This my friend, Jerry, who is serving a prison sentence for attempted murder. I knew him for a year and a half before he committed his crime, and he changed my life!
Jerry was not the first murderer I have taught, but he was the first student to murder someone after I taught him. I first met Jerry when he came to our literacy agency for help. I was the training and program development specialist, and I met many of the students working in our one-on-one tutoring program. Jerry's tutor was one of our Board of Trustees, Margaret. She was a fantastic woman who never stopped giving to our community. She brought Jerry to me because she felt he needed some help socially, and that the new student support group I was forming would be beneficial. I remember shaking his hand the first time, noticing his unkempt appearance and strong stench of tobacco. He was shy but pleasant, and he agreed to come to a meeting. I had no idea how far his education would go, how much he would teach me, and how suddenly he could be pulled back into the hell he was climbing out of.
Jerry did attend the student support meetings and gradually began to open up. We started the group not only to support the students, but to eventually develop them into public speakers - far more powerful advocates for the program than we could ever be. It took Jerry six months before he was ready to speak in public, an informational gathering for would be tutors. He did an excellent job, but he broke down and cried at the end of his two minute presentation. Jerry knew what all non-literates know in this culture: It is far more fashionable to have a drug addiction than a reading program. Tell someone you are recovering from most problems and you get sympathy, maybe a hug. Tell them you cannot read and they move away from you.
I started to spend more time with Jerry as he began to volunteer more and more at the literacy center. I was new to the area and he directed me to a lot of resources and events. One Saturday, after we did an early training session together, Jerry and I walked down to a local bar to get a drink. We both had cokes, and chatted for awhile. Afer about a half an hour, Jerry nodded towards two men at the bar and told me that they were gonna fight. Shortly after I began to respond (I didn't get that sense from them), one punched the other squarely on the jaw. Jerry had seen something I didn't. I had spent my fair share of hours in bars, but he could see more than I could, more body language.
Jerry and I would sometimes go to local auctions and flea markets he knew in the area. We had a good time, and he seemed at ease. We came from somewhat similar humble backgrounds, but his was far worse. His brother had been murdered years earlier, and I don't believe Jerry had ever had a fruitful full-time job. I knew he had had psychological problems, and that he was estranged from his wife and children. We didn't discuss his family much, as it upset him. I learned a great deal about Jerry, and a group of people like him. I thought I understood them well, but I did not. He provided a great deal of insight for me, positive and negative.
Jerry was making good progress with his tutor, and was doing well with in the support group. He was making more public speaking appearances, as was attending better to his hygiene. I really thought he was turning his life around. That is until one rainy Saturday Autumn morning.
I got a call from a colleague at work telling me to turn on the news. When I did, I saw a picture of Jerry, and heard the news report that he was being sought for the attempted murder of his wife. Jerry hid out for a few days before he turned himself in. He called me from jail with his one phone call. He told me that he spent the night in my parking lot thinking he would have me turn him in. He thought better of it,not wanting to involve me and eventually drove himself to the local jail. I called legal aid for him, and made arrangements to visit him a few days later.
I was shocked when I saw Jerry, he looked worse than when I first met him. He was tired and depressed. I asked him how he was, and he just looked at me in defeat. I couldn't help myself from asking what had happened, and he detailed the events very dispassionately. He told me he had tried to reconcile with his wife, and that she had taken him back. Something went wrong though, as usual, and she threw Jerry out. He returned with a large caliber pistol and confronted her in their driveway.
He told me that he hit her and she fell down. Jerry then informed me that if she had fallen on her front he would have killed her as he would have shot her in the back of the head. Instead she fell on her back and looked up at him. He told me he wanted her to suffer as she looked at him and he shot her five or six times in the chest. She was a big woman, and somehow she survived.
Jerry pleaded guilty to attmepted murder and was sentenced to 25 years to life, with six years to be served initially for the use of the gun. We corresponded for awhile when he got to prison, but eventually we lost touch. I miss him often. I saw Margaret a year later. She smiled sadly, but then said with a better grin, "let me know when he is released and I will tutor him again."
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