Full Transcript for Chapter 6: Jonnie Carter

00:04:31.040 Johnny even when they got to the door and take 78 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:32.480 the money, they were in operation. 79 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:33.759 They were dealing from the house. 80 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:39.560 He was, yeah, your father, my father, Yes, the four 81 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:40.839 girls three days. 82 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:44.519 If you caught that. Johnny and Laurie have different fathers. However, 83 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:47.879 during the following memories, the man her mother is with 84 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:49.600 in their home is Lurie's father. 85 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:52.600 So we would do all of this and then weigh 86 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:55.360 and I don't know, I can't remember how many ounces 87 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:57.519 or I don't know how much was supposed to be 88 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.160 in there, put into bags, and then we remember the 89 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:02.560 brown paper lunch bags. We would put him in that, 90 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:04.759 and then we would put them I would or they 91 00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:07.600 would go in the second drawer of the dresser. And 92 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:10.600 then if somebody knocked on the door wanted a bag 93 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:13.439 or take the money, give him the bag and put 94 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:14.800 the money in the drawer. 95 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:18.480 Johnny was about ten or eleven years old. Then she 96 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:21.199 recalls how oftentimes the children would get off the bus 97 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:23.040 and walk into their home to find out that their 98 00:05:23.079 --> 00:05:26.360 stepfather was in jail, or their mother had just not 99 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:29.199 come home and would be gone for a day or 100 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:30.680 maybe perhaps a few days. 101 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:33.399 It's like if he was in jail or something, then 102 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:37.160 Mama would go wherever she would go, and I would 103 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:41.519 sometimes take the kids with me, but sometimes not going. 104 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.079 How old were you girls when you would have days 105 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:46.000 alone at your house? 106 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:47.399 How old so you were? 107 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:50.639 You were probably maybe twelve thirteen, and you had all 108 00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:51.480 of us, and we're. 109 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:52.199 All younger than you. 110 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:56.000 Johnny was forced to grow up quickly when her mother 111 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.240 would vanish. Chasing after her stepdad, Johnny was responsible for 112 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:03.000 her three younger sisters, feeding them, bathing them, clothing them, 113 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:05.959 getting them to school, and something she may not have 114 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:09.199 known she was also carrying was the emotional weight of 115 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.720

being a mother while also needing her own mother. 116 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:15.560 Well, sometimes, like I said, I would take the kids, 117 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:19.040 and sometimes I wouldn't go around and knock on doors 118 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.759 to the neighbors and barie bread from this person and 119 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:24.240 cheese from this person so we could have a cheese 120 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:26.800 sandwich for dinner. I didn't know how to do laundry, 121 00:06:26.839 --> 00:06:28.680 so I would just fluff our dirty clothes in the 122 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:30.519 dryer so we could re wear them. 123 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:33.439 When Johnny was growing up, the parties in their childhood 124 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.160 home were loud, fueled by liquor and drugs, and went 125 00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:39.959 on throughout the early morning hours. Young Johnny's bedroom was 126 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:42.439 just off the living room and it had two entry doors, 127 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:44.839 one off the living room and one from the hallway. 128 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:47.480 These parties were full of grown women and grown men, 129 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:51.480 and nobody was monitoring the children except for Johnny. 130 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:53.959 So when it was party mode and there was all 131 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:56.040 kinds of men and people we didn't know in the 132 00:06:56.040 --> 00:06:59.399 house smoking dope and drinking and acting crazy, I would 133 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:01.120 get my sisters and bring them in the bed with 134 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:04.199 me and put a dress up against the doors and 135 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:06.319 the ladder. The party got the ladder, I would sing 136 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:10.560 and just you know, trying to make sure that they 137 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:13.879 were safe, because it wasn't a very safe home at all. 138 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:18.319 So growing up feeling unsafe in the home and during 139 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:23.000 those parties, was their sexual abuse in the home. Yes, 140 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:28.360 her memories of being sexually abused began when she was 141 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:29.680 around five years old. 142 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:33.120 And I hopefully, in pray to God, as hard as 143 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:35.920 I tried, I did protect my other sisters from it. 144 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:42.120 So you knew at a young age what evil can do, 145 00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:47.040 so you wanted to protect your sisters. Laurie shared more 146 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:49.319 about this with us during her solo interview. 147 00:07:49.399 --> 00:07:53.040 When we were kids, Johnny took care of us. She 148 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.120 was our caretaker. She protected us, and she protected us 149 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:01.000 from my father, and she kept us safe. And you know, 150 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:04.360 she was the one that made sure we, you know,

151 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:07.560 the best that she could. You know, when there was 152 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:09.800 stuff going on in the house that kids didn't need 153 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:11.839 to be around, she would gather all of us up 154 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:14.759 in her bed and put her dresser up against the door. 155 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:17.560 The air around the table became tense, and not from 156 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.720 aggressive tension, but rather as if each women before me 157 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:23.079 was now returned to a place in her mind where 158 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:26.560 she felt unsafe, as if each sister around the table 159 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:30.000 had been slowly clenching their jaws and stiffening their bodies 160 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:34.360 like an unconscious or uncontrollable physical reaction to the emotional 161 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:38.200 distress that their childhood memories was bringing up. I offered 162 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:40.480 to stop and ask them if they want me to 163 00:08:40.519 --> 00:08:43.519 take anything out of the interview. Johnny wanted to continue 164 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:46.200 to share her story. It was important that others knew 165 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:48.799 how she grew up. The condition she was raised in 166 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:51.799 and bring people along her journey to better understand how 167 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:54.000 she ended up in a marriage with a man like Larry, 168 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:57.960 and more importantly, how hard she fought to bring Bethany 169 00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:02.240 to safety like she desperately needed as a child. Here's Laurie, 170 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:03.840 Johnny did a she did. 171 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:06.080 She did really good job of protecting us, taking care 172 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:09.919 of us. And but I do remember the lettuce I 173 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:10.919 heard you talking about that. 174 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:15.879 I'm trying to make things fun, right, even when it 175 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:17.120 wasn't fun. 176 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:20.080 She's referring to a weekend where the girls's mother was 177 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:22.639 absent and there was no food in the home. Johnny 178 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:25.159 went around knocking on neighbor's doors, and one neighbor handed 179 00:09:25.159 --> 00:09:28.200 her a whole head of lettuce. So Johnny walked back home, 180 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:32.080 lettuce clutched under her arms, and made lettuce sandwiches for 181 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:35.519 all four girls that evening. Their neighborhood was full of 182 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:39.600 elderly and retired couples, but one family had young grandchildren 183 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:43.240 about the girls's ages, and they invited them to church. 184 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:46.679 The sisters recalled that as a pivotal time in their lives, 185 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:49.360 when things

felt to be getting better and more stable. 186 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:53.720 But then again, Jimmy, Johnny's stepfather, was also in prison 187 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:54.679 at the same time. 188 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:57.720 It was after Jimmy went to prison, because he did 189 00:09:57.759 --> 00:09:59.399 finally go to jail because. 190 00:09:59.159 --> 00:09:59.879 What he was doing to Jo. 191 00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:02.919 It's here that we honor Johnny's requests to remove a 192 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:06.720 section of her interview. Oftentimes, in these interviews, people will 193 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:09.159 begin to talk and take us through their memories, almost 194 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:12.679 in a stream of consciousness narrative, only to at times 195 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.519 pause and let it sink in what they've just revealed 196 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:18.960 to the world. They'll not only feel vulnerable, but they'll 197 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:21.960 take into account all those in their lives who they 198 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:25.879 love so deeply. So we respected Johnny's request and removed 199 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:29.759 a few revelations from this chapter. It's a podcast to 200 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:32.960 you listeners, but to the people on the mic behind 201 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:36.600 the mic, this is their life, and everything that they 202 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:39.720 reveal has real consequences for those around them. 203 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:41.480 Did you have to testify against him? 204 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:45.159 I did, in course, so did you? How did it 205 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:50.399 come out? Who did you tell? I told nobody. I 206 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:52.279 put up more of a fight this time, and I 207 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:55.759 was crying because for a very long time, I guess 208 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:58.519 I was probably ten or eleven years old, I did 209 00:10:58.519 --> 00:10:59.159 not have a clue. 210 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:00.759 There's Lourie. 211 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.200 He wasn't a good person. He actually went to prison, 212 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:07.759 and I haven't seen him since. And I was around 213 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:11.679 nine nine years old then and I'm almost fifty eight, 214 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:14.919 so it's been a long time since I've seen him 215 00:11:15.720 --> 00:11:18.480 or talked to him. So it was a broken family 216 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:22.720 when when he was gone, we ended up having to go, 217 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:25.000 you know, of course we had there was four girls 218 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:31.039 having to go and live in government housing in Union City. 219 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:36.960 And when we lived there, Johnny had a baby, and 220 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:41.759 so it was us three girls and Johnny and the baby. 221 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:45.559 You know, there was you know, and mama and so 222 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:48.279 so that was a dysfunctional and you know, mama didn't 223 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:51.919 work and getting food stamps. So it was it was, 224 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.279 you know, the typical living off the government family, I guess, 225 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:56.759 you know, the welfare family. 226 00:11:57.879 --> 00:12:02.000 Johnny shares that two times in her life has contemplated suicide, 227 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:04.879 once while she was a young teenager battling the scars 228 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:08.240 from her traumatic childhood, and once more about ten years 229 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:12.240 after Bethany went missing. Previously, we shared that Johnny had 230 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:14.840 reached her breaking point with Larry and his mistreatment, and 231 00:12:14.919 --> 00:12:17.639 she knew she had to escape with Bethany and she 232 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:20.159 told us how she prayed to God for specific things 233 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:22.679 to happen. Number one let her go to work, and 234 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:26.720 number two let her take Bethany to school, and both happened. 235 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:29.799 I don't know if she's pieced together her stories as 236 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:33.919 a cohesive storyline ever, But on our side, sitting on 237 00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:37.320 the other side of the table, we see the patterns 238 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:40.440 in Johnny, and one of the most admirable patterns is 239 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:44.120 her resiliency and her faith. She recalls when she was 240 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:47.159 a young teenager asking God for help during one of 241 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:48.639 her lowest times. 242 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:52.840 I had been praying and telling God and you know, 243 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:56.039 kind of just telling him I'm done, God, I can't 244 00:12:56.039 --> 00:12:57.879 do this anymore. You get me out of it, or 245 00:12:57.879 --> 00:13:00.759 I'll get me out of it. One either I would die. 246 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:02.399 Were you going to take me out of this? 247 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:06.200 If you ask Johnny, the timing of that prayer, her 248 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:09.759 stepfather going to prison coinciding with the sisters being invited 249 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:14.840 to church was not coincidental. Johnny turns to her sister Laurie. 250 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:20.120 And once was with Larry Markowski. I wanted after Bethany disappeared, 251 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:21.360 you pulled the gun out of my hand. 252 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:25.240 Johnny pauses and recalls how her stepfather treated their mother. 253 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:30.799 So he uh physically abused her in front of you girls. 254 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.879 You saw mom. Yeah, he hit her one time she 255 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:34.919 kicked him in the growing. 256 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:37.360 He knocked her completely out. 257 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:38.440 That was when he hit her.

258 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:41.080 Yeah. 259 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:42.919 Hall. 260 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:44.000 She was. 261 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.159 Not a loving, caring mother. She was not one to 262 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:51.279 say I love you. If you said I love you, 263 00:13:51.320 --> 00:13:56.600 she would say you too, or nothing right. I remember 264 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:00.000 she had a few mental breakdowns. 265 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:03.519 The sister's mother would continue to struggle with her mental 266 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:07.000 health and her journey with substances. As the sisters continued 267 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:09.320 to talk around the table, I decided to let the 268 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:13.399 conversation drive itself. It took many side turns, turn offs, 269 00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:15.720 and back roads, but it slowly came back to this. 270 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:19.840 The sisters agreed that their mother did what she could 271 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:22.960 do with what she had, and it was all Johnny Nuke. 272 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:28.159 Growing up, I never thought, oh, poor pitiful Johnny. Look 273 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:30.279 what she's had to deal with her whole entire life. 274 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.120 It's not fair. I never thought about that. 275 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:33.120 It never crossed my mind. 276 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:36.320 And then it was kind of like talking about it 277 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:40.440 and getting it out there and seeing people's reactions, and 278 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:44.360 you know, I'm like, oh my god, how did I 279 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:45.480 have to go through all this. 280 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:48.679 On the outside because you didn't know that there's things 281 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:49.480 that could be better. 282 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:51.279 You didn't know of warm loving mother. 283 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:55.200 At just seventeen years old, give birth to her first son, Kyle, 284 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:58.679 and just one year later she would marry her first husband, 285 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:02.720 Tony Barham. Tony adopted Kyle, and the two newly wedded 286 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:05.480 would go on to have their first child together, Emily. 287 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:08.639 Johnny and Tony would later go through hard trials in 288 00:15:08.679 --> 00:15:11.519 their marriage, and it's during this time that Johnny would 289 00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:15.039 meet Larry. Johnny has never once claimed to be an angel, 290 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:17.679 to be perfect, or to have made great decisions in 291 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:20.919 her past. What she does do is own up to 292 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:24.159 what she's done, and she admits that when she met Larry, 293 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:28.080 she was still legally married to Tony. Tony would find 294 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:31.639 out and that would propel their decision to divorce. Now, 295 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:35.360 at this time, however, Larry tells Johnny that he is 296 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:38.559 going through a divorce as well, and his wife has 297 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:41.720 taken his kids away from him. It's clear that this 298 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:46.679 conversation is tough. It's heavy, it's multilayered, and it's raw. 299 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:50.080 It's invasive. So we take a break from the interview 300 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:53.519 one hour of opening. Such deep wounds can have lasting 301 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:56.480 effects for days. I often tell my interviewees to be 302 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:59.720 prepared to cry or sit in silence afterwards. You know 303 00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:04.159 it hits at random and unknown times. This weight of 304 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:06.840 what you've been caring begins to feel real for the 305 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:09.399 first time in years, And all of a sudden, you 306 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.480 realize you've been in survival mode for so long, but 307 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:16.399 you forgot how it feels to just set it down. 308 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:22.759 After about ten minutes, we regather around the table grace, comfort, compassion, honesty. 309 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.279 That's how I would describe the relationship between Johnny, Laurie, 310 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:30.360 and Tommy, three of the remaining sisters, forever bonded together 311 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:34.240 through tragedy, triumph, love and resiliency SLA. 312 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:36.720 You know, it is hard to believe when you do 313 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:40.000 get a good man in your life and they don't 314 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:44.039 slap you around or cush you or be mean to you. 315 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:46.759 You think something's wrong with them? What's wrong with you? 316 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:50.000 Aren't you know saying that talking about I was thinking 317 00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:53.360 about something that you said a while back, Because when 318 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.440 Johnny was born, Mama had her and a home front 319 00:16:56.519 --> 00:16:58.320 web mothers, and she was going. 320 00:16:58.159 --> 00:16:59.080 To give her up for adoption. 321 00:17:00.039 --> 00:17:02.720 NNI's mother didn't tell her parents that she was pregnant. 322 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:06.160 This would happen in the early nineteen sixties, and she 323 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:09.400 had signed her rights away to Johnny, but something in 324 00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:13.279 her changed. She kept Johnny. Her sisters recalling how that 325 00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:16.720 single decision of bravery by their mother protected them throughout 326 00:17:16.759 --> 00:17:17.519 the coming years. 327 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:22.720 And so you said that you're glad that she didn't 328 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:24.880 give you because she would have never had you know, 329 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:26.359 she would

have been there for us. 330 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:30.480 I'm glad, yeah, us, Yeah, I think I said, you know, 331 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:33.119 everything I've ever had to deal with my whole life 332 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:36.160 was worth it, just to be their sister, to be 333 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:39.279 in their lives. It was all worth it. I would 334 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:44.480 do it again. Just yeah, I can't imagine growing up 335 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:46.839 not knowing them. I think, you know, if. 336 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:49.880 You hadn't have been there, you know, things might have 337 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:54.279 turned out really bad for the rest of us. You know, 338 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.559 I mean it was already bad enough, but we might 339 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:57.720 not have survived it. 340 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:02.200 Which out you know, I never you know, it has 341 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:04.599 crossed my mind. I'm not gonna lie that. I have 342 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:10.920 thought in the past, how different would my life had been? Right, 343 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:14.839 But then I wouldn't have my kids, I wouldn't have 344 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:17.640 my sisters. I wouldn't have Bethany. I wouldn't be sitting 345 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:22.119 here right now today. So yeah, it's all worth it 346 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.480 to have them and to have my kids, even with 347 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:27.839 Bethany missing. You know, I had eleven years with her, 348 00:18:28.279 --> 00:18:31.519 right but I feel like too, it's made me the 349 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:35.759 person that I am, you know, and it all prepared 350 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:37.960 me for what I'm going through right now, for the 351 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:39.880 fight of my life. 352 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:43.400 The stories Johnny share impact her sisters in their own way. 353 00:18:44.359 --> 00:18:47.359 She's my sister. It's hard to listen to some of 354 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:49.319 the horrific stuff that she went through. 355 00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:53.759 And here we pivot to when Johnny meets Larry. Johnny 356 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:56.680 is unhappy in her marriage with her first husband, Tony. 357 00:18:57.119 --> 00:18:59.880 Now recall she had a baby and was married all 358 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:03.960 the age of eighteen, and then soon she would find 359 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:07.000 herself a young mother of two children. So when she 360 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:10.000 meets Larry at the kmart when she was working and 361 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:13.599 he proceeds to pursue her, she makes the decision to 362 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:16.960 allow him to Johnny is first to say that going 363 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:19.319 with Larry when she was still with Tony was wrong 364 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:23.400 and there was no excuse, in fact, not once in 365 00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:28.119 all over conversations has Johnny given any excuse for her choices, 366 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:31.599 even when she has had the life that she has had. 367 00:19:32.119 --> 00:19:35.440 It was us, the producers asking the questions to try 368 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:39.240 to understand why Johnny walked through the doors which she 369 00:19:39.319 --> 00:19:39.920 walked through. 370 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:45.039 I met Larry when I was manager at Kmark in 371 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:49.480 Union City at the shoe department. He was coming in 372 00:19:49.799 --> 00:19:52.559 and talking to I think one or two of my 373 00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:54.400 female workers. 374 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:57.559 Johnny was staying with her uncle during the workshifts, which 375 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:00.400 scheduled her to be off work after nine pm and 376 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.200 back to work by eight am the next morning. Driving 377 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:06.000 home wasn't feasible, and since her uncle had an apartment 378 00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:09.319 in Union City, it worked out. One evening after work, 379 00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:11.960 Johnny and her girlfriends from work went to a local bar, 380 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:15.839 Maggie Lee's, and Larry shows up, and it's that night 381 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:17.480 that the two become friends. 382 00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:21.160 It started coming up to Kymart all the time, I think, 383 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:23.799 before he would go to work and we talk and 384 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:27.759 I just felt so sorry for him. At first. His 385 00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:30.720 story was, you know, I don't know where my wife 386 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:33.119 and kids are and I miss him so much. And 387 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:36.319 they she up and took my kids and I don't 388 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:37.200 know where they are. 389 00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:40.799 Keep in mind Larry was returning to his then wife, 390 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:45.160 Sheila and his two children, Jenny and Daniel, every night. 391 00:20:45.720 --> 00:20:50.519 And it turned into a different story where he knows 392 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:54.519 where they are. They're in Alabama. He filed for divorce, 393 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:00.599 and it was just my heart broke for him that 394 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.440 this mean woman over here, for no reason at all, 395 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:06.480 snatched his two kids up. That he would give the 396 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:07.359 world too. 397 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:12.200 And Larry's lie is the emotional manipulation. It was working. 398 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:15.720 So him and I started seeing each other, and. 399 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:18.240 Soon Johnny was staying over at Larry's home instead of 400 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:21.039 her uncle's apartment. When she would go to his home, 401 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:24.119 she would notice the kid's toys were everywhere, rooms were full, 402 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:27.440 it looked like a woman was there,

And when questioned 403 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:30.240 about this, Larry would remind Johnny that his wife just 404 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:33.319 up and took their kids away from him, which upon 405 00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:36.960 Harry not we couldn't ignore the irony of Larry's lie, 406 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:41.680 unknowingly foreshadowing how Johnny and Bethany would then flee from 407 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.079 him in two thousand and one. And Johnny believed him. 408 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:47.119 You know, she didn't have a reason not to. At 409 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:50.039 this point, she felt so bad for him, and he 410 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:53.839 was so charming and charismatic towards her in his pursuit 411 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:54.200 of her. 412 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:58.160 But we were going to town, or we were going somewhere, 413 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:01.160 and we were in his Bronco or whatever, and these 414 00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:02.839 two little boy and girl was standing on the side 415 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:04.680 the street, jumping up and down, you know, waving in 416 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:08.200 front of this little tiny, I think, blue house, and 417 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:10.680 I waved it him. I was like, oh my god, 418 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:13.720 they are the cutest kids. He never said a word. 419 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:18.960 Larry looked past the children, never acknowledged them, and kept 420 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:19.640 on driving. 421 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:22.920 They were his kids, Yep. 422 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:27.599 Those kids were Jenny and Daniel Murkowski, excitedly chasing down 423 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:30.279 their daddy's car, only for him to pretend they did 424 00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:33.400 not exist in his world. And it's soon after that 425 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:36.079 Johnny would find out the truth that those were his 426 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:39.680 kids and that yes, they were still living there with 427 00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:42.519 their mother, Larry's wife, Sheila. 428 00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:46.640 I got a phone call one night one day at 429 00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:54.160 work and it was a woman and I said, you know, 430 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:56.400 thank you for going hey Martin, She said Johnny, And 431 00:22:56.440 --> 00:23:00.000 I said yeah. She said, when Larry leaves your house, 432 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:03.279 house tonight, call his house and see who. Don't give 433 00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:05.440 him enough time to get home, Call his house and 434 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:09.759 see who answers his phone and they hung up. So 435 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:13.440 I had my own apartments. Sometimes he would stay. Sometimes 436 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:16.880 he would say he was going to go home. He left. 437 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:19.240 I gave it about fifteen minutes to make sure he 438 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:22.359 didn't come back. I called, and a very sleepy you 439 00:23:22.359 --> 00:23:25.279 can tell I just woke her up with Sheila answered 440 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:29.319 the phone. She begged me not to tell Larry. But again, 441 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.880 at this point in time in our relationship, he wasn't 442 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:37.559 the monster right that he turned into. And she's like, 443 00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:39.680 please don't tell her, Please will tell him. And so 444 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:41.799 the next time, you know, he come up to work, 445 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:45.559 told him. I called his house and a woman answered, Well, 446 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:49.200 then he told me that she just came in her 447 00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:51.759 she just came in town for the weekend or for 448 00:23:51.880 --> 00:23:55.200 sheever to get to pack up their stuff. 449 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:59.240 Johnny is beginning to see what maybe she just didn't 450 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:03.559 want to see that a man who started off so charming, handsome, charismatic, 451 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:06.559 who was such a good man, whose family was taken 452 00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:09.559 from him in the night, could actually be a wolf 453 00:24:09.640 --> 00:24:13.319 in sheep's clothing? Could it be that Sheila was his 454 00:24:13.480 --> 00:24:17.400 current victim? Was Larry living two lives? A sheep with 455 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:21.640 Johnny and a wolf with Sheila. Next time I'm missing 456 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:24.559 in Hushtown, Sheila and Johnny sit down together for the 457 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:26.680 first time ever to share their stories. 458 00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:31.480 And when I worked at Kmart, people in that store 459 00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:36.400 saw him physically abuse me. Wouldn't do nothing about it? 460 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:39.480 Can he talking about that? Yeah? He came up to 461 00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:41.079 my work. Like I said, I was a manager of 462 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:43.119 her sheet apartment. He came up to my work and 463 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:46.039 he was getting ready to go to work. And I 464 00:24:46.039 --> 00:24:49.440 don't know what anyway, Oh I do know what calls it. 465 00:24:50.279 --> 00:24:53.839 When he walked up, I was helping a man with 466 00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:56.200 some steal toed boots. 467 00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:57.599 That's my job. 468 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:01.200 Yeah, anyway, you were doing your job. The guy left, 469 00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:04.680 and Larry came up and came up, and he started 470 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:07.720 hollering and cousin and anyway, And he took a pair 471 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:10.519 of those boots by the shoes string and base smacked 472 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:16.559 me right in ahead with them. People saw it. It 473 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:19.920 just I don't know what it was about him that 474 00:25:20.440 --> 00:25:21.319 people were scared. 475 00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:26.119 He broke my nose. One night he

came. I was 476 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:29.960 sleeping in the bed, well, it was on like a cot. 477 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:33.839 My son. We hadn't gotten him a bed yet, and 478 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:36.720 they Jenny was on one side and he was on 479 00:25:36.759 --> 00:25:39.880 the other and when we heard him come up, so 480 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:42.799 we were trying to act like we were asleep while 481 00:25:42.839 --> 00:25:45.000 he came in and leaned over and grabbed me by 482 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:46.920 the hair of the head and pulled me up out 483 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:51.880 of the bed and like, I said, nothing, I didn't 484 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:56.279 do nothing. He just comes in and it's like he is. 485 00:25:56.839 --> 00:25:58.680 I don't know if he's taking something out on me 486 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:02.799 or what. But he hit me in the nose and 487 00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:06.240 he broke it and there was blood everywhere. And I 488 00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:09.480 told him, I said, he said, he told me. He said, 489 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:14.920 I think I just broke your nose. I said, yeah, 490 00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:17.920 I think you did too. And at the time, all 491 00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:21.839 I had to drive was his truck. Well, he told 492 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:24.559 me I needed to go to the hospital. He told 493 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:27.000 me to drive his truck. But he said, don't you 494 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:30.599 tell them what happened. And he said, because if you do, 495 00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:34.799 when you get back, it'll be worse. And of course 496 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:37.960 the police officer that was up there, well he was 497 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:42.119 actually my nephew's daddy, and I just told him that 498 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:44.799 I got in a fight with a girl and he said, well, 499 00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:48.000 what did this other girl look like? And then he 500 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:50.839 said he said he knew he knew I was lying 501 00:26:51.240 --> 00:26:56.599 because he knew Larry. But the thing about is they 502 00:26:56.599 --> 00:26:59.640 wouldn't have done nothing if I had said something. They 503 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:03.039 wait until they kill you or something like that before 504 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:04.119 they would have done anything. 505 00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:08.559 Did he have connections with the local law enforcement as well? 506 00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:13.480 No, I mean everybody knew Larry. They all knew him, 507 00:27:13.640 --> 00:27:16.960 all of them, the police officers. Everybody knew the Markowski's 508 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:22.480 because they were always in fights, they were always doing something. 509 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:29.319 But the police officer. I had two police officers come 510 00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:32.359 to Sidonia. They had me on one side of the house 511 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:34.720 and they had him on the other, and they wanted 512 00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:40.119 me to tell them what happened. And I told him, 513 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:44.200 I said, but there's no sense in pressing charges. I said, 514 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:46.480 because he'll be out in the morning and then he'll 515 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:50.720 kill me. And that's that's probably what would have happened. 516 00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:56.279 But see, I never did what Johnny did as far 517 00:27:56.319 --> 00:27:57.279 as taking up from. 518 00:27:57.160 --> 00:28:26.160 Myself Missing in Hushtown. Season two is executive produced in 519 00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:30.640 partnership by Fire Eyes Media LLCs Jules Thorpe and Johen Rivera, 520 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:35.200 as well as mom Cast Productions Rachel Holloway and Heather Northcraft. 521 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:38.680 The script is written by Jules Thorpe and edited by 522 00:28:38.680 --> 00:28:43.039 Heather Northcraft. Project lead is Rachel Holloway and master Editing 523 00:28:43.079 --> 00:28:46.720 and audio production is done by John Rivera Jewels Thorpe 524 00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:54.759 is your host Fire Eyes Media mom 525 00:28:54.880 --> 00:28:59.799 Haspard, raising voices while raising kids