Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, everyone, It's Andrea. I wanted to introduce you to
one of my favorite people on the planet and the
host of a new podcast. I think you'll love Burden
of Guilt Season two. Meet my mentor, friend, boss, and
the executive producer on Betrayal, Nancy Glass.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
So excited to work with you, me too. I love
this season.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
It's just so exciting, and you're here to tell us
about it. It's an unbelievable story that you've been reporting on.
I've been working on it, but I've also been listening
on the feed, and I don't want to give too
much away, but I'll say this for people who don't
know the story. It's about two men whose lives intersect
in New Orleans. One is Bobby Gumbright, who accuses the other,
(00:47):
Jermaine Hudson, of a violent crime. But it's not at
all what it seems at first, right.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
That's right. What about Burden of Guilt.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Season two aligns with the Betrayal audience? What do you
think this season has that you think the betrayal community
would really find fascinating or enjoy.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
That's a very good question. In my mind. The Betrayal
audience is made up of people who connect emotionally with
other people, people who care, and people who understand what
injustice is all about.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
And there was a massive injustice in this story when
Jermaine Hudson was identified as the perpetrator.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
This man was put away and lost half of his
life because he was wrongfully convicted. That's one thing. But
what's worse is he was convicted of a crime that
never happened. He was convicted based on a fake story
of a fake robbery, and he was given ninety nine years.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
It's astonishing. But the story of this crime and Luis
Causiana doesn't end there. Eventually, all the lies come to light,
and I'm curious what part of this story really surprised you.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
The twists and turns are so strange, and the ultimate
of this story is how the man Bobby, who accused
Germaine his life was destroyed by his choice and then
what he did to turn it around, and how hard
(02:30):
that was on every level.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I think what's so interesting about this season of Burden
of Guilt is this is something we actually talk a
lot about on the trial. We don't get to report
on a redemption arc for any of our offenders. I
would love to be able to tell the story of
a major act of contrition or amends in one of
(02:55):
our betrayal stories, But so far they haven't existed.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
These bad guys, they don't apologize, They are not interested
in redemption because they don't think they did anything wrong.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
And in Burden of Guilt season two, it's a very
different story.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
It's a really interesting story. But I think what's just
as interesting is the character of these two men.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
I don't think we've produced a better show with cliffhangers
than season two of Burden of Guilt. Every episode you're
just on the edge of your seat, and I have
to say, I just love, love, love this season, and
I think you guys did an incredible job. Thank you,
dre So here's a sneak peek of Burden of Guilt
season two with Nancy Glass.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
I'm Nancy Glass. I've been a journalist for decades. I've
covered some of the biggest crime stories in modern times.
I was on the scene of the Oklahoma bombings, attended
the OJ Simpson trial, and I interviewed serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
You might recall that on the last season A Burden
(04:06):
of Guilt, we told the story of a remarkable woman,
Tracy Raquel Burns. She was framed for the murder of
her baby brother when she was just two years old.
She spent decades looking for answers and finally getting justice
for her baby brother and for herself. On this season
(04:28):
a Burden of Guilt, I want to tell you another
extraordinary story. When I began hearing about this story, I
thought I've heard that before, that somebody's convicted of a
crime they didn't commit. But I was wrong, because that's
not this story. This is something different, something I hope
(04:49):
I never hear again. This case has stolen lives, destroyed families,
challenged legal systems, and in the end, it left everyone transformed,
maybe even redeemed.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
He must not stop giving him praise.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Now we're at true life. Baptist Church in Eunice is
a small town in the southern part of Louisiana known
as the Prairie Cajun Capital ad Every Sunday for one
(05:26):
hundred and twenty five years, the congregation has met here
in the same building.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Money, yes, sir, can buy your clock. Well, you came
by your time. A true pastor will care for his congregation.
The pastor responsibility is to shepherd the flock.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
That's Pastor Germaine Tesano. He's been leading the congregation at
through LFE for thirty years. It's the kind of church
where everyone knows everyone amen, which is why Pastor Teesano
remembers this one Sunday so clearly. It was in March
of twenty twenty one. When he looked up from the
(06:18):
pulpit he saw a stranger sitting alone in the back pew.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
I notice somebody in the congregation sitting and in my mind,
I'm thinking, Okay, who invited you? He didn't have the
best clothes on. You could tell he was on the street.
I would say he looked broken.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
He was broken, But it would be years before the
pastor understood why or what had compelled this man to
walk into his church that day. Pastor Tesano eyed him closely.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
You are Caucasian and you are in the majority African
American church, Like, what's your intentions?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Pastor Testano's thoughts jumped to the church shooting at Mother
Emmanuel amea church in Charleston. In that case, a twenty
one year old white man had been welcomed into Bible study,
only to later murder nine black parishioners hoping to spark
a race war.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
And my thinking was like, it's not going to be
dead here. I would die for my sheep.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Pastor Testano finished his sermon keeping an eye on this
man in the back row, and when the service was over,
he walked up to the stranger and extended a hand.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
I just shook his hand. I said, can you meet
me in my office?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
The man agreed, and they went into the pastor's office.
Testano asked one of his ministers, doctor Leon Gallo, to
join the conversation, just.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
To be safe, rightfully so, because this was definitely someone
no one had ever seen.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Pastor Tessano and doctor Leon learned that the man was
homeless and had spent the night before in an abandoned house.
They wanted to help him. Doctor Leon stepped out of
the room to start calling local shelters. The man was
having a hard time making eye contact with Pastor Tessano,
so he asked the man for his name.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
He told me Bobby Gumright.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Bobby Gumpwright. That was his real name, but he didn't
say much else.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
We knew that he was an attic. We knew that
he was traveling from place to place, but didn't really
know a whole lot more.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Bobby Gumprit was actually there with a.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Purpose, so he asked me the question, do you do confessions?
I said, well, I'm not Catholic, but I'm like, what's
on your mind?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
He was carrying a secret, a secret so terrible it
felt like a thousand pounds weight pressing down on his chest.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
He needed to make that confession.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
After thirty years on the job, Pastor Testano had heard
a lot of stories, but what Bobby Gumprit told him
left him speechless.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
I don't read it, didn't respond too much because I
was stayed shocked.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Pastor Testano didn't know what to do with information like this.
Bobby had just confessed to a terrible crime, a crime
that had destroyed lives, including his own. The pastor would
need time to make a plan, but in the meantime
he could help Bobby with his immediate needs.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
I said, no, what, Let's get you somewhere to stay overnight.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
There wasn't room in a shelter for him that night,
so Pastor Tesano and doctor Leon picked up some essentials
and paid for a hotel room. At the day's end,
he could take a shower, and get a good night's sleep.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
After we got him the hotel, we got in a
circle and we prayed for him, and I told him
I'm going to check on you the next day, tomorrow.
And when I went back the next morning, the hotel
management said he left. I was like, what.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
When Bobby left, his secret left with him, and until
this story was exposed, another man's life would hang in
the balance. This is Season two, A Burden of Guilt,
(11:24):
Episode one, the first Confession. It's been over four years
since Bobby Gumpright walked into that church. Back then, he
had long, greasy hair and a full beard. Today, Bobby
looks dramatically different. He looks clean cut and healthy, but
(11:45):
the choices he made as a young man are still there,
just under the surface. To understand what Bobby confessed to
inside that church, we have to go back to the
beginning of this story. Now, you might consider what you're
about to hear to be a villain origin story. It
might be a blueprint for the making of a monster.
(12:08):
You might hear this as the story of a little
boy who didn't get the love he needed. Or maybe
you'll consider it to be a story of strength and redemption.
Meet Bobby Gumprit.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
I grew up in a military family. My dad was
in a Navy He was out to see quite a
bit when I was real young.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Robert Gumprite, Bobby's father, was a respected Navy captain.
Speaker 6 (12:41):
I was working on Hey for Aircraft ship as an
electronics technician.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
That's Captain Gumprite Bobby's dad. In nineteen seventy nine, he
married Debbie, and Bobby was born a year later. His
voice is very weak due to an earlier cancer treatment,
and because of that strength, we asked a voice actor
to step in from here on out and read the
transcript of his interview.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
He's my only son, and I made a choice way
back when that I would never have any more children
other than him, So he's always had my love and
full support.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
But his parents didn't stay together. They got divorced when
Bobby was three. Captain Gumpride got full custody of his son, Bobby.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
I never saw my mom again until I was in
my twenties.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
As a kid, Bobby didn't understand where his mom had
gone and why she wasn't around anymore.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
My dad, at that point had decided that it wasn't
in my best interest to see her. So I spent
a big chunk of my childhood in Virginia Beach, Virginia,
which is where he was stationed. Between the ages of
like three and eight.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Bobby was deeply wounded by his mother's absence. His father
tried to fill the gap the best he could.
Speaker 6 (14:17):
I remember when he was very young and I was
running him out to the childcare in the morning, and
I'd say, who loves you? And he'd say you do,
and I'd say, yeah, I do. I love you, and
he would give me a big hug.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
When Bobby was six, his father remarried. His stepmother's name
was Sharon.
Speaker 5 (14:44):
She didn't have any other kids, so I was the
only thing that she had.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Sharon Reaves Bobby. She tried to fill in the role
of a mother and love him unconditionally. But when Bobby
was in elementary's, something tragic happened in their home, a
formative experience that would shape Bobby's worldview and influence the
person he became.
Speaker 5 (15:10):
Around eight years old, I was at home with a
friend of mine. You know, it was the afternoon. My mom,
I think, was at school, and my dad was at work,
and this was a friend of mine. Joey. We were
just playing after school. We played baseball together, and he
was just in the same neighborhood. And one day he
(15:34):
was at my house and we got into my dad's
room and found a gun and pulled the gun out
and started running around the house with it, got downstairs.
We had a living room downstairs and a sliding glass
door that went out to the back porch. And he
(15:56):
went outside and shut the door and I. I was
standing on the inside of the door, the glass door,
and I was kind of holding the gun, like pretending
he was the robber and I was the cop, and
I jumped out. And as soon as I jumped out,
I don't know if I pulled the trigger or my
finger slipped. I didn't know it was loaded, but either way,
(16:17):
the gun went off and shattered the door and he
was on the ground.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Thanks so much for listening. Now you can binge the
entire series and here the whole story. Listen to season two,
A Burden of Guilt, Available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.