- há 2 dias
Titulo Original: Documentary Serial Killer Marion Pruett (Mad Dog)
Canal Autor (Nome): Conspiracyhub
Canal Autor (Link): https://www.youtube.com/@conspiracyhub595
Fonte do Video (Link): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw_U0WENqvY
Licenca: Este conteudo e reutilizado sob a Licenca Creative Commons Atribuicao 4.0 Internacional (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Note: The original content has not been modified. / O conteudo original foi mantido integralmente.
Canal Autor (Nome): Conspiracyhub
Canal Autor (Link): https://www.youtube.com/@conspiracyhub595
Fonte do Video (Link): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw_U0WENqvY
Licenca: Este conteudo e reutilizado sob a Licenca Creative Commons Atribuicao 4.0 Internacional (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Note: The original content has not been modified. / O conteudo original foi mantido integralmente.
Categoria
📺
TVTranscrição
00:17A CIDADE NO BRASIL
00:30A CIDADE NO BRASIL
01:00A CIDADE NO BRASIL
01:07The sheriff tracked down the dead woman's mother, who confirmed that her daughter was indeed a biker.
01:12This image is one of the only available pictures of Pamela Barker.
01:17The mother revealed her daughter had been married to a man named Sonny Pearson.
01:23The mom says Pearson. We start looking.
01:27Police started canvassing local biker hangouts.
01:30They soon learned that Sonny Pearson and his wife were mysterious, recent additions to this part of New Mexico.
01:38Two years earlier, the couple had moved to a subdivision outside Albuquerque called Rio Rancho.
01:44Pearson invested in a trucking business and in this truck stop, the Big Chief Cafe.
01:53Alice Vick and her son Daniel were both working there when Pearson became part owner.
02:00He was a biker and hung around with the biker crowd and you don't really, you don't ask a lot
02:05of questions in that circle of people.
02:07I was prep cook and he just always backed to visit him with me, I guess because of my age.
02:15And like you know, he calls me mom.
02:18And we just got to be real friendly.
02:21Tried to turn him on to God, but it didn't work.
02:24The 31-year-old Pearson was a distinctive figure, even among local bikers, standing 5'7", with a long beard,
02:32a limp, and a glass eye from a childhood accident.
02:36When he didn't have any money and he was in a bar, he'd take his eye out and drop it
02:40in somebody's drink when they weren't looking.
02:41And then they wouldn't want their drink anymore and he'd take it.
02:44Sonny could talk people into almost anything.
02:48He just had that personality and he had that gift.
02:53He made me real uneasy.
02:55Businesswoman Judy Crawley knew Pearson and his wife Michelle from his trucking business.
03:01She was busy working on the motorcycles and Sonny was busy being the tough guy.
03:07I didn't see a lot of closeness with Michelle and Sonny.
03:11They were more like friends.
03:16Now, following the discovery of the corpse in the desert, and two days after police got Pearson's name,
03:22Sonny himself paid Sheriff Ferrara a visit.
03:26He said he had heard about the body and was sure it was his wife.
03:31He said, I want to see my wife.
03:33I want to see my wife.
03:34And I said, you know, sit down.
03:37We need to ask you a few questions.
03:40Pearson told police his wife had disappeared six weeks earlier from their trailer home.
03:44He had filed a missing persons report in neighboring Bernalillo County.
03:51Pearson had filed a report on March the 2nd stating that his wife and him had gotten into an argument.
04:00And about 2 o'clock in the morning, she took off and was walking.
04:06Last time he'd seen her, he says he was heading south on the tracks behind the trailer court.
04:11And it just didn't fit.
04:14Where was this woman going to go at 2 a.m.?
04:18The sheriff grilled Sonny for more than three hours, during which Pearson revealed that he had a criminal past
04:25and a secret identity, courtesy of the federal government.
04:30He gives me the story about the, uh, the Marshal Service Witness Protection Program.
04:37Come to pass, he did say at one point in time that he had robbed a bank at one point
04:42in his life.
04:43Pearson refused to say much else, but did mention that he'd served time at the federal penitentiary in Atlanta.
04:50He dared the sheriff to contact the U.S. Marshal Service for more answers.
04:56Ferrara left Pearson in the interrogation room and went to call the Marshal Service in Albuquerque.
05:03I says, listen, yeah, we know this guy.
05:06I says, you need to give me some information on what all.
05:09He says, well, we can't give out any information about his prior and this and that,
05:13but we have some other information.
05:17The Marshal confirmed that his suspect and his wife had both received new identities
05:23as Michelle and Charles Sonny Pearson.
05:26Pearson's real name was Marion Albert Pruitt.
05:31The Marshal divulged one other startling detail.
05:34Apparently, the night before she disappeared,
05:37Pruitt's wife called a Marshal at home
05:39and said she was afraid her husband was going to kill her.
05:42The Marshal told her to contact local police in the morning.
05:48That was the last anyone heard from her.
05:52Once Sheriff Ferrara was done talking to the Marshal in Albuquerque,
05:56he returned to the interrogation room and confronted his suspect.
06:01I told him, you murdered your wife.
06:06You did it.
06:07You're going to be put downstairs.
06:09I'm locking you up as a material witness.
06:12I know I could hold him for 72 hours
06:15and then kept trying to develop more stuff.
06:20But the sheriff's case quickly fell apart.
06:2348 hours later, a judge ordered the suspect released for lack of evidence.
06:29Then, the FBI sent back a report on the men's fingerprints.
06:34They sent me back a print card that said,
06:37no record.
06:40I was sort of taken back.
06:43No record?
06:44This guy's telling me he'd been in the Atlanta penitentiary.
06:48No record?
06:50Couldn't get anything.
06:53Nothing.
06:54With no help from either the FBI or the U.S. Marshals,
06:58Sheriff Ferrara and his deputies kept on trying to crack the case.
07:04Almost two months later, finally, a breakthrough.
07:07Police tracked down a close friend of Marion Pruitt's,
07:10who seemed nervous about talking.
07:13After some prodding,
07:1424-year-old Bill Sherman confessed that he saw Pruitt kill his wife
07:19and that he helped dispose of the body.
07:23He tells me I was there.
07:27I was there when he murdered her.
07:29And you know what?
07:30He was eager to get that off his chest.
07:33There was no question that Bill Sherman was terrified of Marion Pruitt
07:39and that Marion Pruitt used his persona
07:47to totally control and manipulate the accomplice in this case.
07:52Sherman began telling the sheriff about the night Pruitt's wife disappeared.
07:57He said he spent the evening drinking with Pruitt at his trailer.
08:01Then he claimed his friend told him to go home
08:04and return later that night
08:05so they could discuss his trucking business.
08:08Sherman returned and said Pruitt immediately took a hammer into the bedroom
08:11where his wife was asleep.
08:13There were screams.
08:15Then Sherman entered the room.
08:19Blood was all over.
08:21She was just fairly not even moving at that point in time.
08:26And then what they did is they took the body
08:29and put it in the trunk of a car
08:31and took it out to the Mesa,
08:33which is on the west side of Albuquerque here,
08:35and then burned it and left it.
08:39Based on this eyewitness account,
08:40authorities issued an arrest warrant for Marion Pruitt,
08:44but Pruitt had disappeared.
08:47Investigators later found out that before he left town,
08:50he had stopped by to see his employee and friend, Alice Vick.
08:55He just told me he had to leave
08:56because the law was blaming him for the murder of his wife,
09:01and he told me, he said,
09:02I swear to you on my mom's soul that I did not kill my wife.
09:07And those were his words when he left.
09:08Marion Pruitt escaped New Mexico undetected
09:12and went on a nationwide crime spree.
09:16And because the Federal Witness Protection Program
09:19had given Pruitt a new cleaned-up identity,
09:22the government would be widely blamed
09:24for allowing the rampage to occur.
09:29The guy that turns a wild animal loose to kill
09:34is responsible.
09:36It's not the wild animal.
09:37The wild animal is just doing what comes naturally.
09:47In June 1981, police in Sandoval County, New Mexico,
09:51just outside Albuquerque,
09:53issued an all-points bulletin for Marion Albert Pruitt.
09:56As a member of the Witness Protection Program,
09:59the man had been living under the name Sonny Pearson.
10:01He was now wanted for the murder of his wife.
10:05Pruitt would elude capture for months,
10:07go on a killing spree,
10:08and in the process live up to a nickname
10:11he had carried with him since his teens,
10:13Mad Dog.
10:15What caused him to become this way,
10:17how he became that way, I don't know.
10:20I think he's a person who just liked to hurt,
10:22and hurt in the most severe way.
10:24Pruitt's case would throw a harsh spotlight
10:27on the Federal Witness Protection Program
10:29and raise the question,
10:31does society sometimes pay too high a price
10:34for the secret deals the government makes
10:37with violent criminals?
10:45Marion Albert Pruitt was raised in Charlotte, North Carolina.
10:49His childhood pursuits of baseball and roller skating
10:52gave way in his teens to a motorcycle gang and drugs.
10:58He took speed, smoked pot,
11:00and drank so much of the inexpensive brand of wine,
11:03Mogan David,
11:04that his friends started calling him by its street name,
11:07Mad Dog.
11:08Crime came easily to him,
11:10as did prison time.
11:11A six-month sentence for petty theft at age 17
11:14cemented a lifelong hatred of authority.
11:17He took to robbing banks,
11:19which earned him at age 21
11:21a long stretch in the Atlanta penitentiary.
11:27Eight years later,
11:29in the spring of 1978,
11:31one year before Pruitt's scheduled release,
11:33his cellmate at informant
11:34in a drug trial was murdered.
11:36The 28-year-old Pruitt
11:37claimed he witnessed the crime
11:39and offered to testify
11:41if he could win a spot
11:42in the Federal Witness Protection Program.
11:45It fell to Gerald Schur at the U.S. Justice Department
11:49to consider the request.
11:51I would have to be convinced
11:52that that witness was very important
11:54to what I concluded was a very important case.
11:58Here an informant had been murdered,
11:59that would be a very important case.
12:01So Marion Pruitt was placed in witness protection.
12:05He was paroled in November 1979,
12:0711 months early,
12:09based on his cooperation with the government.
12:11He then married Pamela Sue Barker,
12:13whom he'd met while in prison.
12:16The U.S. Marshals moved the newlyweds to New Mexico
12:20and gave them new identities
12:21as Charles and Michelle Pearson.
12:24For about nine months,
12:26the couple received a monthly stipend of $800
12:29until they were deemed self-sufficient.
12:32Pruitt bought into two businesses
12:34and made friends.
12:36He said he was happy with his life.
12:39He wasn't trouble, drank a lot,
12:42and I'd be chewing him out,
12:43telling him to eat instead of drink.
12:46And that's when he started calling me mama.
12:48He'd say, yes, mama, yes, mama.
12:51But we never had any trouble with him.
12:53Always treated me great.
12:54But Pruitt eventually did get into trouble.
13:01In August 1980,
13:03he was charged with disorderly conduct
13:05and resisting arrest after a barroom brawl.
13:09However, Pruitt had no arrest record
13:11under his new identity, Charles Pearson.
13:14The judge had no idea
13:16what kind of person he was dealing with.
13:19So instead of a return trip to prison
13:21for breaking parole,
13:23Pruitt received six months
13:25unsupervised probation.
13:28Just a few months later,
13:29Pruitt's wife would turn up dead.
13:32Pruitt became the prime suspect,
13:34but New Mexico authorities
13:35still could not get access
13:37to his real record.
13:38They weren't allowed to hold him in jail,
13:40and then the man disappeared.
13:44To be honest with you,
13:45I never got a copy of his rap sheet
13:48from the FBI.
13:50They weren't releasing anything.
13:53Now wanted for the murder of his wife,
13:56Pruitt went on the run.
14:00On September 17, 1981,
14:03a man dressed in a three-piece suit
14:06and a wig
14:06walked into the Unifirst Savings and Loan
14:09in Jackson, Mississippi.
14:10He told the tellers he was armed.
14:14This individual then handed
14:16one of the bank employees a bag
14:19and asked her to fill it with money.
14:21He was told that they did not have
14:23that kind of money,
14:24to which he said,
14:25give me what you have.
14:27The suspect fled with about $7,000 in cash
14:31and a hostage,
14:32a 43-year-old bank loan officer
14:35named Peggy Lowe.
14:37Someone else was going to be the hostage
14:40and that lady panicked
14:42and Peggy more or less volunteered
14:45to be the hostage
14:47to get the other employees
14:49out of harm's way.
14:51My husband told me
14:53that there had been a bank robbery
14:54and that they had abducted my mother.
14:56They didn't know where she was
14:58at the moment
14:58but I needed to go to the bank,
15:01to the Unifirst
15:02and my dad was there.
15:04The bank employees were there,
15:06the FBI, Jackson, police,
15:10TV reporters.
15:12Everybody was there.
15:15Police scoured the area
15:16and found Peggy Lowe's car
15:18parked behind the bank.
15:20Hoping to find her inside,
15:22they told her husband
15:23to open the trunk.
15:24It was empty.
15:28Within hours,
15:29a statewide manhunt
15:30was underway.
15:32Authorities circulated Lowe's photograph.
15:35Helicopters buzzed over state highways.
15:37The bank robber
15:38and his hostage
15:39were nowhere to be found.
15:42The FBI distributed
15:43a composite sketch
15:44of the suspect
15:45drawn from eyewitness accounts
15:47to field offices
15:49across the country.
15:51He, from physical stature,
15:54was a short person,
15:55I believe about five foot
15:56foot six, five foot seven,
15:58wearing sunglasses,
15:59and he walked with a limp.
16:01Calls came flooding
16:02into Mississippi,
16:04from Corpus Christi, Texas,
16:06Tallahassee, Florida,
16:07and as far away
16:08as Seattle, Washington.
16:10Each jurisdiction reported
16:12that it, too,
16:13had a recent bank robbery
16:15with a suspect
16:15matching that very description.
16:18Fingerprint evidence
16:19soon confirmed it.
16:21Marion Mad Dog Pruitt
16:23had hit all the locations.
16:25This was little solace
16:26to the family
16:27of the still-missing
16:28Peggy Lowe.
16:30life at home was
16:32waiting for the phone
16:33to ring,
16:33waiting for somebody
16:34to tell us anything.
16:35I was thinking,
16:36you know,
16:37maybe there's hope,
16:38but really,
16:39after the second week,
16:41I knew within my heart
16:42that I'd never see her alive
16:44on this earth again.
16:45And he wasn't done yet.
16:49In Fort Smith, Arkansas,
16:50on October 12, 1981,
16:53a gunman walked
16:54into a convenience store
16:55and abducted
16:55the night shift clerk,
16:57Bobbie Jean Robertson.
16:59Her body was discovered
17:00shot to death
17:01in a nearby wooded area.
17:02The suspect had escaped
17:04with $163 in cash.
17:12Four days later
17:14and 850 miles away,
17:16a police investigator
17:18in Loveland, Colorado
17:19was dispatched
17:20to an early morning shooting
17:21at a 7-Eleven.
17:24Our victim was alive
17:25at that particular
17:26point in time.
17:27We don't know for sure
17:28how long he was
17:29on the floor
17:30of the store bleeding.
17:32Anthony Tate,
17:33the 21-year-old clerk,
17:34had been shot four times
17:36at point-blank range.
17:39The young man
17:40was pronounced dead
17:41at the hospital
17:4245 minutes later.
17:44Police soon learned
17:45that 13 miles away
17:46in Fort Collins, Colorado,
17:48another 7-Eleven
17:50had also been robbed
17:51and the overnight clerk
17:5224-year-old James Balderson
17:55murdered.
17:56His parents found out
17:57later that morning.
18:00We always had
18:01some reservations
18:02with him working at night,
18:04but Fort Collins,
18:06we thought,
18:07was as good a town
18:08as any.
18:08My first reaction was
18:10I just broke down
18:11and cried like a baby.
18:13Because I love my son.
18:15The Colorado police
18:17sent out on a PB
18:18and got an immediate
18:19response from the FBI.
18:21The Bureau was keeping
18:23an eye out
18:24for suspicious robberies
18:25and sent back information
18:27on Marion Pruitt's
18:28bank robbery
18:29and kidnapping
18:29in Mississippi.
18:33Actually, you know,
18:35I thought the FBI
18:36was just throwing us
18:37a bum when we got
18:38the original teletype.
18:39I thought,
18:40how could this
18:40have any connection?
18:42You know,
18:42it doesn't...
18:44And Mississippi's
18:44a long way from Colorado
18:46and I just didn't see
18:47any connection at all.
18:49Just two days later,
18:51the connection
18:52would be confirmed.
18:53On a highway
18:54outside Amarillo, Texas,
18:56state troopers
18:57pulled over
18:57a speeding Cadillac.
18:59A .38 caliber handgun
19:00was found under the seat,
19:02along with drug paraphernalia
19:04and 7-Eleven receipts
19:06from Colorado.
19:07The driver was arrested.
19:09His name was
19:10Marion Albert Pruitt.
19:12His five-month spree
19:14of seven holdups,
19:15which had left
19:16three people dead,
19:17and one missing
19:18was over.
19:20The arrest of
19:21Med Dog Pruitt
19:22made headlines nationwide.
19:24The victims' families
19:24were furious
19:25when they found out
19:26the former bank robber
19:27had been given
19:28a new identity
19:29in the Federal Witness
19:30Protection Program.
19:33I did not have
19:35a feeling of anger
19:38until I found out
19:39his real name
19:40was Marion Albert Pruitt
19:41and found out
19:42that he was
19:42a protected witness.
19:44Then the rage
19:44started to build.
19:45If he was never
19:46in the witness program,
19:48he still would have
19:49committed crime.
19:50When I learned
19:51of Pruitt's crimes,
19:52I was personally
19:53devastated
19:54by the deaths
19:55of every individual,
19:56young people,
19:57others,
19:58that he had killed.
19:59It was just
19:59wanton, reckless killing.
20:01The New Mexico sheriff
20:03who was pursuing Pruitt
20:04for killing his wife
20:05believed the crime spree
20:07never had to happen.
20:09Gennaro Farra
20:09insisted the FBI
20:11and the U.S. Marshals
20:12failed to give him
20:14assistance
20:14when it mattered.
20:16They're supposed
20:17to send us
20:17the information,
20:19especially when we
20:20got him arrested
20:21and on the card
20:22it says
20:22material witness homicide.
20:25Don't you think
20:27that they should have
20:28shared a little bit
20:29with us?
20:30They turned this
20:31mad dog
20:32out on society.
20:35Pruitt was first
20:36extradited to
20:37Jackson, Mississippi
20:38to face charges
20:39on armed bank robbery
20:40and the kidnapping
20:41of Peggy Lowe.
20:43Authorities chose
20:44Mississippi because
20:45Lowe was still missing.
20:48Two weeks later,
20:50Pruitt confessed
20:51to police that he
20:52had killed her
20:52and agreed on
20:53October 28, 1981
20:55to take them
20:56to the body.
20:59As they drove
21:00to a wooded area
21:01near the Mississippi-Alabama
21:02border,
21:03Pruitt recounted
21:04the last two hours
21:05of Peggy Lowe's life.
21:08He said that
21:09after robbing
21:10the Unifirst Bank
21:11in downtown Jackson,
21:12he'd driven
21:13125 miles east
21:15over the border
21:16into Alabama.
21:18He found
21:19an abandoned
21:20dirt road
21:20then he stopped
21:22the car.
21:24He took
21:25Mrs. Lowe
21:26out of the car,
21:27took her
21:27into a wooded area
21:29and had her
21:30take her clothes off
21:32for the purpose
21:33of leaving her.
21:34Nene was thinking
21:35that, you know,
21:36perhaps this is not good.
21:37He confronts her
21:39at this time,
21:40makes her go back,
21:41kneel down,
21:42and then ultimately
21:43he shoots her
21:44in the back of the head.
21:45One thing that I asked him,
21:47did he sexually molest
21:49Miss Lowe?
21:50And he said,
21:50he did not.
21:52I asked him,
21:53she die instantly.
21:55And he said that
21:57he believed that she did.
22:00The agents followed
22:01Pruitt's directions
22:02to a clearing
22:03where they found
22:04Peggy Lowe's
22:05decomposing body.
22:07Then Pruitt abruptly
22:09announced that he was
22:10ready to leave
22:11and eat breakfast.
22:12The authorities
22:13were appalled.
22:14He had showed us,
22:17admitted to us
22:18that he killed
22:18this lady
22:19and now I want
22:20something to eat.
22:23That's when the,
22:24that's when the old
22:25good American
22:26red-blooded
22:28law enforcement,
22:29man's blood,
22:29gets real high.
22:32You know,
22:34that's when you
22:35want to take
22:35the law
22:36into your own hands
22:37but you know
22:37you can't.
22:40That same day
22:41after Marion Pruitt
22:42was driven back
22:43to Jackson,
22:43Mississippi,
22:44he granted an interview
22:45to four local
22:46reporters.
22:48Can I have a
22:49last trace with you?
22:50From the start
22:51he was remarkably
22:52candid about his crimes.
22:54You know,
22:54I've become a
22:55mad dog killer.
22:56I've done so much
22:56cocaine.
22:58And I don't mind
22:59telling you I killed
22:59the two people
23:00in Colorado
23:00and the one
23:01in Arkansas too.
23:02That's how
23:03about a $4,000
23:05a week cocaine
23:06happened, okay?
23:09It was a stunning
23:10pretrial confession.
23:12Pruitt explained
23:13why he had
23:14become a killer.
23:15He blamed it
23:16on drugs.
23:19Peggy Long's death
23:20was something
23:22that,
23:25it was just,
23:26I was too high,
23:28it was accidental
23:28and it was something
23:29that shouldn't have happened.
23:30you were having a cocaine?
23:32Yeah, I was.
23:33Dad met the dream
23:34with the ether base
23:35and crank,
23:36California crank.
23:39You think so?
23:42Okay, you said
23:43you're trying to
23:44embarrass the federal
23:45government.
23:45In what way?
23:46Pruitt said
23:47he had harbored
23:48a grudge
23:48against the government
23:49since his first
23:50stint in prison
23:51as a teenager.
23:53Now Pruitt added
23:54one more reason
23:55to be angry.
23:56He believed
23:57that the sheriff
23:58in New Mexico
23:58had told the press
24:00about his
24:00protected witness status.
24:03and they let them
24:04tell everybody there
24:05that I was
24:06a government witness
24:07and so was my wife.
24:09In reality,
24:10that information
24:10was only released
24:11after Pruitt fled.
24:13Pruitt used his bitterness
24:15as an excuse.
24:17I started out
24:18just to rob banks
24:19and embarrass the government
24:20and there was
24:21a killing involved.
24:24and I got a little
24:25bit more crazier.
24:28He was so resentful
24:28that he was unwilling
24:30to give the government
24:31credit for capturing him.
24:33The police in Texas
24:36did not apprehend me.
24:37I let them catch me.
24:38I guess, I mean,
24:39surely you're aware of that.
24:40I mean, me with a 30,
24:42if I've killed five people
24:43and I got a 38 under the seat,
24:45what the hell am I doing
24:45going through town
24:4669 miles an hour
24:47and not pouring a gun
24:49on them?
24:52It was a bizarre performance
24:54from a man
24:55who hadn't faced trial
24:56on any of his
24:57most recent crimes,
24:58the worst of which
24:59were murder charges
25:00for the killing
25:01of five people,
25:02including his wife.
25:12At the end of October 1981,
25:15captured spree killer
25:16Marion Mad Dog Pruitt
25:18held a two-day press conference
25:20in Jackson, Mississippi.
25:21He was facing charges
25:23for killing his wife
25:24as well as
25:25four other murders.
25:27Even so,
25:28he discussed his life
25:29in the Witness Protection Program
25:31and his nationwide
25:32crime spree.
25:35How did you do it?
25:38I was a solo artist.
25:40I, well, I...
25:41His statements also
25:42offered a glimpse
25:43into the workings
25:44of a criminal mind.
25:46He explained why
25:47he targeted savings
25:48and loans.
25:5099% of the savings
25:52and loans
25:52are run by
25:53female
25:55and female managers.
25:58And women have
25:59not equal right things
26:01of getting into,
26:01but women have
26:02more common sense
26:03than a man does
26:04when it comes
26:05to bodily harm, okay?
26:06Where a man
26:07would try to play gun-hold.
26:08The FBI says,
26:09don't play hero.
26:11How much money
26:12would you say
26:13that you came across
26:15in these robberies
26:16all together?
26:17Is there any way
26:17or did you spend it
26:19quickly?
26:20Yeah,
26:21I spent it very quickly.
26:27Too fast.
26:30On what?
26:34Good living,
26:35I guess they call it.
26:37Worth it a good living?
26:42Lonely,
26:43I guess,
26:43you know.
26:46Not as far as
26:46people around me
26:47and stuff,
26:48just lonely feelings,
26:49you know.
26:51It's like,
26:53what's that song
26:54they sung about
26:54the clown,
26:55but deep down inside,
26:57you know,
26:57he's a loser.
27:00Pruitt addressed
27:01questions about
27:02his upcoming trials
27:03and what penalty
27:05he thought
27:05he should receive
27:06for murdering
27:0743-year-old
27:08Jackson area resident
27:09Peggy Lowe.
27:11I think the people
27:12of Mississippi
27:13want to see me dead
27:13just as much
27:14as I want to die.
27:16Nothing.
27:17Nothing justified
27:18the killing
27:18of Peggy Lee
27:21or whatever her name was.
27:22If I think
27:23it was probable
27:24justification
27:25for myself,
27:26I wouldn't be asking
27:26for the death penalty.
27:28I'm...
27:35I killed
27:36an innocent person.
27:37It's that simple,
27:37okay?
27:38Do you think
27:39that you will gain
27:40anything by talking
27:41to the four of us?
27:43Or do you hope
27:44to gain anything
27:45by talking
27:45to the four of us?
27:47I hope I can gain
27:49the support of the people
27:50that will turn around
27:51and help me.
27:52You know,
27:53maybe this kind of
27:54sounds crazy,
27:55me asking the people
27:56of Mississippi
27:56to help me,
27:57but I'd like for them
27:59to help me,
28:00you know,
28:01for the state
28:01to have me
28:02to put me to death.
28:04In other words,
28:04you didn't want
28:05to stay in prison
28:05the rest of your life?
28:06That's my question.
28:08No, I don't think so
28:10because right now
28:11society and everything
28:12is as far as
28:14getting so weak
28:15about violence
28:16and clearing
28:19the criminal's mind
28:20and everything,
28:20they might have
28:21probed me
28:21in 10 years.
28:23I wouldn't have been
28:23but 42 then.
28:24I'd still been ready
28:25to go raise hell again,
28:26wouldn't I?
28:29Pruitt might have
28:30saved the people
28:31of Mississippi
28:31the expense of a trial,
28:33but despite his bluster,
28:35he pleaded not guilty
28:36and left his fate
28:37to a jury.
28:39Pruitt requested
28:40to act as his own attorney.
28:42The judge agreed,
28:44but appointed lawyer
28:45William Kirksey
28:46as one of his advisors.
28:48Kirksey didn't think
28:49much of his client,
28:50but he also didn't think
28:51Pruitt was the only one
28:53to blame.
28:54Part of Mary and Albert
28:56Pruitt's crimes
28:57should be laid
28:59right on the lap
29:00of the United States
29:02government.
29:02They protected him.
29:04The people of Mississippi
29:05did not.
29:06The people of New Mexico
29:07did not.
29:07Or these other states.
29:10Mary and Pruitt's trial
29:11for the murder
29:12of Peggy Lowe
29:13began in April 1982
29:14in Columbus, Mississippi.
29:17If there were any doubts
29:18about the outcome,
29:19Pruitt quelled them
29:20by insisting
29:21on taking the stand.
29:24There was some
29:25electricity in the air.
29:26There's no question
29:27about it in the courtroom.
29:29Pruitt recounted
29:30robbing the
29:31Unifirst Savings and Loan
29:32and how he took
29:33Peggy Lowe to the woods
29:34in Alabama
29:35and murdered her.
29:39I guess
29:40the worst part of it
29:42was his description
29:44of it
29:45and what he was doing
29:47and all he was thinking
29:49about was getting
29:50his fix
29:51and all
29:52and it was
29:53it was just
29:53so hard
29:54to restrain
29:55myself.
29:56Pruitt displayed
29:57needle marks
29:58on his arms
29:59to the jury.
30:00His defense,
30:01he said,
30:01was that the drugs
30:02made him kill.
30:04He refused
30:05to take blame
30:05for his true
30:06inner self
30:07and his true
30:08inner self
30:08was a murdering
30:09scumbag.
30:10And I hate
30:11that my mother
30:12had her last thoughts
30:13were with him
30:15and had to look
30:16and am.
30:18The jury
30:19only took
30:20three hours
30:21to determine
30:21that Pruitt
30:22was guilty
30:23and deserved
30:24the death penalty.
30:25The judge agreed.
30:27I will never forget
30:28when Judge Coleman
30:30read him
30:31the sentencing order
30:32of the court
30:33saying that he
30:34would be put to death
30:35on so and so date
30:36at Parksman Prison.
30:38this mean,
30:40tough guy
30:40who I say
30:42is a punk
30:43his knees buckled
30:45and he almost
30:46went to the floor.
30:47I will never forget that.
30:50Marion Pruitt
30:51racked up
30:51another death sentence
30:52in Arkansas
30:53for the murder
30:53of convenience store clerk
30:55Bobby Jean Robertson.
30:57In Colorado,
30:58in exchange
30:59for two life sentences,
31:01Pruitt pleaded guilty
31:02to killing
31:03the two other clerks,
31:04Anthony Tate
31:05and James Balderson.
31:06This plea bargain
31:08satisfied
31:09Balderson's father.
31:11I figured Pruitt
31:12would never see
31:12the light of day again
31:15which is fine with me.
31:17Then in February 1983,
31:20Pruitt appeared
31:21in a New Mexico court
31:22to stand trial
31:23for the one crime
31:24he maintained
31:25he did not commit,
31:26the murder of his wife,
31:27Pamela Sue Barker.
31:29He was tried
31:30under the name
31:31he received
31:31in the witness
31:32protection program,
31:33Charles Sonny Pearson.
31:36During pre-trial motions,
31:38the defendant
31:38criticized Judge Thomas
31:39Meskel
31:40for refusing
31:41to grant a change
31:42of venue.
31:43I have a couple
31:43other requests
31:44I'd like to make.
31:45One is I want
31:45a gag order
31:46on the case.
31:49I'd like the news media
31:49removed out of this
31:50courtroom.
31:51I believe this is
31:52nothing but a political
31:53trial for certain
31:54people to use
31:55as stepping stones
31:56for their political
31:56future on me,
31:59Pruitt was a very
32:01hostile individual.
32:04But he was also
32:05a person who liked
32:07and I believe
32:08craved attention.
32:10He just didn't want
32:11to have a silent part.
32:12He wanted to have
32:13a speaking part
32:15in those shows.
32:17He gave statements
32:18which I'm sure
32:19a defense attorney
32:20would be aghast
32:21at him doing.
32:26The result in this
32:27case was the same
32:28as in all of
32:29his other trials.
32:32The jury convicted
32:33Marion Albert Pruitt
32:35aka Charles Sonny
32:36Pearson of
32:37first degree murder.
32:39He received a
32:40third life sentence
32:41on top of his
32:42two death sentences.
32:44When you looked
32:45into his eyes
32:48you just
32:49you could see
32:50right through him.
32:51It's kind of
32:51analogous to
32:52sharks.
32:53When you look
32:54into their eyes
32:55you just
32:55you see ice.
33:04Marion Pruitt
33:05the self-proclaimed
33:07mad dog killer.
33:08By 1999
33:09he had been
33:10on death row
33:11for 17 years.
33:13Just two weeks
33:14before his execution
33:15in Arkansas
33:16the 49 year old
33:17gave one last
33:18interview.
33:21A Swedish
33:21television crew
33:23filmed it
33:24with a fisheye
33:24lens for a
33:25documentary
33:26on the last
33:27meals of death
33:28row inmates.
33:32Well let me ask
33:32you this.
33:33Are you trying
33:33to tie
33:34the last meal
33:35on death row
33:36guys in
33:37with the last
33:37supper of Christ?
33:39He was skinny
33:41scrawny
33:43druggie
33:43when he did
33:44this to my
33:45mom.
33:45They said
33:46that was
33:46his main
33:47objective
33:47in jail
33:48was his
33:49feedings
33:49and getting
33:50his food
33:50and making
33:51sure all
33:52of his
33:52needs were
33:53met.
33:53He was
33:54absolutely
33:55a blimp
33:55by the time
33:56they executed
33:57him.
33:58It's been
33:59so many years
33:59since I had
34:00junk food
34:01out on the
34:01streets
34:02I'm going to
34:02order one
34:03of those big
34:04pizza hut
34:04pizzas with
34:05cheese in
34:06the ring
34:07I'm going
34:08to order
34:08about four
34:09big burger
34:10king whoppers
34:11and french
34:11fries
34:12and about
34:14three big
34:15two liter
34:17pepsies
34:17bucket of ice
34:19and a bottle
34:19of ketchup
34:19and salt
34:20and I want
34:21a big plate
34:22of eggplants
34:23rolled in cornmeal
34:24deep fried
34:24and some squash
34:25rolled in cornmeal
34:26deep fried
34:27and some okra
34:28rolled in cornmeal
34:29deep fried
34:30and a big
34:30pecan pie
34:31and I'm going
34:32to eat
34:32from
34:33you say I can
34:33do that
34:34I'm going
34:34to get my
34:35money's worth
34:35by that
34:35last meal
34:37in the years
34:38following his
34:38killing spree
34:39Pruitt had
34:40professed a
34:40belief in
34:41God
34:41he had
34:42decided to
34:43forego
34:43his last
34:44set of
34:44appeals
34:45and let
34:46his death
34:46sentence
34:46proceed
34:47unimpeded
34:48buddy I
34:49was a
34:49devil
34:51I mean
34:52I wasn't
34:52nice
34:52how could
34:53I honestly
34:54take a
34:54life and
34:55say you
34:55can't
34:56take mine
35:00I got
35:01no beef
35:01whatsoever
35:02with
35:02mankind
35:04Pruitt said
35:04he accepted
35:05his fate
35:06and was
35:07no longer
35:07angry
35:08but I
35:09believe in
35:10my heart
35:10I should
35:11die for
35:11what I've
35:12done
35:12I really
35:12do
35:12but the
35:13last 17
35:14years
35:14and one
35:15thing
35:15he's
35:15done
35:15he gave
35:16me a
35:16chance
35:16to receive
35:17the Lord
35:17and to get
35:18to study
35:18this Bible
35:19for 14
35:20years
35:20and I'm
35:21at peace
35:21now
35:22man
35:24Pruitt
35:24Pruitt had
35:24maintained
35:25contact
35:25with some
35:26people
35:26on the
35:26outside
35:28including
35:28Alice
35:29Vick
35:29a friend
35:30from New
35:30Mexico
35:31during the
35:31period
35:31when he
35:32was in
35:32the
35:32witness
35:33protection
35:33program
35:34she believes
35:35Pruitt had
35:36a true
35:36religious
35:37conversion
35:38in prison
35:39he just
35:40got
35:40mixed up
35:41with drugs
35:42and it
35:42made him
35:42crazy
35:43he did
35:44some
35:44horrible
35:45horrible
35:45things
35:46but
35:46like I
35:47told him
35:47if the
35:48Lord
35:48could
35:48forgive
35:48him
35:49I
35:49sure
35:49could
35:51and I
35:52did
35:52I
35:53know
35:53I'm
35:53forgiving
35:54him
35:54you know
35:55and
35:57that's
35:57going to
35:57be my
35:57last
35:58words
36:00Marion
36:00Pruitt's
36:01execution
36:01went
36:02forward
36:02as
36:02planned
36:02on
36:03April
36:0412
36:041999
36:05in
36:06Grady
36:06Arkansas
36:08all
36:08of
36:08our
36:08family
36:09went
36:09even
36:10though
36:10he
36:10wasn't
36:10being
36:11executed
36:11for
36:11my
36:12mother's
36:12death
36:12we
36:13were
36:13grateful
36:13that
36:15he
36:16was
36:16going
36:16to
36:16get
36:16just
36:17treatment
36:17for
36:18what
36:18other
36:19people
36:19besides
36:20her
36:21and
36:22just
36:22out of
36:23support
36:23for
36:23them
36:24we
36:24wanted
36:24to
36:24be
36:24there
36:25Pruitt
36:26was
36:26strapped
36:26to
36:26the
36:26lethal
36:27injection
36:27gurney
36:28he
36:29begged
36:29God
36:29and
36:29the
36:30family
36:30members
36:30of
36:30his
36:30victims
36:31for
36:31forgiveness
36:32before
36:32the
36:33needle
36:33was
36:33inserted
36:34in
36:34his
36:34arm
36:34okay
36:35it's
36:35official
36:36they
36:37administered
36:38the
36:38lethal
36:39injection
36:39at
36:40804
36:40Pruitt
36:41expired
36:42at
36:42809
36:43Pruitt's
36:44execution
36:45closed
36:45the book
36:46on one
36:46of the
36:47federal
36:47witness
36:47protection
36:48program's
36:48worst
36:49embarrassments
36:50his
36:50brutal
36:51crimes
36:51had
36:51brought
36:52unpleasant
36:52publicity
36:53to
36:53the
36:53program
36:55it's
36:56operating
36:56on the
36:57premise
36:57that
36:58one
36:59criminal
36:59is
37:00going
37:00to
37:00testify
37:00against
37:01another
37:01criminal
37:01and
37:02tell
37:02the
37:02truth
37:03well
37:04I
37:05think
37:05experience
37:06has
37:06shown
37:07as
37:08in
37:08the
37:08case
37:09of
37:09Pruitt
37:11that
37:12if
37:12you
37:13offer
37:13incentive
37:14to
37:14person
37:14he'll
37:15testify
37:15to
37:16whatever
37:16he
37:16thinks
37:17you
37:17want
37:17to
37:17hear
37:18before
37:19his
37:19execution
37:20Pruitt
37:20even
37:20told
37:21a
37:21reporter
37:21that
37:22his
37:22claim
37:22of
37:23having
37:23witnessed
37:23the
37:24murder
37:24of
37:24his
37:24cell
37:25mate
37:25in
37:25the
37:25Atlanta
37:25federal
37:26penitentiary
37:27back
37:27in
37:271978
37:28was
37:29false
37:29that
37:30testimony
37:31had
37:31earned
37:31him
37:32his
37:32place
37:32in
37:33the
37:33witness
37:33protection
37:34program
37:34he
37:35now
37:35insisted
37:36that
37:36he
37:36was
37:36the
37:37real
37:37murderer
37:38justice
37:39department
37:39officials
37:39deny
37:40Pruitt's
37:41story
37:41saying
37:41it
37:42was
37:42a
37:42lie
37:42spun
37:43to
37:43get
37:43attention
37:45I
37:45think
37:45that
37:45was
37:46Pruitt
37:46again
37:46trying
37:47to
37:47strike
37:47out
37:47and
37:48just
37:48hurt
37:48but
37:49this
37:49time
37:49he
37:49can't
37:53for
37:53the
37:53justice
37:53department
37:54Gerald
37:54Scherer
37:55says
37:55that
37:56Pruitt's
37:56killing
37:56spree
37:57was
37:57a
37:57sad
37:57but
37:58rare
37:58aberration
38:00we
38:01had
38:01never
38:01had
38:01this
38:01happen
38:02before
38:03with
38:04anyone
38:04who
38:04had
38:04been
38:05in
38:05the
38:05witness
38:05program
38:05the
38:06witness
38:06program
38:07didn't
38:07go
38:07wrong
38:08in
38:08the
38:08Pruitt
38:08case
38:08Pruitt
38:09went
38:09wrong
38:10in
38:10the
38:10Pruitt
38:10case
38:11if
38:11I
38:12saw
38:12Pruitt
38:12again
38:13today
38:13yes
38:14I
38:14would
38:14put
38:14him
38:15in
38:15the
38:15program
38:15in
38:16prison
38:16and
38:17I
38:17suppose
38:23from
38:23killing
38:23he
38:24was
38:25determined
38:25to
38:25murder
38:27after
38:28Pruitt
38:28murdered
38:29their
38:29son
38:29in
38:291981
38:30Frank
38:31Balderson
38:31and his
38:32wife
38:32Betty
38:32started
38:33lobbying
38:33against
38:34the
38:34witness
38:34protection
38:35program
38:35they
38:36testified
38:37before
38:37a
38:37congressional
38:38committee
38:38demanding
38:39that
38:40surveillance
38:40of
38:41protected
38:41criminals
38:42be
38:42improved
38:42three
38:44years
38:44later
38:44in
38:451984
38:45Congress
38:46amended
38:47the
38:47program
38:48it
38:48gave
38:48new
38:49directives
38:49to
38:49the
38:49Justice
38:50Department
38:50which
38:51raised
38:51the
38:52standards
38:52on
38:52who
38:53would
38:53be
38:53allowed
38:53into
38:54the
38:54program
38:54these
38:55included
38:56mandatory
38:56psychological
38:57testing
38:58of
38:58prospective
38:59witnesses
39:00Congress
39:01also
39:01provided
39:02compensation
39:02to
39:03victims
39:03up to
39:04$50,000
39:05for their
39:05losses
39:06due to
39:06the
39:06crimes
39:07of
39:07protected
39:07witnesses
39:08Frank
39:09Balderson
39:09and his
39:10family
39:10eventually
39:11collected
39:12$25,000
39:15We had
39:16to
39:17make a
39:17claim
39:18for
39:18it
39:19My wife
39:20wanted
39:20to go
39:21ahead
39:21and make
39:21the claim
39:22make them
39:22pay through
39:23the nose
39:23so to
39:23speak
39:25and our
39:25friends
39:26and relatives
39:27encouraged us
39:28to do
39:28that
39:28so I
39:28did
39:29but
39:30there's
39:30no amount
39:31of money
39:31can compensate
39:32for the loss
39:32of our son
39:34The Balderson
39:35family is still
39:37angry with the
39:38witness protection
39:38program
39:40even some
39:40in law
39:41enforcement
39:41wonder whether
39:42the Pruitt case
39:43was handled
39:43properly
39:45I don't know
39:46I had mixed
39:46feelings about it
39:48how many crimes
39:49can a person
39:50commit
39:52before his
39:53true identity
39:54is revealed
39:55to the public
39:56This program
39:57was responsible
39:58for making
39:58this country
39:59significantly
39:59safer
40:01unfortunately
40:01some of those
40:02people entering
40:03this program
40:04were still going
40:05to commit crime
40:05still going
40:06to commit murder
40:07and there was
40:08that one Pruitt
40:09that committed
40:10so many murders
40:11that sort of
40:11rocked us all
40:12back on our heels
40:13and there was
40:13a lot of
40:13this program
40:13a lot of
40:13a lot of
40:13people entering
40:13this program
40:13and there was
40:14a lot of
40:14people entering
40:15people entering
Comentários