A Death Row Tale: The Fear of 13 Storyville


A Death Row Tale: The Fear of 13

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This programme contains some strong language and scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

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Time.

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This is the strangest one.

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Do you know that the worst part

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and yet the best part of being in solitary confinement is

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time can be a blisteringly fast thing,

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where in the blink of an eye,

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you can look, and ten years are gone from your life.

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But the next week is agony.

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It's like you look at your wristwatch

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and instead of there being a face, there's a calendar and it flips.

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But then, if you look out the window,

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it takes all day for that sun to go down.

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HE INHALES

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I always wanted to tell somebody that.

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We got into the prison about 11.00am.

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They took all the other prisoners off this bus

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and then four men came on.

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They lined up against this red brick wall...

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..and here comes Lieutenant Borner.

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He walked right up to me,

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right up to my face - he was like very quiet, like...

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"There's no speaking in my prison.

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"Dead men do not speak in my prison, especially. Do you understand me?"

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Just like that, same tone of voice. Nothing raised, nothing threatening.

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And that Lord quietness...I did, I went to answer. I was like, "B..."

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Backhanded me right in the mouth.

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It like stung like you wouldn't believe.

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DOOR SLAMS

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And then I was thrown into this world where there's no sunlight

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and it's deadly silent.

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You see, the Pennsylvania prison system was developed by the Quakers.

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The doors were cut low, so you had to stoop and bow to go into them...

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..and while you were in the cell, you were meant not to communicate.

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It was part of your punishment.

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And it was eerie,

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because of almost 140 men at the time in B Block, no-one spoke.

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You'd hear them cough or urinate and flush the toilet

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but there was no real sound.

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And that was the worst for me,

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especially the first couple of months.

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You still can hear your mother crying at the trial.

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You can still smell the aftershave on the witnesses, man -

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I mean, like it's just every little detail's just eating your life,

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because you've just been put here.

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The door was just still ringing in your ears cos of the slam

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and you're just left there, and you're like...

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HE INHALES SHARPLY

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And yet, like, you don't come to your door

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and talk to a neighbour, cos if you broke the speaking rule,

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you were struck or beaten by the guards.

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In level five, you were allowed to exercise

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in these dog-kennel like cages, 19 feet long, ten feet wide.

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You got an hour to exercise by yourself,

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cos you were a death-row prisoner.

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But the guards, being pricks -

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if you had a problem with another guy, and they knew you were enemies,

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they'd put you in a cage together, knowing that

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as soon as they'd walked off a few steps,

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you two were going to go at it.

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And if that didn't work, they simply picked out two big guys,

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and put them in together.

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And they had some fun.

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Usually it was a white guy with a black guy,

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Spanish guy with a black guy, Spanish guy with a white guy.

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Gladiatoring, they called it.

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SHOWER STARTS

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The shower was the most vulnerable time.

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If you were going to get somebody, that's the place to get them.

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You got access to them, there's no handcuffs, and they're naked.

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SHOWER RUNS

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I had only been there a few days and I walked into the shower

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and just as I turned the corner, there was a Puerto Rican boy

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and he had sharpened a pork chop bone

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and then stabbed this man in the back of the liver with it and

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the guy started flopping, and then they just cut all the water off

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and just beat all six of us senseless and drug us back out of the shower.

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And then they served food.

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Like they got everything cleaned up and began serving lunch

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and it went on as a routine day.

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CANTEEN CHATTER

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And two guys were arguing, cos one guy didn't get enough

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bread on his tray and I'm like - this is crazy!

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You're so whacked out of your mind that you're going to

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call down to that guard, "Hey, man! I only got one slice of bread on my tray,"

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when a human being just died!

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I lived in silence.

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For two whole years.

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The first two years.

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And that's when the drugs were discovered in the choir room.

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And everything changed.

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These prisoners from the choir were locked up with us

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in empty cells on death row.

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And because none of them were going to tell where the drugs came from,

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they were going to ship all of them to individual different prisons.

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To the other eight members of the choir, it really didn't matter.

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But two of the men had a bond that was special. Wesley and Butch.

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Wesley was this fair-skinned, green-eyed beautiful black guy

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who just exuded this eloquence and sweetness about him.

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Everyone liked him.

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And he had a voice that was gravelly and wondrous.

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He had met Butch when they were children in the church

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in West Philadelphia, where Butch was a foster child.

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Obviously, Wesley was gay and they formed this bond that seemed

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to like be invulnerable.

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And then, Butch began stealing and getting in trouble

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and he was arrested and thrown into county prison in Philadelphia

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and Wesley went nuts without him.

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He was the only thing in his life that protected him

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from the scorn of his parents, the bullies in the neighbourhood,

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the people who knew he was weak without Butch.

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So he began committing deliberate crimes

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and getting arrested so that he could be with Butch

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and they found out prison was the one place they could be normal.

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They got themselves put into the same cell and together,

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in the setting of a prison, where homosexuality is an accepted

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form of expression, or just life, no-one bothered them.

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And that's when the drugs were discovered and the guard

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on duty at nine o'clock that night started tormenting Wesley.

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"Hey, faggot, you're going.

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"Your boy's going to Western. I just looked on the transfer sheet.

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"You're going to Dallas.

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"Opposite ends of the State of Pennsylvania. Bye, nigger!"

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And I guess Wesley went crazy in the cell.

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Cos about 40 minutes later, just before ten o'clock, there was

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like 20 minutes left before shift change at 10.00pm.

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This voice took over.

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# Ah, oooh

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# Yeah

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# I have a dream, the dream Of every common man... #

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Every man on that block just stood still.

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# I have sworn by my blood as your man, my love... #

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We knew the penalty.

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# That one day, I promise one day all of your heartaches would stop... #

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Then you heard the keys. HE MIMICS RATTLE OF KEYS

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The footsteps behind it.

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"What the fuck are you doing, singing in my block?

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"I will beat your head in. If you don't stop that singing right now, I will beat your head in."

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# Oh, thanks to you baby

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-SINGER LAUGHS

-# For just loving a common man... #

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-More keys.

-# I want to thank you this evening, honey... #

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HE MIMICS KEYS SHAKING Here they come.

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-Everybody knows what's coming.

-# I thought that I'd failed you... #

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The lieutenant came running down

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and he was this militant asshole with the brush cut

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and the uniform that was pressed to precision

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and he ran down and he ran down and he said, "Hold it." Like that.

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And even Wesley stopped cos we know, when Lieutenant Norris

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raised his hand, that was it.

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He said, "I leave in 20 minutes.

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"If there is a noise on this block, from anyone, when I leave this unit, we will beat every man's head in.

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"Do you understand me?" Silence.

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"Finish that song, inmate. Let's go."

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The guards looked at him like he had lost his frigging mind.

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They were stunned.

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"Let's go. You. You've got 20 minutes."

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And walked off the block. HE MIMICS KEYS SHAKING

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He even had an argument on the way out of the door.

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When the gates shut... GATE SLAMS

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..that big wide B block gate - when they left the block alone,

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we were like...

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"Oh, my God! We are totally and utterly unsupervised."

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And he came back right in mid-lyric like he had never stopped singing.

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# You said, "I love you, baby

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# I love you for just being a common man... #

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SINGER JOINS ON BASS NOTE

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And like you could hear them, here they come,

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the other members that had a little bit of guts, yeah?

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They were blowing, you know?

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They were giving bass, and it was wonderful.

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These voices, yeah?

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# I thank you, baby, yeah, for respecting me, yeah

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# I want to thank you, baby

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# For telling me

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# I want thank you for respecting me

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# In a time of worry

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# Thank you for calming my troubles... #

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GOSPEL-TYPE VOICES CONTINUE

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FINGER-CLICKS KEEP BEAT

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Then, out of nowhere...

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# Ooh... #

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..we heard this woman's voice.

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Dorothy Moore's Misty Blue.

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# Ah... #

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I thought, I swear to God, somebody had gotten a radio in on B Block.

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# Ah

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# Looks like I'd get you... #

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No-one really knew who it was that was singing and then I figured it out.

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Butch was six foot four and 240lbs.

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He had a big jagged scar that ran down the side of his face,

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like from someone trying to cut his head open.

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I was terrified of this man.

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# Oh, honey

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# Just the mention of your name... #

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To hear him sing in this beautiful voice...

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# Turns the flicker to a flame... #

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..as his way of showing love for someone who was being taken from him the next morning

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made me want someone to care for me in that place so much

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that they would sing, knowing that singing would have gotten their head beat in.

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They shipped Wesley that morning at 3:55am.

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But the next day,

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like a few guys were talking outside of their cells to each other,

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like a normal conversation, and when the guard went by

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he didn't tell them that they was going to beat their brains in, he just simply said,

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"Keep that down, the lieutenant doesn't like it.

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They weren't going to torture us with silence any more.

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CELL DOOR OPENS

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BUZZER

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Joe Bullen, my first appellate attorney, God bless him,

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got the attention of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

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He didn't like me, but he filed the appeal nonetheless

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and got us the hearing scheduled for February 20th.

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I was excited to go to court, you know.

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Two Delaware County sheriffs were waiting for me.

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They come up, they put the handcuffs on me.

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Both men were in their 60s.

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Two sweetheart guys who were already bullshitting about basketball

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and football and all this stuff in Philadelphia.

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They're giving me updates on some things that

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I haven't caught up on and people back down in the county jail

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who was going up to the state prison.

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We're talking about how damn cold it is. It was bitterly cold.

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In fact, it was the coldest day of the year that year.

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I'm sitting in the back and we're driving along.

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And we get down there four-and-a-half hours later.

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It's now about 4:30pm, almost 5:00pm, and nearly pitch dark.

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We pull in to go to the bathroom.

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The driver drives past it by like 25 yards.

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We get out of the car and we're hit with that blast of cold.

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We run right over, the three of us, to the cubicle and I go in

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and the door is being held open by the taller officer.

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And he stands there while I urinate and watches me.

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I'm peeing, I'm minding my own business,

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I'm thinking about getting back into that warm-ass car.

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It's freezing, I turn, I look up, he's got his hand up,

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I put my head under his arm and I make a left turn

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to go back to the car.

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What I did not know is that the officer who was driving

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went back to the car and waited.

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I came out of the cubicle and started trotting towards him.

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He looked past me and he didn't see his partner.

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He doesn't know if I've killed his partner or not.

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He just knew he was seeing a death row prisoner

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running at him unescorted.

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That's when he pulled his gun.

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When he did that motion of sticking his hand on his hip and pulling

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the weapon from the holster, I just turned and started running.

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He fired that weapon and it was like this huge percussion.

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GUNSHOT

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At 2,700 feet per second, that bullet went past my ear

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and so did anything else that I was looking behind me for.

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I went down and I hit the ground

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and ripped all of the skin on my hands and it's just like... Oooh!

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Then they started this attitude, you know,

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"That's it. I'm going to do what I got to do."

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So I just got up and I ran towards the big plate-glass window

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of the restaurant next door.

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I figured if I'm running directly at the window, he can't shoot me.

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I ran about 100 yards across the road and I circled back.

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And I came right back to where I had escaped.

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Now, I'm looking at them as they're yelling at each other

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who was the bigger idiot for letting this happen and then I hear them.

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POLICE SIRENS

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All the sirens in the world are coming.

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There was cars coming from everywhere.

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They had an escaped death row prisoner alert.

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They pulled out all the stops.

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So I took my eye glasses off,

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pulled the plastic off the end of the eyeglasses and I stuck

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the eyeglass pin into the handcuffs and I picked the handcuffs.

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I could see the buildings off to my right and one of them had a flag.

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That's a police station.

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I said, man, I'm going to hide behind the police station.

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So I navigated down behind this alleyway

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and I got down in this recessed area and I just huddle

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and I just waited.

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I was so cold.

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When I lost my core temperature like an hour later, I was shivering.

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I was like, oh my God, this is killing me.

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I was going into these bends. It was hurting.

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My ribs were aching from going into these convulsions like that.

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So I was hurting so bad.

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I'm going to get up and get out of here.

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I came flying out of that parking lot and they saw me.

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HELICOPTER ROTOR BLADES

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This guy came out of nowhere, just hovered above me.

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And the blinding candlelight of this magnitude, I can't even describe.

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And he circled and he had the whole area lit.

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He came back, he lit me up and lit me up.

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This guy chased me for literally three hours with this helicopter.

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My feet split open, my calves erupted, my hamstrings were pulled.

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But I got lucky, didn't I?

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The helicopter had a FLIR - forward-looking infrared camera

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and it wasn't working because it was so cold it malfunctioned.

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I ended up on a pair of railroad tracks

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where I walked on broken feet for five miles.

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Until I got to Frazer Pennsylvania where I stole a car.

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It was a 1965 green Mustang.

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I found a quarter.

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I went over to the coin box and I called a family member.

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I drove over to the house and they gave me 100,

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a handful of bandages and gauze

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and then a Philadelphia green Eagles ski cap.

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Like that wasn't going to give away my city location!

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I drove to New York City and I got a hotel room

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in the Bowery in a flophouse on the lower East Side.

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Seven dollars a night.

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I paid for a whole week in advance

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and then I went to a little bodega and I got a box of Epsom salt

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and went up to my room.

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Oh, my God.

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Like, I literally had institutional sock

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all threaded into the torn tissue of my feet.

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And I just soaked in it

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and I started pulling it out and it was like...

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I would just cry, man. The first three days...

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That's why I didn't even venture out. I literally couldn't walk.

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CAR HORNS

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After four days, I went out one evening.

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It was excruciating to finally go out.

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And Macy's had this long display window of all the electronic

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products and there were all these televisions and on them

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were all these different channels and on some of them was the news

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and there was the video footage of me obviously being hunted.

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And in that one moment I was hit by the reality, I'm not free.

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Not by a damn shot. I am just like...

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I'm temporarily out on a leash

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and if they catch me I'm going to catch a bullet.

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Like, it was so terrifying in that moment.

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In 1985 you didn't need to even show photo identification

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to get on an aeroplane.

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You didn't have to show who you were or anything.

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So I went to this upscale restaurant.

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And I just waited and waited. I waited by the men's room.

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Waiting, waiting.

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As soon as I saw a guy go in the bathroom without a jacket on,

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I walked over to his table and I stole his jacket

0:23:410:23:43

and he had his wallet in his jacket.

0:23:430:23:46

Then I went to the cloakroom and grabbed a fur coat.

0:23:470:23:50

And I left.

0:23:500:23:52

So I simply just used the credit card,

0:24:050:24:08

bought last-minute tickets to Orlando

0:24:080:24:11

and when I got to Orlando I told the taxi driver

0:24:110:24:14

to take me to the pawn shop area.

0:24:140:24:17

When I went into the shop the guy behind the counter,

0:24:240:24:27

the owner, was obviously a criminal.

0:24:270:24:30

So I told him,

0:24:310:24:32

"I don't have any identification but I want to sell you this coat."

0:24:320:24:35

So I negotiated with him to give me a gun and 100 for the coat,

0:24:390:24:45

which was worth 5,000.

0:24:450:24:47

A very nice fur coat.

0:24:470:24:48

And so after he gave me the gun, he refused to give me bullets,

0:24:510:24:55

he asked me if I was willing to rob this guy that he knew,

0:24:550:24:59

Anthony Manilla, who had a collection of gold coins

0:24:590:25:03

that were worth 350 each.

0:25:030:25:05

He said there was at least 100 of these coins in this guy's house.

0:25:050:25:08

I met Anthony Manilla just outside of his house.

0:25:130:25:17

I was driving by on a bicycle I had bought at a flea market.

0:25:170:25:19

So when I rode by I pretended that I recognised him from prison.

0:25:190:25:23

Anthony knew he didn't know me

0:25:240:25:26

but he pretended he also recognised me in that fake way some people do.

0:25:260:25:30

He asked me what I was up to.

0:25:310:25:33

I told him I had these pills for sale

0:25:330:25:35

but I couldn't find anybody to buy them.

0:25:350:25:37

So he told me he could get me 7 each for them if I waited.

0:25:370:25:40

Now, I knew and he knew that each pill was worth 30 each.

0:25:420:25:45

The cops in the area know he doesn't have a valid licence.

0:25:460:25:50

So he actually gave me the wheel.

0:25:500:25:52

We drive towards where I tell him I have the drugs stashed.

0:26:030:26:07

I pulled the gun and I said, "OK, freeze, I got you."

0:26:090:26:12

And he was like, "OK, take it easy."

0:26:120:26:14

I pulled over and demanded that he give me

0:26:150:26:18

the nod of money he had been bragging with.

0:26:180:26:20

He gave me that.

0:26:200:26:22

He had a Rolex watch and he had diamond jewellery all over him.

0:26:220:26:26

I said, "Now I've got to tie you up

0:26:270:26:29

"because I've got to go back into your house and get that money."

0:26:290:26:32

He flat out refused. I said, "What do you mean, no?"

0:26:320:26:36

This is like a 140 pound person.

0:26:360:26:38

I grabbed him and I said, "Please hold still."

0:26:380:26:41

I tied his hands up, put him in the trunk, I slammed the trunk deck down

0:26:410:26:45

and I don't know that the trunk deck clasp has gone through

0:26:450:26:49

the rope and is now just stuck but not locked

0:26:490:26:52

because three red lights later he jumps out

0:26:520:26:55

and when he jumps out he looks like a mummy who has unravelled

0:26:550:26:59

and he runs up to the car behind and knocks on the window

0:26:590:27:01

and says, "He tried to rob me! He's trying to rob me!"

0:27:010:27:04

And then he ran off.

0:27:040:27:06

The two women in my rear-view were looking at each other

0:27:060:27:09

and looking at me and I just gunned it across the red light and went

0:27:090:27:13

flying across to Station Road and went right up the middle of Orlando.

0:27:130:27:17

And I didn't go back to his house.

0:27:170:27:20

So I drove all night.

0:27:240:27:26

At 2:30am in the morning I get to Daytona Beach, Volusia County.

0:27:280:27:31

And it's Bike Week, March 10th.

0:27:320:27:35

I've been an escaped prisoner for 25 days.

0:27:370:27:41

And I'm sitting there and I'm like, I can't get a hotel room anywhere.

0:27:420:27:47

It's booked, everything is solid.

0:27:470:27:49

My eyes were all gravelly and I was just so exhausted.

0:27:490:27:53

So I just put the seat back and went to sleep.

0:27:530:27:57

The next thing I know,

0:28:000:28:02

three sharp raps right on the window and there's a cop right there.

0:28:020:28:08

My heart is pounding.

0:28:080:28:10

He's making the motion like this so I put the window down.

0:28:110:28:14

He said, "Did you hear anybody screaming?" I said, "What?"

0:28:140:28:17

He said "Some woman screaming.

0:28:170:28:19

"There's been a call, a domestic dispute. Is there a problem?"

0:28:190:28:22

And I was like, "No."

0:28:230:28:26

I was talking to him and I was just focusing on him trying to answer him

0:28:260:28:31

and that's when I heard from the passenger side

0:28:310:28:34

the other officer yell, "Hey Bert, there's a gun."

0:28:340:28:37

And he immediately pulled his weapon and I said,

0:28:370:28:40

"Hold on, hold on. What's up?"

0:28:400:28:41

I didn't know this,

0:28:410:28:43

but about that much of the pistol was laying out under a blanket.

0:28:430:28:48

So I got out of the car, I had my hands up.

0:28:500:28:52

I gave a false name.

0:28:530:28:55

They put handcuffs on me. They locked me up.

0:28:560:28:58

I'm sitting in prison and waiting.

0:29:010:29:03

And I said, to hell with this.

0:29:040:29:06

TELEPHONE RINGS

0:29:060:29:08

My father immediately picked up.

0:29:100:29:12

Hello?

0:29:120:29:13

I said, "Dad I need you to call the FBI and tell them where I'm at.

0:29:130:29:17

"If they don't come and get me I'm going to go before this

0:29:170:29:21

"judge in the morning and I'm going to bail out and get out of here."

0:29:210:29:24

He hung up the phone.

0:29:250:29:27

He called an agent by the name of Bud Warner, Philadelphia FBI office.

0:29:270:29:32

Man, the doors came open. They came flying in there.

0:29:330:29:36

DOOR SLAMS

0:29:360:29:38

They added 35 more years to my sentence for that robbery.

0:29:430:29:46

Put me on death row in Florida.

0:29:480:29:50

And left me there to swelter all through that summer.

0:29:510:29:54

By the time they came and got me in September

0:29:570:30:00

I was so eager to go back to Pennsylvania,

0:30:000:30:02

even though I knew I was going to get some serious beatings.

0:30:020:30:06

I had made an enemy of every guard on shift.

0:30:100:30:13

I was going to go through some extreme punishment.

0:30:140:30:17

Man, it was hard.

0:30:190:30:21

I stewed and I seethed.

0:30:390:30:43

I was so angry I was beating my head on the wall.

0:30:450:30:48

So every couple of weeks they would take me out and patch my head up.

0:30:510:30:54

And, erm...

0:30:590:31:00

This one officer when he was escorting me back

0:31:020:31:04

from the nurse's station stopped by this cell

0:31:040:31:07

and he said "Go in there and get them books."

0:31:070:31:10

So this guard, nice guy too turned out to be,

0:31:110:31:14

he lets me go in to the cell and I get these books.

0:31:140:31:18

And some of them were just too hard to read, you know.

0:31:180:31:22

You see, by the time I reached the eighth grade at the age of 13,

0:31:330:31:39

school was just an area to meet up with your friends

0:31:390:31:43

to go swimming or fighting, you know.

0:31:430:31:46

So my reading comprehension level was basic, to say the least.

0:31:490:31:53

But patience and I had all the time in the world.

0:31:570:32:01

So I started working with these books.

0:32:020:32:05

In the front of the General Education Development booklet

0:32:080:32:13

was a note, 'Tips Of Learning'.

0:32:130:32:15

And it said, "If you take a word

0:32:150:32:18

"and write out its spelling 10 times while covering each previous one

0:32:180:32:22

"and then apply each of those to 10 sentences using that word,

0:32:220:32:27

"you will not forget that word."

0:32:270:32:29

The 10 times rule.

0:32:290:32:31

So I sat there with a pen and every word I didn't understand

0:32:310:32:35

I did the 10 times rule to it.

0:32:350:32:37

I remember I would go through a day

0:32:370:32:41

where I would have 50 word days, 40 word days,

0:32:410:32:45

I counted days sometimes on the accomplishments

0:32:450:32:48

of being able to sit down and to orally go and say,

0:32:480:32:53

Robert is a triskaidekaphobic.

0:32:530:32:56

Robert is afraid of the number 13.

0:32:560:32:58

Robert does not understand that it's just an illusion

0:32:580:33:02

that 13 can harm him.

0:33:020:33:04

And I would just talk to myself until I had that one down.

0:33:040:33:07

Then I would move on to phantasmagoria

0:33:070:33:09

and I would understand that phantasmagoria

0:33:090:33:11

was the fear of ghosts and I'd like, boo!

0:33:110:33:14

You know, so I just played with it

0:33:140:33:17

and it just became this stupid image of this kid

0:33:170:33:21

sitting in a room by himself entertaining himself with words.

0:33:210:33:25

And it was quiet because I was in the back of the B block

0:33:250:33:28

and I was quietly just doing it.

0:33:280:33:30

Triskaidekaphobia.

0:33:300:33:32

The fear of 13.

0:33:330:33:34

And like, it worked.

0:33:370:33:38

For some reason, that small gesture of humanity by that guard

0:33:400:33:44

just changed everything for me.

0:33:440:33:47

I loved it. I was hooked on dime store novels.

0:33:550:33:59

Series. Detective series.

0:33:590:34:01

Jack Higgins, Robert Ludlum, Elmore Leonard.

0:34:010:34:05

The first 1,000 books,

0:34:050:34:07

I remember I was so proud of the accomplishment.

0:34:070:34:11

I had written down 1,000 titles of 1,000 different books

0:34:110:34:14

that I had personally read.

0:34:140:34:15

It took me three years.

0:34:150:34:17

I loved Rudyard Kipling.

0:34:190:34:21

I loved tales.

0:34:210:34:24

I loved storytelling of tales like Sinbad and Homer.

0:34:240:34:29

Like, true story telling is the telling of life.

0:34:300:34:33

Isn't it?

0:34:330:34:36

I loved it. I loved it.

0:34:360:34:38

I'm so glad I was a drug addict in one way.

0:34:390:34:42

I was addicted to books and I got hooked on them in the worst way.

0:34:420:34:46

Meanwhile, I was reading law books and studying serology.

0:34:490:34:53

I went to college.

0:34:530:34:55

I really opened up all this time and structure for reading.

0:34:550:34:59

And with every new book I found something wonderful about myself.

0:35:010:35:06

I found...

0:35:060:35:08

I found myself. Like, it was wonderful.

0:35:110:35:13

I was happy on death row at times when I shouldn't have been

0:35:150:35:19

and it was only because I became comfortable

0:35:190:35:21

with being who I was, finally, in life.

0:35:210:35:25

CELL DOOR OPENS

0:35:250:35:27

BUZZER

0:35:270:35:29

And that's when I met Jackie.

0:35:340:35:36

Jackie Schaefer was a 31-year-old woman

0:35:370:35:41

living in Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania who was going to visit

0:35:410:35:46

some death row prisoners with her friend Pamela Tucker,

0:35:460:35:49

who was the organiser of an abolitionist group

0:35:490:35:52

from Pennsylvania.

0:35:520:35:54

They went monthly to prisons around Pennsylvania

0:35:540:35:56

and visited death row prisoners to check on their mental state,

0:35:560:36:00

to see if there were issues they could get involved with to help

0:36:000:36:03

the better treatment of the overall population of death row prisoners.

0:36:030:36:06

They came to the prison and they visited five men.

0:36:060:36:10

I was the fifth one.

0:36:100:36:12

The other preceding prisoners all went out there

0:36:120:36:14

and lamented how terrible it was, the things they were encountering,

0:36:140:36:17

the conditions and all that.

0:36:170:36:19

I walked in, I sat down and said hello to my friend Pam.

0:36:190:36:23

I asked her about her daughters.

0:36:230:36:25

We interacted about a few things and I turned to Jackie

0:36:250:36:28

and I started flirting with her.

0:36:280:36:30

I started being gregarious and open.

0:36:300:36:32

It was completely unlike all the other men who came out

0:36:330:36:37

with little lists of things to talk about, while I simply was myself.

0:36:370:36:41

She came back the next week by herself.

0:36:430:36:45

Scared to death.

0:36:470:36:48

So in this four foot by literally five and a half foot walled room,

0:36:500:36:58

she would walk in and sit down with a notepad and we'd talk.

0:36:590:37:04

Week after week.

0:37:040:37:07

She drove 275 miles from Pittsburgh to Huntington,

0:37:080:37:12

through these mountains, each way, and we'd start talking.

0:37:120:37:17

And it was weird.

0:37:180:37:20

I started to find out one true thing about myself

0:37:220:37:27

and I think this is true for every prisoner who goes into prison

0:37:270:37:32

at the age of 20 and is ready to exit in his 30s or 40s.

0:37:320:37:36

You can only grow so far as a man until a woman teaches you

0:37:370:37:43

enough about yourself that you can further develop.

0:37:430:37:46

And it's only through the eyes of that person that you give

0:37:470:37:50

yourself openly to that they teach you

0:37:500:37:54

so many things about yourself that are qualities

0:37:540:37:57

that you rely upon and like and respect

0:37:570:38:00

because you've been shown from afar something no mirror,

0:38:000:38:04

and believe me I didn't have a mirror, could show you.

0:38:040:38:07

But at the heart of it, I kept feeling dirty.

0:38:090:38:13

I did not want to be that prisoner who is serving life

0:38:140:38:21

who lets a woman fall in love with him,

0:38:210:38:23

knowing he's going to suck the life out of her.

0:38:230:38:26

I had the death penalty plus 105 years. I wasn't going anywhere.

0:38:270:38:31

And then I get a newspaper.

0:38:360:38:40

And it's funny how my whole story and life and this journey

0:38:450:38:50

has all been changed by either photographs or newspapers.

0:38:500:38:53

But there it was. Five months after I'd met Jackie, four months.

0:38:560:39:01

Newly developed DNA science makes a big splash in the crime world.

0:39:040:39:08

Criminal convictions being reversed.

0:39:100:39:12

People were walking out, left and right and left and right.

0:39:140:39:18

Whoa.

0:39:190:39:21

I write a letter to Jackie, I cut the article, I sent it to her.

0:39:210:39:24

She came back on that visit.

0:39:240:39:26

As soon as the doors closed, I said, "I didn't kill that woman."

0:39:280:39:32

That was the first thing I shouted.

0:39:340:39:37

I was, like... That was the first time I'd told her.

0:39:370:39:39

And I was, like, "I've got two things to tell you.

0:39:410:39:44

"One - I didn't kill Mrs Craig.

0:39:440:39:46

"And, two - I think I'm in love with you, too."

0:39:460:39:51

She was, like, "Let's handle the first one, first."

0:39:510:39:54

You know what I mean? Let's deal with the difficult one first.

0:39:540:39:58

I was, like, "Oh, man."

0:39:580:40:00

CAR DOOR SLAMS

0:40:030:40:05

KID SHOUTS, ENGINE STARTS

0:40:070:40:09

ENGINE REVS

0:40:090:40:10

In the 1970s, a lot of the vehicles still didn't have locks

0:40:170:40:22

on the steering column, so you could just stick

0:40:220:40:25

a screwdriver into the key slot

0:40:250:40:28

and literally just turn the ignition.

0:40:280:40:31

So, my friend Eddie and I used to steal the early Fords,

0:40:310:40:35

and we would joyride them.

0:40:350:40:38

This man knew we were 15-year-old kids,

0:40:400:40:43

and knew that we didn't own the car, and knew that it was stolen.

0:40:430:40:47

He was, like, "Come here, I'll give you 200 for the car."

0:40:470:40:49

We looked at each other, and 200 was, like, an enormous

0:40:490:40:51

amount of money. We figured we just hit the jackpot.

0:40:510:40:54

We knew he owned a collision centre that fixed and repaired cars.

0:40:540:40:58

So we said, "Can we get you another car?"

0:40:580:41:01

And he told us what one he would need, when he needed it,

0:41:010:41:06

and we'd go out and look for it.

0:41:060:41:08

PLANE FLIES OVERHEAD

0:41:080:41:10

ENGINE TURNS OVER

0:41:100:41:12

ENGINE STARTS

0:41:120:41:14

So, usually, my friends and I would go to the Philadelphia airport

0:41:140:41:18

and wait for what we called vics...

0:41:180:41:20

TYRES SCREECH

0:41:200:41:23

..which was somebody who walked up,

0:41:230:41:25

took their luggage out of the rear of the car,

0:41:250:41:28

and then walked inside with the family members to see them off.

0:41:280:41:32

And never got a car when they came out.

0:41:330:41:36

I've had several people in the rear-view mirror

0:41:370:41:41

chasing behind you as you drove off with their car.

0:41:410:41:45

You dropped the car off, you got 200-300.

0:41:480:41:50

And then you took that money and you bought drugs.

0:41:500:41:53

And by the time I was 17, I was really,

0:41:530:41:56

really getting hooked on methamphetamine.

0:41:560:41:59

My favourite vein was right there on the outside.

0:41:590:42:02

I can still feel the hole in my arm.

0:42:040:42:07

I can still taste the drug in my mouth.

0:42:070:42:09

When you inject methamphetamine into your arm,

0:42:090:42:13

you get the burning numbing sensation shoot up your arm,

0:42:130:42:17

and then you get the taste of...

0:42:170:42:20

ethanol in your mouth.

0:42:200:42:22

And it's like a cough...

0:42:230:42:25

HE BLOWS

0:42:250:42:27

..just like that.

0:42:270:42:28

And then the other Nicky came out.

0:42:310:42:33

The one I didn't cringe in the mirror from.

0:42:360:42:39

The one who wasn't weak.

0:42:390:42:41

The one who wasn't afraid.

0:42:410:42:43

CHILD PANTS

0:42:460:42:49

'I wasn't just hooked on one drug.'

0:43:160:43:20

I was a mess of multiple drugs.

0:43:220:43:25

And alcohol.

0:43:250:43:27

And by December 20th,

0:43:280:43:30

I had already been homeless on the streets for about most of that year.

0:43:300:43:33

And that's when I stole two cars in a row for 500 each,

0:43:350:43:40

and I went out, started partying again.

0:43:400:43:42

I was on the binge. Burning it, they called it.

0:43:440:43:47

Every time I think of that night, I smell wet, burning leaves.

0:43:520:43:57

It's almost sweet.

0:43:590:44:01

I was driving around in another stolen car.

0:44:030:44:07

LOUD FUNK MUSIC PLAYS

0:44:080:44:12

The radio was blasting.

0:44:130:44:15

POLICE SIREN BLARES

0:44:150:44:16

You must have heard the radio before you saw me.

0:44:160:44:19

When he flew out, I knew he was going to stop me.

0:44:220:44:25

I just... I just felt it coming right at me.

0:44:250:44:29

And...the adrenaline.

0:44:310:44:33

HE POUNDS HIS CHEST WITH HIS FIST

0:44:330:44:36

His hand's on the butt of his gun.

0:44:390:44:41

Here he comes. Now, I'm like, "Oh, I can't stop it."

0:44:450:44:48

HE GULPS

0:44:480:44:50

Shit... I can't do anything.

0:44:520:44:55

I remember, like, looking just like that.

0:44:560:44:59

HE MIMES

0:45:000:45:02

I don't understand whatever he's saying. His hand's going.

0:45:020:45:06

HE MIMES

0:45:060:45:08

The door pops, and the vacuum now, when the door comes open,

0:45:090:45:14

and there's all that quiet on the street, and the noise

0:45:140:45:17

on the radio's still going... IMITATES GUITAR

0:45:170:45:19

..that's when I realised the radio was still on.

0:45:190:45:22

LOUD MUSIC PLAYS

0:45:220:45:25

"You didn't stop for the light. Didn't you see the stop sign?"

0:45:250:45:28

All those things, but... I panicked, you know?

0:45:280:45:32

Like, I remember I did that. Like, stand-up.

0:45:340:45:36

He was, like, right against my throat with his forearm.

0:45:360:45:40

Bang! Against the car. When he shoved me back like that,

0:45:400:45:44

I remember, like, coming up with my left arm.

0:45:440:45:47

And it was, like, gone, right for the stick,

0:45:470:45:50

and I just followed it along, grabbed his arm.

0:45:500:45:54

He had the stick come out,

0:45:540:45:55

I took it right out, like it was nothing.

0:45:550:45:59

Right out of his hand.

0:46:000:46:02

He was furious! And that's when the right-hand came out.

0:46:020:46:05

I saw that gun.

0:46:050:46:07

I grabbed it. I reached out, I pushed his arm straight down.

0:46:070:46:11

Then you felt the percussion of the blast.

0:46:110:46:15

And then you heard the pop.

0:46:150:46:16

GUNSHOT

0:46:160:46:18

"OK! OK! OK!"

0:46:180:46:21

He stuck the gun right there. He said, "You son of a bitch!

0:46:210:46:24

"You almost got us killed!" He was, like, "Get in the car!"

0:46:240:46:27

And he slammed me in the back, in the cage area, shut the door.

0:46:270:46:31

"Shots fired, officer assist."

0:46:310:46:34

I remember just... He said it four times.

0:46:340:46:37

I remember, I was just sitting there, like this.

0:46:410:46:44

What the hell happened?

0:46:470:46:49

KEYS RATTLE

0:46:490:46:51

HEAVY DOOR CLOSES

0:46:510:46:53

They threw me in the intake unit.

0:46:540:46:57

And I crashed.

0:46:580:47:00

I must have slept at least 16 hours.

0:47:010:47:04

HEAVY DOOR OPENS

0:47:040:47:06

I was so scared. They pulled me out.

0:47:130:47:16

I'd been arrested enough to know this one's scary, this is serious.

0:47:170:47:21

This one's bad.

0:47:210:47:23

And the public defender was this young kid, and he turned to me.

0:47:250:47:30

He said, "Look, Mr Yarris,

0:47:300:47:32

"do you understand the serious nature of these charges,

0:47:320:47:34

"because if you're convicted of these charges,

0:47:340:47:36

"you face life imprisonment."

0:47:360:47:38

I said, "What's my charges?" He said,

0:47:380:47:41

"Kidnapping of police officer.

0:47:410:47:43

"Attempted murder of a police officer.

0:47:430:47:46

"Reckless endangerment, possession of a firearm,

0:47:460:47:49

"robbery, resisting arrest,

0:47:490:47:52

"possession of a stolen vehicle."

0:47:520:47:54

I started crying.

0:47:560:47:58

They take me back to the cell, and there was the newspaper.

0:48:020:48:07

The December 16th Delaware County Daily Times.

0:48:090:48:14

The front page was missing, so the front page on it was page three.

0:48:170:48:22

And right there was the story of Linda Mae Craig.

0:48:260:48:31

I swear...

0:48:430:48:45

something about that newspaper kept calling me.

0:48:450:48:48

On December 15th, 1981, at 4:05pm, Linda Mae Craig left work.

0:49:020:49:09

She was knocked out of her shoes in the car park

0:49:100:49:13

of the Tri-State Mall, dragged into a car that she owned,

0:49:130:49:18

and then driven into the state of Pennsylvania,

0:49:180:49:20

about two-and-a-half miles away,

0:49:200:49:22

where she was taken behind a church...

0:49:220:49:25

..where she was stabbed after being raped, and dumped in the car park.

0:49:260:49:31

The next morning, two children...

0:49:340:49:38

..walked up to what they thought

0:49:390:49:40

was a mannequin that had been covered in the newly fallen snow.

0:49:400:49:44

One of the boys walked up, and kicked the snow from the face

0:49:460:49:51

of the mannequin, so that they could see if it was

0:49:510:49:54

a boy or a girl mannequin...

0:49:540:49:55

..only to discover the disfigured face of Mrs Craig.

0:49:570:50:01

I lived 20-something miles from the murder scene.

0:50:090:50:12

And I said, "Man, if I had knowledge about a crime this big...

0:50:120:50:17

"..I can get out of this. I bet you they would let me out

0:50:190:50:22

"and then I could get out on bail and I'd run."

0:50:220:50:25

Like the stupid mind of a child.

0:50:250:50:27

So I sat in my cell.

0:50:280:50:30

And I started making up a story.

0:50:300:50:32

And I said I would tell 'em...

0:50:320:50:34

that somebody did the murder, right?

0:50:340:50:37

And then I had to find out who I could blame.

0:50:370:50:39

And the only one I could think of was Jimmy.

0:50:390:50:42

I had met Jimmy Brisbois in 1980, when I was doing drugs.

0:50:450:50:50

And I stole some coins from a car that I'd gotten from the airport.

0:50:500:50:55

1,000 coins? There was a lot of coins in this big bag.

0:50:560:50:59

I made the mistake of showing Jimmy, and, out of nowhere,

0:51:000:51:04

his friend hit me with this 357 Magnum.

0:51:040:51:08

THUMP

0:51:080:51:09

I've still got a chip out of my eyebrow that I can rub at this time.

0:51:090:51:14

TYRES SCREECH

0:51:140:51:15

And they had an old carpet in the front room that nobody

0:51:170:51:20

used in this house we were living in on Woodland Avenue.

0:51:200:51:23

So, rolled me up in the rug,

0:51:230:51:26

threw me into this pick-up truck that Jimmy had,

0:51:260:51:28

and they took me behind the Westing House warehouse.

0:51:280:51:32

And I heard the spliff - PEW! - like that.

0:51:320:51:35

One of them took a 22-calibre pistol and shot the rug.

0:51:350:51:39

But being drug addict idiots that they were,

0:51:390:51:41

they shot it where the folded part over of the rug was,

0:51:410:51:44

about two feet above my head, way out of range of anywhere I was.

0:51:440:51:48

I was enraged.

0:51:490:51:51

I went looking for Jimmy.

0:51:530:51:54

"Hey, Michael, what happened to your buddy, Jimmy?"

0:51:560:51:58

Cos he knew Jimmy.

0:51:580:52:00

"So, what happened to your old rat-bastard Jimmy?

0:52:000:52:02

"I ain't seen him for a while." And that's when he told me the story.

0:52:020:52:05

Jimmy and his friends were over in Jersey. Jimmy had an overdose.

0:52:050:52:09

They weren't taking him to the hospital to get arrested,

0:52:090:52:12

so they dumped him, stole his drugs, and he's dead.

0:52:120:52:14

So you don't have to look for him no more.

0:52:140:52:17

All I wanted them to do was lower my bail enough that

0:52:220:52:26

I was allowed out temporarily, at which time I could abscond.

0:52:260:52:30

Jimmy was dead, they were going to find out eventually, right?

0:52:310:52:34

They took me to the warden's office.

0:52:370:52:39

They brought me in, took my handcuffs off, the warden goes,

0:52:390:52:42

"Hey, get him a drink, man. Get him a cold drink."

0:52:420:52:44

So they went out and got me a Coca-Cola.

0:52:440:52:46

I'm sitting in a lounge chair, no longer in a prison setting, like.

0:52:460:52:49

And I'm sitting there, and he's got my file.

0:52:490:52:52

He's, like, "Oh, man, you're a young guy.

0:52:520:52:55

"What are you charged with all this for?

0:52:550:52:56

"You don't have any violence on your record. What's this bullshit?

0:52:560:52:59

"Attempted murder? That doesn't sound like you, Nick.

0:52:590:53:02

"You're a car thief. What's going on here?"

0:53:020:53:04

I tell him my story.

0:53:070:53:09

Like a proud parent, everyone's praising me.

0:53:110:53:14

In just a few hours,

0:53:140:53:16

I went from sitting there with 100,000 bail waiting to go

0:53:160:53:20

to prison for the rest of my life to being told

0:53:200:53:23

I was going to have a hearing set up next week in which

0:53:230:53:26

I would possibly be released on my own recognisances

0:53:260:53:29

and my charges would be reduced to nothing more than resisting arrest.

0:53:290:53:33

When they found James Brisbois alive,

0:53:350:53:38

you could have knocked me over with a feather.

0:53:380:53:41

Jimmy had gotten off the drugs, got his life together.

0:53:420:53:47

I was screwed.

0:53:470:53:48

When they came back to me, they knew two things.

0:53:480:53:51

One - James Brisbois had nothing to do with that crime.

0:53:510:53:54

And I had more information than anyone else.

0:53:540:53:58

It was all guesswork, but it didn't matter to them.

0:53:580:54:01

KEYS JANGLE

0:54:030:54:05

CELL DOOR OPENS

0:54:050:54:06

I was charged with the abduction, rape,

0:54:130:54:17

and murder of a woman I'd never met in my life.

0:54:170:54:20

I was already sitting in prison for the attempted murder

0:54:230:54:26

of a police officer.

0:54:260:54:29

I'm a 20-year-old drug addict,

0:54:290:54:32

who's been thrown out of his own house

0:54:320:54:35

onto the streets by his own family.

0:54:350:54:37

What chance do I have?

0:54:390:54:41

No-one's going to believe me.

0:54:410:54:42

In April, the trial for the attempted murder

0:54:500:54:52

and kidnapping of Officer Benjamin Wright was to begin.

0:54:520:54:56

By then, I had already been charged with the murder of Linda Mae Craig,

0:54:560:54:59

so the media was having a field day with stalker stories

0:54:590:55:03

and making me out to be a complete deranged lunatic.

0:55:030:55:06

So, my trial began and Officer Wright testified.

0:55:060:55:11

He got up on the stand, and he started telling a completely

0:55:110:55:13

different story than what actually happened.

0:55:130:55:15

He said that when he pulled up to the car, I had opened the door,

0:55:150:55:19

got out, and punched him in the face,

0:55:190:55:21

and knocked his glasses off his face.

0:55:210:55:22

He then said he was trying to flail and defend himself

0:55:220:55:25

while I pummelled him a couple more times in the face,

0:55:250:55:28

before I reached down and grabbed his gun

0:55:280:55:30

and took his gun from him, and after which he said I had

0:55:300:55:33

the gun pointed directly at his face

0:55:330:55:35

when he heroically reached out with both hands,

0:55:350:55:38

and grabbed the gun, and pulled it from me

0:55:380:55:40

as it discharged right next to his face.

0:55:400:55:42

And he had a photograph of his hand with a 2.5cm scratch on it

0:55:450:55:50

to prove all of the things that he said.

0:55:500:55:53

CHAIR SCRAPES

0:55:540:55:55

And Sam Stretton, my defence lawyer, got up

0:55:550:56:00

and calmly walked over with the photograph in his hand,

0:56:000:56:03

placed the photograph down on the bar of the witness box

0:56:030:56:07

in front of Officer Wright and said,

0:56:070:56:09

"Is it your testimony that Nicholas Yarris punched you

0:56:090:56:13

"in the face three times, breaking your eyeglasses,

0:56:130:56:17

"he then took this pistol and held it up,"

0:56:170:56:20

and said, "Hit you in the face with it,

0:56:200:56:23

"like, a seven pound metal object twice.

0:56:230:56:26

"Why didn't you photograph your face?"

0:56:280:56:31

Officer Wright knew that the jig was up.

0:56:310:56:34

He turned and said, "I'm a good looking man.

0:56:340:56:36

"I didn't want the jury to see my face all scratched up.

0:56:360:56:38

"I don't have to show that." He got all defiant.

0:56:380:56:41

The jury made this snorting, scoffing kind of noise and, like,

0:56:410:56:45

everyone saw in that one moment that his story was really a lie.

0:56:450:56:49

The jury deliberated for a very short...very, very short time,

0:56:500:56:54

and came right back. Not guilty of attempted murder.

0:56:540:56:57

Not guilty of kidnapping of a police officer.

0:56:570:57:00

Not guilty - aggravated assault.

0:57:000:57:02

All charges - not guilty.

0:57:020:57:04

And then Barry Gross, the prosecutor,

0:57:050:57:07

who is, like, really pissed off, he was so angry, he tells the jury,

0:57:070:57:11

"You just let a murderer go, you just let him go!"

0:57:110:57:14

And the jury foreman was this woman who stood up and said,

0:57:140:57:16

"Excuse me, we didn't try that case.

0:57:160:57:19

"We tried this case, and your case stinks." And my mum said, "Yeah!

0:57:190:57:23

"That's right, tell him again, lady."

0:57:230:57:25

And it was the worst thing.

0:57:260:57:28

Oh, my God.

0:57:290:57:30

The very next week, Barry Gross takes over the murder prosecution

0:57:320:57:36

and begins seeking the death penalty.

0:57:360:57:38

I went from April, when I was acquitted of all charges,

0:57:420:57:46

to the June trial for the murder of Mrs Craig.

0:57:460:57:49

I was so scared.

0:57:520:57:53

Arthur Craig, the victim's husband, was asked to testify.

0:57:580:58:02

That first click in the rotation.

0:58:050:58:07

IMITATES CLICK

0:58:070:58:08

And, there it was, the portrait photograph.

0:58:090:58:12

Mr Craig, Mrs Craig,

0:58:120:58:15

and their three adopted children in a family-type setting.

0:58:150:58:18

And the prosecutor asked Arthur Craig, "Is that it your wife?

0:58:180:58:21

"Can you identify the people in the photograph?"

0:58:210:58:24

He did, along with his wife as well.

0:58:240:58:26

And then...

0:58:260:58:28

IMITATES CLICK

0:58:280:58:29

..there was Mrs Craig, laid out on the autopsy table,

0:58:320:58:36

six stab wounds, clearly visible

0:58:360:58:38

and her broken teeth and everything visible.

0:58:380:58:42

There was...a gasp, almost.

0:58:420:58:45

People were looking away.

0:58:470:58:48

IMITATES CLICK

0:58:500:58:51

The next one.

0:58:510:58:53

The photograph was white and black.

0:59:000:59:02

But for when you got closer towards that figure that was

0:59:040:59:08

covered in snow...

0:59:080:59:10

you could see the children's footprints in white snow...

0:59:100:59:16

..and then they scattered.

0:59:170:59:19

The first steps were dark and lighter,

0:59:210:59:25

so you had to imagine it was bloody...

0:59:250:59:32

and that they must have been horrified as they looked down

0:59:320:59:35

and saw the treads of their own feet, blood-soaked,

0:59:350:59:39

as they ran in different directions.

0:59:390:59:42

And the jury...they looked up at the screen.

0:59:420:59:47

They looked at me.

0:59:470:59:48

And, like uniform animals in one of those documentaries,

0:59:490:59:55

where they all do an alike thing, they all went...

0:59:550:59:58

And it was the last time any one of them could look at me.

1:00:011:00:04

I had just turned 21.

1:00:131:00:15

And they were going to take my life.

1:00:171:00:19

The only science that was available in the early '80s was blood type.

1:00:491:00:56

That was the cutting edge of technology

1:00:561:00:59

as far as identifying someone.

1:00:591:01:01

That was it.

1:01:011:01:03

And there was no real evidence at my trial.

1:01:031:01:06

Not a signed confession, not an eyewitness testimony,

1:01:061:01:10

no murder weapon.

1:01:101:01:11

Nothing but speculation and circumstantial evidence.

1:01:111:01:15

But unfortunately, I shared the same blood group as the murderer.

1:01:171:01:21

And at the time, that made me a near slam dunk

1:01:211:01:25

for being probably the person who did it.

1:01:251:01:28

And then in February of 1988,

1:01:301:01:32

there was this newspaper article about DNA testing.

1:01:321:01:36

And I'm like blown away.

1:01:371:01:40

I can't believe I have the key to my cell in my hands

1:01:401:01:43

because I knew I didn't kill that woman.

1:01:431:01:45

I know none of my biological materials were anywhere near her.

1:01:451:01:48

I wrote to Joe Bullen, my lawyer,

1:01:491:01:52

and I asked him to begin the process of the DNA.

1:01:521:01:55

And the phone call, I can still recall...

1:01:571:01:59

All week, just on pins and needles and then Monday morning

1:02:001:02:04

I get taken downstairs at 10:00am, which is a bad time

1:02:041:02:06

because they've got all the food going.

1:02:061:02:08

They brought in the food trucks and they are just banging

1:02:081:02:11

and clanging these metal plates that they put food on

1:02:111:02:14

and they put them in these racks and run them up these stairs

1:02:141:02:16

and it's just noise and it's all going.

1:02:161:02:18

I get a hold of the secretary first

1:02:181:02:20

and then I get hold of Joe Bullen and he says, "I got news for you."

1:02:201:02:23

"You've got to slow down." I was like, "What? What?"

1:02:231:02:26

He says, "The coroner has explained to me

1:02:261:02:29

"that they've lost all the autopsy material."

1:02:291:02:32

And there was just banging and yelling.

1:02:351:02:38

I didn't hear them.

1:02:381:02:40

I was like, "Slow down. Say that again. What do you mean?"

1:02:401:02:43

I wanted to turn around and just shout, "Just please shut up!"

1:02:431:02:46

I knew that would get my ass whooped.

1:02:461:02:48

So I just stood there shaking with the phone in my hand

1:02:481:02:51

and I said, "What do you mean the autopsy materials?

1:02:511:02:53

"That's the stuff they used at my trial, the evidence at my trial.

1:02:531:02:56

"Is that what you are trying to tell me?

1:02:561:02:58

"All the evidence at my trial has been thrown away?

1:02:581:03:02

"How am I still on death row if after the trial..."

1:03:021:03:04

And I start talking like this and he's yelling into the phone.

1:03:041:03:09

"I said, shut up for a minute and I'll tell you."

1:03:091:03:12

And then in this very supercilious voice,

1:03:121:03:15

he said, "The coroner's office has looked all week

1:03:151:03:19

"and I just got off the phone with them at 9:28am and he's informed me

1:03:191:03:24

"that they've lost all the autopsy material from the Linda Mae..."

1:03:241:03:29

And he's reading from something, like his notes or his crib notes

1:03:291:03:32

of what this conversation was and it was very deadpan.

1:03:321:03:35

I started getting angry and I said,

1:03:351:03:37

"Do you remember when you came to first visit me?

1:03:371:03:39

"You told me I was guilty because of all the overwhelming evidence.

1:03:391:03:43

"Well, where's all the overwhelming evidence when I want DNA, Joe?"

1:03:431:03:46

And he hung up.

1:03:481:03:50

I go back up in my cell and I'm furious.

1:03:531:03:56

I wanted to kill somebody. I was so angry.

1:03:561:04:00

I was out of visits for the month.

1:04:031:04:06

That meant I had to wait until March to see Jackie again

1:04:061:04:10

and explain to her that the evidence was lost and...

1:04:101:04:14

..we had no hope.

1:04:151:04:17

So, erm...

1:04:231:04:25

I went, like, completely blank.

1:04:271:04:30

But then after a while, I started to think,

1:04:341:04:38

that's not possible because at my trial they went on and on

1:04:381:04:42

about how the killer had B positive blood, didn't he?

1:04:421:04:46

And, like, I said to myself, wait a minute, who did the test on that?

1:04:471:04:50

So I started reading the trial transcripts and I found out

1:04:521:04:55

some material was sent to a laboratory at the time of my trial.

1:04:551:04:58

I wrote to the lab director and he wrote me back and he said,

1:04:581:05:01

"Dear Mr Yarris, I have searched my files

1:05:011:05:04

"and we do have two preparations that are unstained

1:05:041:05:08

and they have high weight visible DNA from the sperm."

1:05:081:05:12

And I was like, oh, my God.

1:05:121:05:14

This DNA works, I not only can prove my innocence

1:05:141:05:18

but I can be out of here in a few years.

1:05:181:05:21

And it was like opening up this flood gate to this woman.

1:05:221:05:25

Jackie.

1:05:251:05:27

I married her on July 1, 1988,

1:05:291:05:32

six years to the day that I was sentenced to die.

1:05:321:05:35

I was so in love.

1:05:391:05:41

Oh, my God.

1:05:411:05:43

Oh, my God.

1:05:431:05:45

Like, I was into this thing where music was beautiful.

1:05:481:05:53

If it rained outside and I caught the smell of it through my window,

1:05:531:05:57

even though I couldn't actually see the rain, it was beautiful.

1:05:571:06:01

Like, every little nuance in life was magical.

1:06:011:06:05

And I loved this person in my life so much.

1:06:061:06:09

And I was like offering this person not only hope

1:06:091:06:13

that I could prove myself innocent and get off death row,

1:06:131:06:16

but I could be home and we could begin a life.

1:06:161:06:19

And then one year became two.

1:06:331:06:36

And three.

1:06:361:06:37

It took us five years to get to the DNA test.

1:06:401:06:43

And the results came back inconclusive.

1:06:441:06:46

Inconclusive results due to degradation.

1:06:481:06:51

But then, in a miracle of miracles, the victim's clothing

1:07:021:07:05

was located in a clerk's office at the courthouse.

1:07:051:07:10

My mother had recoiled in horror at the end of my trial

1:07:131:07:16

when my parents were almost accidentally given a box marked "Yarris"

1:07:161:07:20

and inside of it was the victim's blood soaked clothing.

1:07:201:07:24

And she remembered that and she told the custodian,

1:07:241:07:26

"Don't you remember how you almost gave me the victim's clothing?"

1:07:261:07:29

And he said, "Oh, that's right."

1:07:291:07:31

And he went off and found the victim's clothing.

1:07:311:07:35

Those clothes yielded sperm from the victim's underwear

1:07:371:07:41

and it was high weight and there was a lot of it.

1:07:411:07:45

Cuttings were placed into these tubes

1:07:471:07:49

and then they were sent to Germantown, Maryland, for keeping.

1:07:491:07:53

It took me from 1993 to 1997 to finally get court approval

1:07:531:07:59

for the foremost authority of DNA in America to do the DNA testing.

1:07:591:08:03

Hallelujah! I got Dr Blake.

1:08:031:08:06

He already did the OJ Simpson case,

1:08:061:08:08

he's very famous, very well respected.

1:08:081:08:10

He's the man.

1:08:101:08:11

They take the new evidence and they send it down to California.

1:08:171:08:21

And they improperly package it and it burst open in transit.

1:08:211:08:25

And Dr Blake says, "We're not going to test it.

1:08:281:08:30

"All it would do is produce results

1:08:301:08:32

"that would be contested by the prosecution.

1:08:321:08:34

"I'm not going to test it."

1:08:341:08:36

And he just put it on a shelf.

1:08:361:08:38

It killed a part of my marriage and it killed a part of Jackie

1:08:401:08:43

and it killed a part of me.

1:08:431:08:45

She fought with me for nine years to get DNA

1:08:481:08:52

and she just said, "Nicky, I can't do this any more."

1:08:521:08:55

I said, "Man, go."

1:08:581:09:00

I went back to my cell and I was just sitting there by the window

1:09:051:09:08

listening to the radio and this song came on.

1:09:081:09:11

I was listening to the lyrics, you know.

1:09:111:09:13

"They say that you're leaving.

1:09:141:09:17

"It comes as no surprise.

1:09:171:09:19

"And still I like this feeling of being left behind."

1:09:191:09:22

I was listening to the lyrics and I was thinking...

1:09:251:09:28

You always do that to me.

1:09:291:09:31

You always torment me with words from someone else's song

1:09:311:09:34

and suddenly they're my words.

1:09:341:09:36

and they are ingrained in my thoughts.

1:09:361:09:38

Even though I was being told they were leaving,

1:09:421:09:45

I still kind of liked that feeling of being left behind.

1:09:451:09:49

It's a strange phenomenon when you felt good for their leaving

1:09:511:09:55

because you knew all along you had stolen a lot of their life away.

1:09:551:10:00

# It's just like going home. #

1:10:001:10:04

On a December night, on a snowing night,

1:10:051:10:08

just like the lyrics said, I just started writing this letter.

1:10:081:10:12

I wasn't crying or upset or anything.

1:10:151:10:17

I simply sat down and tried to tell somebody why I loved them

1:10:171:10:22

and why saying goodbye to them was this wonderful gift.

1:10:221:10:27

I knew she didn't have to fight for me any more.

1:10:271:10:30

I knew she didn't have to make copies of my legal documents

1:10:301:10:33

and send them back to me, call lawyers, chase up new DNA.

1:10:331:10:37

She didn't have to go and chase up my mum or any of these other things.

1:10:371:10:41

She could just be free.

1:10:411:10:43

One of us.

1:10:431:10:45

You see, at the end,

1:10:521:10:54

that wonderful gift that was given to me for so long,

1:10:541:10:57

I didn't cling, trying to hold on to what wasn't mine anyway

1:10:571:11:01

because it was a gift.

1:11:011:11:03

It was like a ten year confirmation

1:11:031:11:05

that I was becoming that person that I liked.

1:11:051:11:07

I was so proud of that.

1:11:071:11:09

I woke up to a different person.

1:11:111:11:13

By now, I had been in prison for 18 years.

1:11:281:11:32

And that's when I got sick.

1:11:321:11:34

I lost 31 pounds in a month and a half.

1:11:341:11:37

I was really feeling poorly and then I had blood work done

1:11:371:11:40

and they told me what it was.

1:11:401:11:42

I'm infected with this strain of hepatitis C

1:11:421:11:46

that all the men who had dental work at Huntington had contracted.

1:11:461:11:49

15 other men had got this hepatitis.

1:11:501:11:54

So the first guy to die was DC, Dale Carter.

1:11:571:12:02

He died in the vents underneath me screaming in agony.

1:12:021:12:05

Oh, my God.

1:12:051:12:07

So when I found out I immediately said

1:12:071:12:09

"Yes, I'll take the drug treatments. I'll sign up for it."

1:12:091:12:12

But the years of drug abuse had damaged my kidneys

1:12:121:12:15

and after about seven months I started suffering

1:12:151:12:18

all the side effects of this drug.

1:12:181:12:21

I was peeing this horrible coffee-coloured urine.

1:12:211:12:25

Everything tasted dead in my mouth.

1:12:271:12:29

I was just not right.

1:12:291:12:31

And then it was August.

1:12:351:12:37

I was out in the exercise yard.

1:12:371:12:39

I was so weak.

1:12:411:12:42

I was looking directly up at the sky.

1:12:441:12:46

And then...

1:12:471:12:50

I couldn't see anything. It went blank.

1:12:501:12:52

I knew what darkness is, but this was black.

1:12:541:12:58

And that's when I found out I was dying.

1:13:021:13:04

I was so afraid that...

1:13:091:13:11

I was shaking. I really was.

1:13:111:13:13

And so I remember I stuck to my ritual.

1:13:141:13:18

I stood over the top of the toilet bowl and I bathed

1:13:181:13:21

and I was doing the same ritual, bathing, three days later

1:13:211:13:25

and I saw these swirls around my thighs

1:13:251:13:27

and I realised I was seeing swirls.

1:13:271:13:30

So if I was seeing swirls, then I was seeing.

1:13:301:13:33

OK.

1:13:371:13:38

The very first thing I did later on that evening

1:13:391:13:42

was I sat by a very bright light at my desk

1:13:421:13:44

and I wrote a letter to the judge handling my appeals.

1:13:441:13:47

And another song, Patty Griffin's "Gonna Let Him Fly".

1:13:501:13:53

It's so strange because the lyrics are obviously a love song,

1:13:551:13:58

but to me it was all about me.

1:13:581:14:00

"Ain't no talking to this man.

1:14:001:14:02

"Ain't no pretty other side."

1:14:031:14:05

It's so true.

1:14:091:14:11

There was absolutely no pretty side to hope for any more.

1:14:121:14:16

No Jackies, no love, none of those things that you could have

1:14:171:14:20

a pretty other side to hope for.

1:14:201:14:22

# Ain't no talking to this man

1:14:221:14:25

# Ain't no pretty other side

1:14:261:14:28

# Ain't no way to understand

1:14:301:14:34

# The stupid words of pride

1:14:351:14:37

# It would take an acrobat

1:14:391:14:42

# I already tried all that

1:14:431:14:45

# So I'm gonna let him fly

1:14:461:14:49

# I'm gonna let him fly

1:14:511:14:53

# Things can move at such a pace

1:14:541:14:57

# The second hand just waved goodbye. #

1:14:591:15:02

"Dear Judge Giles, as a criminal plaintiff

1:15:031:15:06

"I ask that one right that I have remaining to me

1:15:061:15:11

"as a condemned prisoner be recognised.

1:15:111:15:15

"And that is a condemned man's right to be executed."

1:15:151:15:18

# I'm gonna let him fly. #

1:15:191:15:22

"I hereby ask that counsel be dismissed,

1:15:221:15:26

"that my record be then transmitted to Governor Edward Rendell

1:15:261:15:30

"for my execution date to be set

1:15:301:15:33

"within 60 days of receipt of this letter."

1:15:331:15:36

# Took a while to understand

1:15:361:15:38

# The beauty of just letting go. #

1:15:391:15:42

"I hereby swear that I am sane at the time of this writing.

1:15:431:15:47

# I've already tried all that. #

1:15:471:15:50

"Signed, Nicholas James Yarris.

1:15:501:15:52

"August 2002."

1:15:521:15:55

# Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh

1:15:571:15:59

# I'm gonna let him fly

1:15:591:16:02

# Fly

1:16:021:16:04

# Yeah

1:16:041:16:07

# I'm gonna let him fly. #

1:16:071:16:13

When the letter was received by Judge Giles,

1:16:221:16:25

he ordered that my lawyers come to a conference hearing

1:16:251:16:30

and he wanted to know why someone who had been asking

1:16:301:16:34

for DNA testing for 15 years claiming that they are innocent

1:16:341:16:38

would now ask to be executed?

1:16:381:16:41

And he was really hard pressed

1:16:411:16:43

to get them to give up any answer I guess,

1:16:431:16:45

because I didn't copy them in on the letter

1:16:451:16:48

and they didn't even know I wrote to the judge

1:16:481:16:50

so they were hearing this for the first time.

1:16:501:16:52

So the judge, by law, really was hamstrung in the fact

1:16:521:16:56

that he was going to be required to transmit my record to the governor

1:16:561:17:00

as law required for me to be executed

1:17:001:17:02

within 60 days from that point.

1:17:021:17:04

Instead he said,

1:17:041:17:06

"All right, whatever DNA testing is remaining in this case

1:17:061:17:09

"I'm ordering it now tested."

1:17:091:17:12

And that was April.

1:17:121:17:14

April turned to May. May turned to June.

1:17:151:17:18

July 2nd, 2003.

1:17:191:17:22

I wasn't expecting the results.

1:17:231:17:25

For some reason, when he brought the phone to my cell,

1:17:251:17:28

I really wasn't expecting to talk to my lawyers about Dr Blake.

1:17:281:17:32

But he gave me the phone and said, "Your lawyer wants you to call."

1:17:321:17:35

So I dialled the number

1:17:351:17:37

and I'm waiting for the collect phone call process to ring through

1:17:371:17:40

and it does and on the other end was Michael Wiseman,

1:17:401:17:43

a lawyer who had been representing me for seven years.

1:17:431:17:46

When I heard Michael Wiseman say...

1:17:481:17:51

"I just got off the phone with Dr Blake.

1:17:521:17:54

"The gloves that were left inside the victim's vehicle

1:17:571:18:01

"were found to have DNA from an unknown male,

1:18:011:18:06

"DNA from Mrs Craig and DNA from the sperm matching the killer's gloves."

1:18:061:18:11

That was it. I didn't have to hear anything else.

1:18:111:18:14

I knew.

1:18:141:18:16

You didn't have to tell Nick Yarris what those results meant.

1:18:161:18:19

I started screaming, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

1:18:191:18:21

"It proves me innocent! Don't you see?!"

1:18:211:18:23

The guard came back to collect the phone and he saw me huddled.

1:18:281:18:32

Crying on the bed.

1:18:341:18:37

In the foetal position.

1:18:371:18:39

And he said...

1:18:411:18:42

"Nick, what's up?"

1:18:441:18:46

And I lifted my head up and I just shook my head

1:18:461:18:50

because I didn't even have the strength to say anything, you know.

1:18:501:18:53

And he said, "Go down to the shower and take a shower."

1:18:561:18:58

And I got up, I put on my shower shoes

1:19:001:19:02

and I started trudging towards the shower.

1:19:021:19:05

And he opened the gate down on the end of the block

1:19:061:19:09

and he walked into the shower and he put a chair in there.

1:19:091:19:13

And as I got the last few steps there...

1:19:131:19:16

..he grabbed my arm gently and he sat me down

1:19:171:19:21

and he just pushed the button and left me there.

1:19:211:19:25

And I cried.

1:19:271:19:29

I cried like you wouldn't believe, man.

1:19:311:19:35

I waited 15 years to cry.

1:19:351:19:37

The happiest memory I ever had...

1:20:061:20:09

..is that we lived at 2439 Milan Street.

1:20:101:20:15

Just like Italy. Milan.

1:20:151:20:17

There was a fibreglass awning attached to the front of our roof.

1:20:191:20:25

And whenever it rained, it gave off this hollow drumming sound

1:20:271:20:31

that just drew me out of wherever I was and whatever I was doing.

1:20:311:20:35

And I would get a blanket

1:20:361:20:39

and Jaco my dog, who was a little black poodle,

1:20:391:20:42

and we would go out and sit on this lounge chair

1:20:421:20:44

that was set up like a deckchair.

1:20:441:20:46

And there, under this tattered old green blanket

1:20:481:20:51

I would listen to the rain

1:20:521:20:54

and play out all these daydreams in my head of adventures I would have.

1:20:541:20:59

And it was like this...

1:21:001:21:02

..cocoon.

1:21:031:21:04

All I had was that blanket and the dog

1:21:051:21:08

and this...

1:21:081:21:10

..feeling that I was on a journey.

1:21:121:21:14

I remember as I ran out the door with Jaco,

1:21:261:21:29

the last thing Mum said was,

1:21:291:21:32

"Don't you dare get those school clothes dirty!"

1:21:321:21:35

It was still early. Early, like April.

1:21:391:21:41

And in Philadelphia in the springtime it's just beautiful.

1:21:421:21:45

Like 67, 68 degrees and you just get these very nice days.

1:21:471:21:52

So Jaco and I were just like throwing the stick

1:21:531:21:56

and doing the things that we loved to do.

1:21:561:21:59

And I was walking along deeper into the woods,

1:22:011:22:05

when I saw him.

1:22:051:22:06

I said, "Damn."

1:22:081:22:09

I was so afraid of him.

1:22:091:22:11

The hobnail boots, denim jeans, white T-shirt,

1:22:151:22:19

armband rolled up with a pack of Lucky Strikes in the sleeve.

1:22:191:22:23

And he said, "Fuck are you doing?"

1:22:261:22:28

Like that, you know.

1:22:281:22:30

"Take it."

1:22:331:22:34

I looked up towards the houses.

1:22:361:22:38

Then I went like that. And he said, "No, puff."

1:22:391:22:42

And I went...

1:22:421:22:43

And I just got...

1:22:431:22:45

My head went crazy and I heard this sound.

1:22:471:22:52

HE CLAPS

1:22:521:22:53

And it was the stone that was in his hand that he hit me with.

1:22:551:22:59

And then I felt him bend down and he turned me

1:23:001:23:05

so that our shoulders were parallel and my leg was on his arm there.

1:23:051:23:10

And he was raping me.

1:23:101:23:13

And he was making this, like, guttural sound.

1:23:131:23:16

I started, like, whimpering.

1:23:171:23:20

He's like, "Shut the fuck up! Shut the fuck up!

1:23:201:23:23

"I'll fucking kill Jaco and your whole family if you say to anybody.

1:23:231:23:26

"You understand me? I'm not a faggot! I'm not a fucking faggot!

1:23:261:23:29

"You understand me?"

1:23:291:23:30

Then he left and I screamed.

1:23:331:23:35

I was like, "Jaco!"

1:23:351:23:37

I kept screaming for Jaco.

1:23:381:23:40

One of the things that he said to me when he was putting his pants right.

1:23:451:23:49

He looked at me and he said, "You tell everybody you fell off a wall

1:23:511:23:54

"with that shopping cart over there. You hear me?"

1:23:541:23:57

He like gave me this quick rundown of what to say.

1:24:001:24:04

And as soon as I told the first lie,

1:24:061:24:10

it was like once it was believed, it was so hard to undo.

1:24:101:24:14

It spiralled.

1:24:161:24:17

And then...

1:24:191:24:21

..everything changed.

1:24:211:24:23

From that day I found out I was proven innocent from science,

1:24:371:24:41

it still took me seven more months.

1:24:411:24:44

I went back to death row

1:24:441:24:46

and I found out they took everything out of my death row cell

1:24:461:24:50

and then they took me to this unit.

1:24:501:24:53

I was beside myself. They took me to H block, the mental ward.

1:24:541:24:59

"What are you doing to me?" I didn't understand.

1:25:001:25:03

I went over and I saw Major Locket, the major of the guards.

1:25:031:25:07

I said, "What's going on? Why am I here?"

1:25:071:25:10

And he said, "Mr Yarris, after the experience that you had

1:25:101:25:15

"we don't want to risk any of the staff

1:25:151:25:18

"being murdered by you in a rage

1:25:181:25:21

"in recognition for what we have done to you."

1:25:211:25:24

I went back to my cell.

1:25:281:25:30

And I had a plastic milk carton and that was it.

1:25:311:25:35

A plastic mattress, two sheets, two towels,

1:25:351:25:38

a pillowcase for that plastic pillow and that was it.

1:25:381:25:42

They took every book, they took my artwork, they took every comfort.

1:25:431:25:48

And I sat down on my bed

1:25:511:25:53

and I said,

1:25:541:25:56

"Oh, my God. They did me a favour."

1:25:581:26:00

I folded my legs, I sat straight in my yoga position.

1:26:021:26:06

And I started to dream of the life I was going to have.

1:26:101:26:13

I was going to have a great life.

1:26:131:26:15

I'm going to meet me a girl, I'm going to fall in love.

1:26:151:26:17

I'm going to have a family and best of all I'm going to be a great dad.

1:26:171:26:22

That's what I'm going to do.

1:26:221:26:24

If you're going to take everything from me,

1:26:241:26:26

OK, then instead...

1:26:261:26:29

I think I'll give myself everything.

1:26:311:26:34

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