and they are telling 789 00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: you how grateful they are that you have brought these 790 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:42,080 Speaker 1: types of abuses to light. So is that the gratification 791 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:43,200 Speaker 1: for you from all of this? 792 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:44,359 Speaker 3: It is? 793 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:46,600 Speaker 2: And you know when I get letters, and I get 794 00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:48,719 Speaker 2: a lot more of these than the negative. You made 795 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:51,520 Speaker 2: me understood. I could tell my story. You made me understand. 796 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,239 Speaker 2: It's not my fault. You made me understand I'm not 797 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 2: a horrible person because I go up in a horrible 798 00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,319 Speaker 2: circumstance when you grew up the way I did. Things 799 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,120 Speaker 2: are coming at you one hundred miles an hour, life 800 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:06,279 Speaker 2: and death every day. You're facing an extraordinary situation where 801 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:08,760 Speaker 2: you have to read a person's face like my dad's 802 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:11,759 Speaker 2: in an instant and know what to do, how to 803 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:14,760 Speaker 2: avoid danger. And you have to understand that a person 804 00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:17,719 Speaker 2: who grows up like that is broken. They don't like themselves. 805 00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:20,600 Speaker 2: They don't like their story. They may even hate themselves. 806 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:24,120 Speaker 2: They don't know it, and they don't trust anybody, and 807 00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:26,560 Speaker 2: they know that if they try to trust you, that 808 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:28,640 Speaker 2: you'll simply go to the person that hurts them and 809 00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:31,480 Speaker 2: they'll hurt them more. What you have to understand is 810 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:36,200 Speaker 2: breaking a cycle like this is extraordinarily difficult, and most 811 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:37,239 Speaker 2: people do not. 812 00:37:37,719 --> 00:37:40,240 Speaker 1: So tell me about the last days of your dad's life. 813 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:42,840 Speaker 1: When did this happen and how old was it? What happened? 814 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 2: So Dad died January second, twenty thirteen. In the last 815 00:37:47,239 --> 00:37:50,960 Speaker 2: two the four years I was this legal guardian, I 816 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:53,239 Speaker 2: was his medical guardian. I talk to him every day. 817 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:55,120 Speaker 2: One night he thought he was going to die. He 818 00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:58,239 Speaker 2: had a series of medical issues towards the end, and 819 00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:00,880 Speaker 2: he thought he was going to die all over me 820 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:04,319 Speaker 2: to had these massive heart surgery, and he wrote, can 821 00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:05,319 Speaker 2: you ever forgive me? 822 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:06,000 Speaker 3: On a pad? 823 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:07,759 Speaker 2: And I said, I gave you, forgave you a long 824 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:11,319 Speaker 2: time ago, Dad, You're my dad, and he smiled, But 825 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:13,960 Speaker 2: as soon as he got well, he turned mean again. 826 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:16,680 Speaker 2: I knew that any forgiveness or any kindness to me 827 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:20,200 Speaker 2: was situational and the only reason he ever reached back 828 00:38:20,239 --> 00:38:22,440 Speaker 2: to me was the end of his life. He needed 829 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:24,719 Speaker 2: me and I didn't need him, and I was still 830 00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:27,400 Speaker 2: okay with that. But I told him I was going 831 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:29,640 Speaker 2: to write this book and he got really angry, and 832 00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:31,319 Speaker 2: I said, you know, I'm the only one of your 833 00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:33,680 Speaker 2: four kids that calls you every day, looks after you 834 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:35,920 Speaker 2: every day, talks you every day, keeps you good. If 835 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:37,799 Speaker 2: you want to cut me off, thank you. I can 836 00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:40,279 Speaker 2: just get rid of all the bs right now. So 837 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,080 Speaker 2: you need to give this a lot of thought. So 838 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:44,040 Speaker 2: he called me back. He said, okay, but if I 839 00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:46,319 Speaker 2: raised my hand in your face and tell you can't 840 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:48,399 Speaker 2: talk about something, you have to stop. And I said, well, 841 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:50,719 Speaker 2: maybe yes, maybe no. Then I told him that I 842 00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:53,919 Speaker 2: tracked down his accomplice, that I tracked down the son 843 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:55,920 Speaker 2: of his accomplice, and then I'd give him the daughter 844 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:58,799 Speaker 2: of the son of his accomplice, a full internship in 845 00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,799 Speaker 2: my office that i'd gone through the Freedom of Information 846 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:05,120 Speaker 2: Actor San Quentin. And I told him how you dad 847 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:07,960 Speaker 2: destroyed their dad's life. And I thought his head was 848 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:09,920 Speaker 2: going to pop off. And I said, you're not going 849 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:12,759 Speaker 2: to get away with no one knowing this, and you're sure, 850 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:15,279 Speaker 2: So I'm not going to get away with pretending to 851 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:17,920 Speaker 2: me that you didn't do this, And I will write 852 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,160 Speaker 2: this all down and I will tell it exactly the 853 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:23,480 Speaker 2: way it happened. And he said, well, I'm an atheist. 854 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:25,520 Speaker 2: I don't care. And I said, I know you're an atheist. 855 00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:28,480 Speaker 2: And it's not to get even. It's not because I'm 856 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:32,120 Speaker 2: keeping score. It's to tell people you can overcome even 857 00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:34,360 Speaker 2: you as a father and come out of it and 858 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:35,000 Speaker 2: be okay. 859 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:43,759 Speaker 1: On the next episode of Wicked, words you digit bought 860 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,440 Speaker 1: a chargee on the spy who couldn't spell. 861 00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:51,600 Speaker 4: He's certainly got some delusions of grandeur, and he thinks 862 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:54,560 Speaker 4: of himself. You know, he's got a fantasy running in 863 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:56,880 Speaker 4: his head in which he is like a double oh 864 00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:00,960 Speaker 4: seven character who is so smart and who's who's so 865 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:03,160 Speaker 4: skilled at espionage. 866 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:05,160 Speaker 3: He thinks he can hold win the government. 867 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:19,720 Speaker 1: My new book All That Is Wicked is available now, 868 00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:22,680 Speaker 1: including the audiobook. All that Is Wicked is based on 869 00:40:22,719 --> 00:40:25,439 Speaker 1: our first season of tenfold more Wicked. You might think 870 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:28,200 Speaker 1: you know the whole story of Killer Edward Ruloff's crimes, 871 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:31,279 Speaker 1: but there's so much more. My book American Sherlock is 872 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:34,839 Speaker 1: also available. This has been an exactly right tenfold more 873 00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:39,000 Speaker 1: Media Production. The producer is Alexis Imirosi. Our mixer is 874 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:42,799 Speaker 1: Ryo Baum. Curtis Heath is our composer, Nick Toga did 875 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:46,880 Speaker 1: the artwork. Ilsa Brink designed the website. The executive producers 876 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:51,480 Speaker 1: are Georgia Hartstark, Karen Kilgarriff and Danielle Kramer. Follow Wicked 877 00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:55,160 Speaker 1: Words on Instagram and Facebook at tenfold more wicked and 878 00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:58,120 Speaker 1: on Twitter at tenfold more and if you know of 879 00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:02,000 Speaker 1: a historical crime that could use attention, especially if it 880 00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:05,760 Speaker 1: happened in your family, email us at info at tenfold 881 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:09,440 Speaker 1: bore wicked dot com. We'll also take your suggestions for 882 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,680 Speaker 1: true crime authors for Wicked Words