December 11, 2018 • 44 mins
Following Rae Carruth’s release from prison, the Carolina Panthers welcome Saundra Adams — the mother of Cherica Adams, the pregnant woman Carruth conspired to murder — and her grandson Chancellor Lee to Bank of America Stadium. Soon after, Scott Fowler tracks down Carruth himself in search of closure of his own.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
A listener. Note this story contains adult language and some
graphic descriptions of violence. It's November on a Sunday afternoon
in Pennsylvania, and I'm looking for answers a few hundred
(00:20):
miles from home. All right, So it's a pretty November
day in Pennsylvania where Ray Caruth now lives, and I'm
headed there right now. I originally met Ray Kruth in
when he was a first round draft choice for the
Carolina Panthers. I interviewed him a number of times back then.
(00:44):
But two years later, the former NFL wide receiver was
arrested on a murder charge involving the death of his
pregnant girlfriend, Sharika Adams. Lamar Kruth is guilty of conspiracy
to commit murder of Sharika Adams. And since that time time,
despite all the reporting I've done and all the attempts
I've made, I've not spoken face to face with Ray
(01:06):
Kruth in twenty years. Former Carolina Panther Ray Carruth is
out of prison and now out of the state. The
Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole confirms Carruth is now
under its supervision. Soon after Kruth was released from a
North Carolina prison after serving nearly nineteen years for conspiracy
to commit murder, he relocated to Pennsylvania. Exactly where in
(01:31):
Pennsylvania no one seemed to know, but I figured out
where he lives and so on. That late autumn afternoon,
I traveled to the Keystone State to ring Ray Krruth's doorbell.
To my surprise, what I had hoped could be Caruth's
first sit down, face to face interview in nearly two
decades quickly became something far more, a wide ranging conversation
(01:54):
between the two of us that spanned several weeks in person,
on the phone, through email, el and by text. We
talked about life here in two thousand and eighteen, from
smartphones to social media to the many kinds of cheerios
that have been invented since he went to prison. We
talked about Kruth's future as a freeman in the history
(02:15):
that will follow him wherever he goes. And of course,
we talked about fatherhood and the child he had wanted dead.
What would you do if you met your father? His son?
Chancellor ly say hey, yeah yeah. From the Charlotte Observer
(02:40):
and McClatchy Studios, this is Caruth I'm Scott Fowler, and
this is the epilogue healing and the road ahead. I
(03:00):
will take a look at the twists and turns and here.
October two, two thousand eighteen, was a cold morning in Clinton,
North Carolina, some two hundred miles east of Charlotte. At
four am. The sky was clear outside Sampson Correctional Institution,
but I couldn't see any stars through the dozens of
(03:21):
lights being set up by local and national TV crews.
Everyone was there to cover Ray Carruth's release after nineteen
years behind bars. Two people were conspicuously absent outside the
prison that morning, Sandra and Chancellor Lee Adams, Sharika's mother
(03:44):
and the son Caruth tried to have killed. I'm still
praying about where I'm gonna be October two. Sandra told
us months before that she had mixed feelings about attending
Caruth's release from prison. Part of me wants to be there,
right there where he has to come past me so
he can acknowledge his son. And then there's part of
(04:07):
me that just wants to be chilling out on a
beach somewhere on October and moving on with my life. Ultimately,
Sandra and Chancellor. Lee left Charlotte for a few days,
telling me later that local TV coverage had been overwhelming.
For the last nineteen years he has lived as Ray Wiggins,
(04:31):
North Carolina. Every time she turned on the TV, she
said she heard the sounds of her daughter dying. They're
in Clinton. The morning was quiet, except for all the
portable generators the TV crews had brought with them. Prison
officials wasted no time. Kruth could legally be released as
(04:52):
early as eight am on October two, and at eight
oh two am, inmate number zero seven one to E
to two appeared about forty yards away from the media
in a black leather jacket, a white T shirt, and
a black skull cap. Do I'm gonna step out of
the shot here so everybody has a view. He's being
escorted by several different people. You'll be able to see
(05:15):
him with a clear image in just a couple of seconds.
He walked a few yards to awaiting Chevy Tahoe, chauffeured
by a car service his family had hired. He exchanged
a few words with prison officials, climbed into the back
seat of the suv, and the driver sped away. Kruth
didn't speak to the media, so I taped a few
(05:37):
of my own thoughts with producers Matt Walsh and Jeff Signer.
They had also made the drive to Clinton. So it's
about eight thirty AM and Raykruth just walked out of prison.
He's forty four now. Wherever he's gonna live, which we're
not sure where it is, but he has to have
a post release program which includes regular visits to someone
(06:00):
who's sort of like a parole officer. Basically, I thought
he wouldn't talk, and he didn't. He walked directly out
of this little Britain building about twenty or thirty yards
and then he went out through the gate and he
has gone. Caruth's release was national news everywhere from NPR.
(06:25):
May be hard to remember just how shocking it was
back in when Carolina Panther's wide receiver, Ray kr Ruth
was charged with the ann Well, my NFL star next
Carolina Panther. Ray Kruth is now a freeman. Walking out
of a North Carolina prison this morning, it caused people
to remember where they were twenty years ago when those
details surrounding Sharika's death had first come to light. Ray
(06:50):
who helped playing the gut comedian Steve Harvey had that
famous riff in the original Kings of Comedy about Caruth
being und in the trunk of a car running from
authorities in n Was this not they ignitted to ever seen? Normally?
What you try to say is a person do their time,
(07:13):
they get out, they deserve a second chance, because we
can't just throw people away. The day after Caruth's release,
Harvey reflected on that with his co host on his
national radio show, This When Right Here is different. Man.
I wrote a joke about this guy hiding it. Why
he thought he was gonna get away with this? When
(07:34):
you running from the law, you want to get a
pass support y read to your fel like they ain't
gonna spatch your black ass and nashvill you know I've
forgotten all about the joke he gets today. Man, do
you know how much living we've done almost nineteen years
(07:55):
before his release, I've been told Karuth my head back
to Sacramento where he grew up. The two days after
he got out, TMZ was the first to report something unexpected.
Former Carolina panther Ray Kruth is out of prison and
now out of the state. The Pennsylvania a spokeswoman for
the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections confirmed that information to me,
(08:16):
but she wouldn't say exactly where in the state Kruth
was or who he was living with. Sandra Adams was
equally confused by the move. Yes, that's that's that's good
for me. It is because I thought he was going
to Texas or California maybe, but as long as Ray
Kruth was more than four miles away from her and
her grandson. Sandra told me later the reasons why hardly mattered.
(08:38):
All of it still farther away from North Carolina, and
I think that gives me a better sense of security.
And not that I'm afraid of him, but I don't
want even the thought of him popping up at my door.
(09:00):
Six days after Ray Caruth's released from prison, Sandra and
Chancellor Lee did something they've never done before, thanks to
a Carolina Panthers season ticket holder who lives in Charlotte.
My name is Jason Underwood and I'm a finance manager
at Duke Energy. My wife, Angelica uh and I have
(09:21):
been married fourteen years, and my son Alexander is thirteen
and been taking him to games since he was a
toddler and he was afraid of the flyover planes and
screaming to take him out of the stadium. And and
then I have a seven year old daughter around Gabriella.
(09:42):
Underwood has been to hundreds of Panthers games in n
He lived about an hour and fifteen minutes away from
Charlotte when Sharika was shot, and I just remember following
it day by day and just almost hoping that it
wasn't him, that someone would actually do something like that,
you know, or sure Heke had died. There were all
kinds of stories being floated, and up until he flew
(10:07):
and got into the trunk, I held out hope that
it wasn't him. But when that happened, I think we
all just knew an innocent person doesn't do that. I've
never met Underwood until recently. I was glad to finally
call it dude on Alexander, Sandra and Chancellor Lee had
only met him a few years ago, but that's when
(10:27):
Underwood decided he wanted to do something for them. In
two thousand and fifteen, I believe that was when the
first article in your series came out, and I couldn't
believe it, you know, I think I reread the article
about three times, just because I was incredulous that someone
could be this forgiving, could have this level of grace.
(10:50):
And then shortly after that, we were sitting in the
Duke Energy seats at a Panther Tampa Bay game. And
of course this is two thousand and fifteen, the year
that they had the run to the Super Bowl, and
we were right behind them, and if probably if I
hadn't been for that that article, I wouldn't have recognized.
And so, you know, I leaned forward and I said,
are you who I think you are? And then she
(11:12):
didn't immediately response. She's just kind of sized me up.
You know, I'm sure she's approached fifty times a day,
and she just kind of nodded, yes, yes, I believe.
So that conversation began a friendship that continues to this day.
Underwood and the adams Is have gotten together several times
to attend a preseason Panthers game or to share a meal.
(11:33):
Underwood didn't really understand why the Panthers weren't more proactive
with the adams Is, who, after all, had been tragically
affected by the team drafting Caruthan and bringing him to
Charlotte in the first place. So for the past few years,
Underwood has been in touch with Riley Fields, the Panthers
director of community Relations. I know that he wanted to
(11:56):
provide a game day experience for them, and the prior
season back in seventeen, I think there was the hope
that maybe he was going to come to a game
and then Chancellor was ill or something like that, and
it just it just never happened. So Fields has been
working for the Panthers since two thousand three, about two
(12:16):
years after Kruth was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.
Fields had never met the adams Is, but after talking
to Underwood, he wanted to do something for the family too.
So when Underwood told Fields he planned to bring Sandra
and Chancellor lead to a game this past October, Fields
decided to supersize the visit. Jason reached back out. He
wanted to still kind of follow through, I think on
(12:38):
the promise that he had made too to Sandra and
bring him to a game and um kind of describe
what they were doing that day, and and I thought
that we had an opportunity maybe to provide a little
bit of an enhancement to what Chancellor's experience could be
on that day. So it was started with the efforts
of I would say a good Samaritan, and um, it
(13:01):
just picked up a little bit of momentum from that
point on. I was covering the game on October when
the Panthers hosted the Baltimore Ravens. I met Jason and
his son and Sandra and Chancellor Lee outside the gates
at Bank of America Stadium. You got to cam Newton Jersey.
They had all just come from breakfast together and Chancellor
(13:21):
wore a brand new cam Newton jersey. Instead of heading
to their seats, however, we all met fields and he
walked them through the player's tunnel right out onto the
field where Chancellor Lee's father had once heard the roar
(13:45):
of seventy thousand fans cheering for him. I've got goose
bumps as we're sitting here talking about it. When Chancellor
came out of the tunnel, every on the sidelines like whoa,
and he got a pause. People in the stands there
was a pause. There was just support for him because
(14:08):
I think there's a light that radiates out of him
and to have people celebrate him in that moment for
almost an hour, Sandra and Chancellor Earle stood on the
(14:28):
field while the Panthers warmed up. Fields hadn't told the
players they were coming, and not all of them knew
the story anyway. On the chaotic night Chancellor Lee was
born in Most of the players on this team were
still in elementary school, but some of them still recognize
the team's special guests and made it a point to
welcome them. Pro Bowl center Ryan Khalil is a dad himself. Yeah,
(14:55):
it's familiar with the story, and it's a situation that
I can possibly fathom. I gotta go. Learned me the
family and seemed like a great kid. So he came
over to the Adams Is twice, the second time to
offer Chancellor Ly a gift. We usually have an extra
(15:15):
ball at the end of our individual period, so and
I've usually given it out to kids around the sidelines,
so I thought it would be right up to giving ball.
Look at you. Anthers safety Mike Adams isn't related to
Sandra or Chancellor Lee, but seeing the last name Adams
(15:38):
on his jersey still made Sandra feel like she had
family on the field. I recognize him because he don't.
To me, he looked just like right when she said Adams. Adams,
you're out of your my cousin, My cousin did I
went over there and then I'm like, okay, yeah, we cousin.
It was humble. Before I left, I give in my
(16:00):
gloves and and everything, and you know, I was proud
to just being his presence. You know, it made me
feel good. Then came another player visit from wide receiver
Devin Funch. Us Fields and the rest of the Panthers
just call him Funch. Several guys came over and Funch
(16:22):
was in his I'm just gonna say, full battle regalia.
I mean, he had a helmet on. They're all padded up.
I mean, it's it's a pretty spectacular site. And then
certainly someone like Devon who's six three six four, they
look like superheroes in in some sense. And he came
over and um handed Chancellor's gloves and got down set
(16:43):
a few things to him, and you know, then he
was off Chancellors holding the gloves and he just said wow,
and just out of nowhere, he turned and I could
feel him looking at me, and I looked down at
him and he just says, thank you. That it was
(17:04):
just I mean, no, that was not expected. Of him.
He did not have to say that. That was just um,
it's a good stuff. It's good stuff. Sandra's favorite visit
on the sideline came from someone who wouldn't be playing
that day. Hedge fund billionaire David Tepper bought the team
(17:29):
from Jerry Richardson. This past summer. Tepper has taught publicly
about growing up with an abusive father. He specifically wanted
to introduce himself to the adams Is and then the
three of them took a photo together. The NFL, about
four plus years ago, found ourselves in a complicated situation
(17:53):
and facing a lot of challenges and made a decision
to be part of the solution on domestic and send
sexual assault. Anna Isaacson is the NFL Senior vice president
for Social Responsibility. She told me recently about how the
NFL is trying to better educate players in society at
large about domestic violence. And we've been looking at it
(18:15):
through a couple of different lenses, handling discipline in a
certain way, but also really focusing on survivors and family
members and providing resources when people find themselves in situations
dealing with violence. All of that sounds like great ideas.
And very little of it was probably in place in
(18:35):
when Ray Caruth's conspiracy first surfaced. I think there's a
better understanding. I honestly think that there was a lack
of understanding of how pervasive the issues were, of why
people find themselves in these situations, what leads to it,
what are the warning signs. I think hearing from survivors
and telling their story helps people to see that this
(18:58):
goes on everywhere. And when you're hearing someone speak emotionally
of the real impact that it's had on their family.
I mean, of course I find it incredibly powerful and moving,
but I just think it moves people in a different way.
(19:21):
About ninety minutes later, I caught up with Sandra in
the stands take pictures. The thoughts of the players and
the owner came over into It was huge. The team
upgraded their seats for a better view, and after the
(19:42):
Panthers first touchdown Jeffrey tim five touchdown, the in house
TV cameras showed Sandra and Chancellory on the huge video
scoreboards had a name upon the thing when you walking,
where is that? And the crowd went crazy. Even the
(20:18):
players on the field heard. The noise level changed then
including All Pro linebacker Luke Keikley. You know, I didn't
I didn't have a chance to meet him, but they
showed him on the Jumbo tryn and he was he
was smiling big time and and you could just hear
hear the crowd react when when they showed him on there,
he was half he was excited, and I really got
the crowd going. I tried to ask Chancellor Lee about
(20:39):
the experience, but Panther fans kept coming by, anxious to
meet him. One after another. They asked for photos, what
the Adams is, or simply wanted to tell them how
inspirational they were. Chancellor Lee just kept smiling. It kind
of accelerated when they got the jumbo tron, you know,
(21:01):
because not a lot of people may have known Underwood
had a front row seat as Sandra and her grandson
were approached over and over, I'd say forty or fifty
some some of the people they were just there to
tell her how inspired they were, and yeah, they generally
wanted a picture, but you know, Sandra just she just
one after the other, okay, okay, and those conversations always
(21:27):
became more than just a quick hello. Even thirteen year
old Alexander Underwood found that when you asked Sandra how
she's doing, you often end up talking a lot about yourself.
Oh she's so kind. She always wants to know more
about everybody else. You know, I thought somebody that would
you know, was in the papers and everything, would act differently,
(21:49):
but no, she's just like one of us, but way kinder.
In my time with the adams Is over the years,
I've often seen Sandra be hesitant about strangers wanting to
interact with Chancellor League. But on this day, all the
interactions were positive. Sandra made sure of that. I really
still want to thank the Panthers and their staff about
(22:10):
how smoothly everything went, and and I felt like that
was my time to really give back to the community
because people have been praying for us and really encouraging
us for all these years, and this was just my
way of saying, come on, welcome in. You know, in
the past, I'd been a little reluctant about everybody taking
(22:33):
pictures of Chancellor and everything, but you know, this was
my chance to show our hearts and to give back
and say, hey, sure, you know, come on take a
picture with us. We're glad to be here. You know,
it really made him feel special, and especially being so
close to his birthday as well, that was like a
treat for him. After Sandra and Chancellor release Great Day
(23:03):
at the Stadium, it seemed like at least one part
of this saga had some closure, But after two decades
of reporting, I felt like there was still something missing
from the story. Caruth himself all right. So it's a
pretty November day in Pennsylvania, where Ray Caruth now lives.
Caruth hadn't returned my messages in months, but through a
(23:26):
little more reporting I had been able to figure out
that he was living with a friend. So in November
I took a flight to Pennsylvania and I rented a
car and I'm headed there right now in a black
Buick regal license plate. I recorded these notes while sitting
in a parking lot near the highway, and so my
(23:46):
plan is to just walk up to the door and
knock on it and make sure that he doesn't want
to speak to me. In fact, he hasn't done a
lengthy sit down interview about the events of Night to
shureke adams death really ever. But the closest he came
was in two thousand one when he talked to c
(24:07):
an n s I, Ray, did you conspire to murder
Shriek Adams and your unborn son? No? I did not.
I was not there. I didn't see the shooting. I
didn't hear any shots. I can't testify anything that happened
Surrek and Ray Road. But even that story, he has
changed some components of it through David Rudolph in this podcast. Uh,
(24:28):
and this is sort of new information. I guess. At
some point on Ray Road, Ray saw Van Brett Watkins
pull out and he panned. He took off because he
was afraid that Van Brett Watkins was coming to get him.
I'm feeling a little bit nervous about this. Certainly he
(24:50):
doesn't know that I'm coming. I drove to Caruth's house
and parked in his empty driveway. OW walked seven steps
up to the glass storm door inside. The front door
was open, and I could see a pair of small
dogs that looked like chihuahua's barking like crazy. I rang
(25:10):
the doorbell and then the barking stopped. A silhouette appeared
from around the corner. A muscular man about five ft ten.
His head was freshly shaven. It was Ray Kruth. He
opened the glass door and stepped outside, wearing a white
T shirt, red gym shorts, and Nike tennis shoes. I
(25:34):
introduced myself, not really sure what he would do next,
but really not expecting what he actually did. Carruth laughed,
I had a feeling you might pop up sometime, he said.
He asked me not to tell anyone where he lives,
and I agreed. I apologized for showing up at his
door unannounced. I explained that I didn't have his phone number,
(25:56):
and that I thought it was only fair to give
him one more chance to talk before we finished a
podcast that is named for him. After all. He was
silent for a moment, and then Kruth opened the door.
Come on in, he said, I can't share Kruth's voice here, unfortunately,
because he declined to let me record our conversation. He
(26:17):
told me he's trying to rebuild his life quietly, but
he pointed to his kitchen table. Have a seat. He
told me he did agree to let me share almost
all of what we discussed over the next half hour
about his past, the defendant, ray Lamar Karuth, and his future.
He got into that white suv and now is unclear
(26:39):
where he is off to, but his time here at
Sampson Correctional Institute has come to an end. He sat
across from me with that same half smile I remembered
from the day he got out of prison. He was
holding a bottle of cleaner and a sponge. Kruth said
he was getting ready for a visit from his mother, Theodrey,
who was flying in from Cali, Fornia that night. I
(27:01):
could see the kitchen had indeed been cleaned like someone
expecting to visit from their mother. And when I mentioned
I hadn't seen Theodrey at the prison in October, Karuth
confirmed this would be the first time they had seen
each other since he got out. Something else stood out
at that kitchen table. There were ten boxes of different
kinds of cheerios lined up directly in front of me,
in two rows of five. Kruth smiled when I asked
(27:24):
about them. Okay, buddy, what's your favorite kind of cheerios?
He said he had seen an ad for the cereal
while he was locked up. As he put it in
the commercial and African American dad is fixing his young
son breakfast. Other favorite were favorite. Karuth told me the
(27:45):
ad stayed with him on an emotional level. Okay, but
what's your most favorite of all? Kind of half with
you me too. He later put these thoughts in an email.
He said, I could read here quote the commercial had
(28:06):
sentimental value mainly because of the content, though not necessarily
the color of the actor's skin. I guess it resonated
with me because it was the kind of moment I'm
sure every man would love to have with his child.
It was a poignant reminder of what I was missing
out with on my own children, the closeness, the moments,
and the memories. End quote. Caru said he has a
(28:28):
job lined up, though it's one he can do on
his laptop from his home. In fact, in our conversation,
Kruth said he doesn't leave the house much yet. He
said he has found a nearby jim where he can
keep up the two hours a day, six days a
week regimen he developed in prison. Had some roll with
John Madden and John Let's talk about the trouble of
(28:50):
Carolina Panthers. He said he weighs two and two pounds,
only two pounds over his NFL playing weight into the
end zone touchdown Ray correct and sitting there in the kitchen,
he certainly looked like it, unlike players with longer careers.
Kruth said he had suffered no adverse health effects from
his time in the NFL, though he said he wonders
(29:10):
about concussions, and that quote, I once got hit so
hard I couldn't close my eyes. A teammate slapped me
upside the helmet with full force, and my vision was restored.
My eyelids have been flipped inside out end quote. On Fridays,
he goes to pray at a nearby mosque. Karuth converted
(29:34):
to Islam in prison, and he said that he leaves
the mosque each time quote awestruck, but Kruth knows he's
a man with a past. He wears a black rubber
bracelet that his mother gave him. On it are the
numbers twelve, fifteen ninety nine, in ten, twenty two eighteen,
(29:54):
the dates of his incarceration. On the other side are
the words never forget, twists and turns, and here he
said his mother wears a copy of the same bracelet.
And if Karuth has learned anything about social media since
his release from prison, it's that some people have very
strong feelings about him. It's only a matter of time.
(30:15):
He said, before someone snaps a photo of him at
the grocery store or at the gym, and it's all
over Facebook or Twitter. But one day, he said, he
hopes to live a more normal life. He wants to
join a bowling league, because once upon a time, Karuth
was good at that sport too. He had his own
shoes and a customized red ball engraved with the words
(30:38):
Sugar Ray with sugar spelled s u g A. He
said he still enjoys softball, a sport he played recreationally
in Charlotte and then again in prison. Kruth says he
loved playing center field partly because it was the only
time he had so much open space to roam. He
said he's using this time on parole to gauge whether
(31:00):
or not any of that will be possible here. If not,
Karuth told me he'll make arrangements to leave the country.
The first shades of normalcy are returning. It had been
so long since it had been in a car, he said.
Karruth often got car sick in his first few weeks
after release. Driving again was important to him, but his
(31:21):
license expired long ago while he was in prison. Getting
a new one became an early way he's had to
start over. And I literally could see how proud Karuth
was when he passed the test for his Pennsylvania Learners permit.
The other day, he texted me a photo of himself
standing outside in the driving snow. He's wearing a bushy hat,
a heavy coat, and a huge grin, holding up his
(31:43):
new permit and pointing to it, ma'am. Where Clearly, in
our conversation since his release, Kruth prefers to talk about
now instead of then said what did it mean? He
(32:04):
steadfastly refused to discuss Sharika Adam's death, saying it would
do no good for anyone. He has never admitted to
hiring Van Brett Watkins to shoot Sharika, although Karuth's lawyer
told me in August that Karuth no longer feels the
jury got the verdict wrong. I think in some strange way,
the jury sort of figured it out and sort of
(32:28):
compromised to a place that you know, even Ray can accept. Okay,
I'm responsible for this situation, so I needed to pay
a price. I told Karuth that I spent several hours
in prison with Watkins for this podcast, and that Watkins
told me he wanted Kruth dead. What do you feel
about Ray Kruth now? Karuth told me he's aware. He
(32:53):
said he didn't want to delve into those threats, although
he is tired of Watkins blaming him for making Watkins
pulled the trigger in the drive by shooting. He's obviously
a very angry and disturbed man who doesn't seem to
care too much for me. Karuth wrote, if I could
tell him one thing, it would be that we must
all accept responsibility for the decisions we make in life.
(33:14):
He and he alone, is accountable for the situation he
finds himself in, not me. I wish him nothing but
inner peace. Kruth says he's found that piece himself. He
wrote to me that quote, I've forgiven myself for any
and all wrongdoing that I've done in the past, and
I'm simply trying to live my life as peacefully and
gracefully as I possibly can end quote. But whether or
(33:41):
not his future will ever include his disabled son, whether
or not Karuth will ever have his own Cheerios moment
with Chancellor Lee is perhaps the biggest unknown. For years,
Sandra had requested visitation papers from Karuth so that she
could bring his son to need him in prison, Kruth
(34:01):
dragged his feet, and the dynamic irritated Sandra. I am
not going to keep begging a killer to want to
be part of my grandson's life. Shortly before his release,
Kruth finally did send the papers, but by then Sandra
and Chancellor Lee had changed their minds and decided not
to go. Kruth told me he would like to be
(34:22):
in Chancellor Lee's life, but that he's also not going
to force the issue. He asked me to relay that
message to Sandra, and then he wrote down his phone
number so I could tell him what she said. They're
in his kitchen. He was more pleasant than I often
am when a stranger comes to my door wanting something
for me. He was charming at times. He laughed a lot,
(34:43):
often at his own expense. I'm not sure what I expected,
but that wasn't it. And see, that's the thing about it.
Like when I watched shows that tell his story. He
reminded me of what his friend Monique Young told me.
He just had that type of personality, very funny and silly.
You know, people may not know that, but he's very
funny and silly. Yet for the rest of his life,
(35:04):
Karuth will also be a convicted felon who served nearly
nineteen years in connection with Sharika's death. As much as
he's excited about his second chance, Kruth knows the impacts
of his actions are permanent. Had he just been manipulating
me or had prison really changed him? Was he going
to become a productive member of society? Would he ever
(35:27):
see the adams Is And how would Saunder react when
I told her I had finally seen Karuth in person
after all these years. After half an hour, I could
tell Karuth was being polite but also ready for me
to go. I thanked Ra Karuth for his time, and
he sent me on my way with a bottle of
water from his refrigerator. So I just left Rakkruth's house
(35:51):
and we had a long conversation at his kitchen table.
He was quite surprised to see me With that. I
headed home. Soon after my trip to Pennsylvania, I met
Sandra and Chancellor Lee at a park near their home
in Charlotte. Sandra and I sat at a picnic table
(36:12):
under an awning. Chancellor Lee had just gotten picked up
from school and he decided to stay in the car
and listen to the radio. I hadn't told Sandra that
I had gone to see Karuth, but she knows how
long I've covered this story, and she's a smart lady.
Interview him. You were you were than the Martin, than
(36:35):
you even thought you were. Yes, I did, did you good? First?
I gave Sandra another letter that Van Brett Watkins had
sent me from prison, this one after the hit man
had seen the print series that accompanied this podcast. On
one corner of the envelope, the man who shot Sharika
had drawn a picture of himself in prison. In the drawing,
(36:56):
he hung upside down by shackles from a cinder wall.
He pinned some of his nicknames on the picture too,
serial killer hit Man New York. In the letter, he
again contrasted his inability to forgive Caruth with Sandra's ability
to move on following her daughter's death. Mostly, the letter
(37:18):
was like every other letter Watkins has sent me before
Caruth's release, and in that way it reinforced how little
might change for the Adams As now that Chancellor Lee's
father is a freeman. I really see our lives going
on just like it had been in the past. Ray
is not in North Carolina. I don't think he will
becoming to North Carolina. Nothing's changed with that. So I
(37:43):
see us going on and discontinuing the work that we
do advocating for peace, you know. And I can do
that without even saying his name literally, not to say literally,
not to say his name, because I want the same respect.
I don't think he has any reason to be saying
my name or saying the name of Chancellor Lee Adams,
(38:06):
because for me, my main goal is the Chancellor knows
nothing but love. So is he aware that his father
is out of prison at this point? He is, He
is aware that he's out of prison, and he knows
that he's far away. And I've reassured him because he
was very upset. He was very upset by the thought
(38:29):
he was coming to take him away from me. And
Chancellor doesn't normally cry. He actually cried and clung to
me so much. Did I had to really just reassure him,
nobody has taken you from me. You're not going anywhere.
And so, you know, I think he's he's settled back
(38:49):
down into that comfort level. I told her that Caruth
was holding out hope for a relationship with his son
and asked her what she thought give us time and
give us time. I'm not saying that I never want
him to see Chancellor and meet Chancellor. I want to
see where his head is because you know, I'm doing
(39:10):
my part, and really I want him to just go
ahead and live his life peacefully. And we're gonna live
our lives peacefully. We're just gonna be concentrating on, you know,
maybe giving to other people making them feel more at ease,
because we're kind of old pros at this, and you know,
you never stop missing your loved ones. But for the
(39:32):
families that have just lost loved ones, the feelings are
really wrong. So you know, we're here to offer hope
that hey, life can go on. You can still have
a smile ministry. You know, you can laugh and it's
okay to move on because you're doing that in honor
of your loved one. I mean, that's an important message,
(39:54):
right for people who are listening to this, but they
feel guilty if they're something bad's happened, the death of
a love one that I can never be happy again,
And I think they do their loved one a greater
disservice by doing that, because you defined the whole life
by that moment that they departed rather than all the
good that they did while they were living. And I
(40:17):
think that just adds to Sharika's legacy, because I said,
you never really know how many people you are impacting.
But the joy that I find in this is that
what people meant for evil has turned out to be really,
really good. It gave me a voice, It catapulted me
(40:38):
into my purpose, and my life couldn't be more fulfilled.
The following week, I called Ruth myself and told him
what Sandra had said, including the part about his son crying.
During the forty one minute phone call, Caruth reiterated to
me that he would quote never in a million years
(41:00):
try to separate them. Following our call, Kruth sent me
several emails to more fully explain his thoughts and said
those could be shared. He wrote, quote, when it comes
to Miss Adams and Chancellor, my only desire is for
true forgiveness and a genuine opportunity to be a part
of my son's life. And out of respect for Miss
(41:22):
Adams and her feelings towards me, I have no plans
of ever trying to force my way in. I'm going
to be patient and give her the space she rightfully
deserves when the time is right, I believe that Miss
Adams will eventually extend an invitation for me to have
contact with my son, and I will eagerly accept. I
(41:44):
since Karuth is being sincere about that, he told me
that he's spoken on the phone with Ray Jr. His
older son, whose mother was Kruth's high school sweetheart, every
day since his release. He said that as soon as
authorities in Pennsylvania will let him travel out of stay,
he plans to go visit that son. And in one
of his recent emails, Caruth asked me this rhetorical question,
(42:07):
which I've thought a lot about. Quote question for you,
and I'm not actually looking for a response. Do you
think that it's possible for a generally good person to
get him or herself involved in a situation as heart
wrenchingly horrible as the one I was in? Or is
it your belief that such a person could only be
(42:28):
cut from the worst of molds? End quote? I suspect
listeners of this podcast will have their own answers to that.
I've received so much feedback to these first seven chapters,
the vast majority about Sharika, Sandra and Chancellor Lee. The
heroes of this complicated story. People have told me how
(42:51):
they admire Sharika's strength, Chancellor Lee's determination, and Sandra's grace
through the darkness of nearly unimaginable us. It is their
life that shines in this story, guiding the road ahead
for all of us. I'm Scott Fowler and this podcast
is produced by Jeff Signer and Rachel Wise and Davin
(43:13):
Coburn at McClatchy Studios. Find lots more about this case
at Charlotte Observer dot com slash Caruth and for just
thirty dollars, subscribe now to a full year of The
Observer's award winning sports coverage at Charlotte Observer dot com
slash sports pass. Thank you to our nonprofit partners No More,
(43:34):
the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Safe Alliance and the
Children's Defense Fund. Leave us a rating and a review
on Apple Podcast, and you can reach me directly at
s Fowler at Charlotte Observer dot com. Thanks so much
for listening, Boo
A listener. Note this story contains adult language and some
graphic descriptions of violence. It's November on a Sunday afternoon
in Pennsylvania, and I'm looking for answers a few hundred
(00:20):
miles from home. All right, So it's a pretty November
day in Pennsylvania where Ray Caruth now lives, and I'm
headed there right now. I originally met Ray Kruth in
when he was a first round draft choice for the
Carolina Panthers. I interviewed him a number of times back then.
(00:44):
But two years later, the former NFL wide receiver was
arrested on a murder charge involving the death of his
pregnant girlfriend, Sharika Adams. Lamar Kruth is guilty of conspiracy
to commit murder of Sharika Adams. And since that time time,
despite all the reporting I've done and all the attempts
I've made, I've not spoken face to face with Ray
(01:06):
Kruth in twenty years. Former Carolina Panther Ray Carruth is
out of prison and now out of the state. The
Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole confirms Carruth is now
under its supervision. Soon after Kruth was released from a
North Carolina prison after serving nearly nineteen years for conspiracy
to commit murder, he relocated to Pennsylvania. Exactly where in
(01:31):
Pennsylvania no one seemed to know, but I figured out
where he lives and so on. That late autumn afternoon,
I traveled to the Keystone State to ring Ray Krruth's doorbell.
To my surprise, what I had hoped could be Caruth's
first sit down, face to face interview in nearly two
decades quickly became something far more, a wide ranging conversation
(01:54):
between the two of us that spanned several weeks in person,
on the phone, through email, el and by text. We
talked about life here in two thousand and eighteen, from
smartphones to social media to the many kinds of cheerios
that have been invented since he went to prison. We
talked about Kruth's future as a freeman in the history
(02:15):
that will follow him wherever he goes. And of course,
we talked about fatherhood and the child he had wanted dead.
What would you do if you met your father? His son?
Chancellor ly say hey, yeah yeah. From the Charlotte Observer
(02:40):
and McClatchy Studios, this is Caruth I'm Scott Fowler, and
this is the epilogue healing and the road ahead. I
(03:00):
will take a look at the twists and turns and here.
October two, two thousand eighteen, was a cold morning in Clinton,
North Carolina, some two hundred miles east of Charlotte. At
four am. The sky was clear outside Sampson Correctional Institution,
but I couldn't see any stars through the dozens of
(03:21):
lights being set up by local and national TV crews.
Everyone was there to cover Ray Carruth's release after nineteen
years behind bars. Two people were conspicuously absent outside the
prison that morning, Sandra and Chancellor Lee Adams, Sharika's mother
(03:44):
and the son Caruth tried to have killed. I'm still
praying about where I'm gonna be October two. Sandra told
us months before that she had mixed feelings about attending
Caruth's release from prison. Part of me wants to be there,
right there where he has to come past me so
he can acknowledge his son. And then there's part of
(04:07):
me that just wants to be chilling out on a
beach somewhere on October and moving on with my life. Ultimately,
Sandra and Chancellor. Lee left Charlotte for a few days,
telling me later that local TV coverage had been overwhelming.
For the last nineteen years he has lived as Ray Wiggins,
(04:31):
North Carolina. Every time she turned on the TV, she
said she heard the sounds of her daughter dying. They're
in Clinton. The morning was quiet, except for all the
portable generators the TV crews had brought with them. Prison
officials wasted no time. Kruth could legally be released as
(04:52):
early as eight am on October two, and at eight
oh two am, inmate number zero seven one to E
to two appeared about forty yards away from the media
in a black leather jacket, a white T shirt, and
a black skull cap. Do I'm gonna step out of
the shot here so everybody has a view. He's being
escorted by several different people. You'll be able to see
(05:15):
him with a clear image in just a couple of seconds.
He walked a few yards to awaiting Chevy Tahoe, chauffeured
by a car service his family had hired. He exchanged
a few words with prison officials, climbed into the back
seat of the suv, and the driver sped away. Kruth
didn't speak to the media, so I taped a few
(05:37):
of my own thoughts with producers Matt Walsh and Jeff Signer.
They had also made the drive to Clinton. So it's
about eight thirty AM and Raykruth just walked out of prison.
He's forty four now. Wherever he's gonna live, which we're
not sure where it is, but he has to have
a post release program which includes regular visits to someone
(06:00):
who's sort of like a parole officer. Basically, I thought
he wouldn't talk, and he didn't. He walked directly out
of this little Britain building about twenty or thirty yards
and then he went out through the gate and he
has gone. Caruth's release was national news everywhere from NPR.
(06:25):
May be hard to remember just how shocking it was
back in when Carolina Panther's wide receiver, Ray kr Ruth
was charged with the ann Well, my NFL star next
Carolina Panther. Ray Kruth is now a freeman. Walking out
of a North Carolina prison this morning, it caused people
to remember where they were twenty years ago when those
details surrounding Sharika's death had first come to light. Ray
(06:50):
who helped playing the gut comedian Steve Harvey had that
famous riff in the original Kings of Comedy about Caruth
being und in the trunk of a car running from
authorities in n Was this not they ignitted to ever seen? Normally?
What you try to say is a person do their time,
(07:13):
they get out, they deserve a second chance, because we
can't just throw people away. The day after Caruth's release,
Harvey reflected on that with his co host on his
national radio show, This When Right Here is different. Man.
I wrote a joke about this guy hiding it. Why
he thought he was gonna get away with this? When
(07:34):
you running from the law, you want to get a
pass support y read to your fel like they ain't
gonna spatch your black ass and nashvill you know I've
forgotten all about the joke he gets today. Man, do
you know how much living we've done almost nineteen years
(07:55):
before his release, I've been told Karuth my head back
to Sacramento where he grew up. The two days after
he got out, TMZ was the first to report something unexpected.
Former Carolina panther Ray Kruth is out of prison and
now out of the state. The Pennsylvania a spokeswoman for
the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections confirmed that information to me,
(08:16):
but she wouldn't say exactly where in the state Kruth
was or who he was living with. Sandra Adams was
equally confused by the move. Yes, that's that's that's good
for me. It is because I thought he was going
to Texas or California maybe, but as long as Ray
Kruth was more than four miles away from her and
her grandson. Sandra told me later the reasons why hardly mattered.
(08:38):
All of it still farther away from North Carolina, and
I think that gives me a better sense of security.
And not that I'm afraid of him, but I don't
want even the thought of him popping up at my door.
(09:00):
Six days after Ray Caruth's released from prison, Sandra and
Chancellor Lee did something they've never done before, thanks to
a Carolina Panthers season ticket holder who lives in Charlotte.
My name is Jason Underwood and I'm a finance manager
at Duke Energy. My wife, Angelica uh and I have
(09:21):
been married fourteen years, and my son Alexander is thirteen
and been taking him to games since he was a
toddler and he was afraid of the flyover planes and
screaming to take him out of the stadium. And and
then I have a seven year old daughter around Gabriella.
(09:42):
Underwood has been to hundreds of Panthers games in n
He lived about an hour and fifteen minutes away from
Charlotte when Sharika was shot, and I just remember following
it day by day and just almost hoping that it
wasn't him, that someone would actually do something like that,
you know, or sure Heke had died. There were all
kinds of stories being floated, and up until he flew
(10:07):
and got into the trunk, I held out hope that
it wasn't him. But when that happened, I think we
all just knew an innocent person doesn't do that. I've
never met Underwood until recently. I was glad to finally
call it dude on Alexander, Sandra and Chancellor Lee had
only met him a few years ago, but that's when
(10:27):
Underwood decided he wanted to do something for them. In
two thousand and fifteen, I believe that was when the
first article in your series came out, and I couldn't
believe it, you know, I think I reread the article
about three times, just because I was incredulous that someone
could be this forgiving, could have this level of grace.
(10:50):
And then shortly after that, we were sitting in the
Duke Energy seats at a Panther Tampa Bay game. And
of course this is two thousand and fifteen, the year
that they had the run to the Super Bowl, and
we were right behind them, and if probably if I
hadn't been for that that article, I wouldn't have recognized.
And so, you know, I leaned forward and I said,
are you who I think you are? And then she
(11:12):
didn't immediately response. She's just kind of sized me up.
You know, I'm sure she's approached fifty times a day,
and she just kind of nodded, yes, yes, I believe.
So that conversation began a friendship that continues to this day.
Underwood and the adams Is have gotten together several times
to attend a preseason Panthers game or to share a meal.
(11:33):
Underwood didn't really understand why the Panthers weren't more proactive
with the adams Is, who, after all, had been tragically
affected by the team drafting Caruthan and bringing him to
Charlotte in the first place. So for the past few years,
Underwood has been in touch with Riley Fields, the Panthers
director of community Relations. I know that he wanted to
(11:56):
provide a game day experience for them, and the prior
season back in seventeen, I think there was the hope
that maybe he was going to come to a game
and then Chancellor was ill or something like that, and
it just it just never happened. So Fields has been
working for the Panthers since two thousand three, about two
(12:16):
years after Kruth was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.
Fields had never met the adams Is, but after talking
to Underwood, he wanted to do something for the family too.
So when Underwood told Fields he planned to bring Sandra
and Chancellor lead to a game this past October, Fields
decided to supersize the visit. Jason reached back out. He
wanted to still kind of follow through, I think on
(12:38):
the promise that he had made too to Sandra and
bring him to a game and um kind of describe
what they were doing that day, and and I thought
that we had an opportunity maybe to provide a little
bit of an enhancement to what Chancellor's experience could be
on that day. So it was started with the efforts
of I would say a good Samaritan, and um, it
(13:01):
just picked up a little bit of momentum from that
point on. I was covering the game on October when
the Panthers hosted the Baltimore Ravens. I met Jason and
his son and Sandra and Chancellor Lee outside the gates
at Bank of America Stadium. You got to cam Newton Jersey.
They had all just come from breakfast together and Chancellor
(13:21):
wore a brand new cam Newton jersey. Instead of heading
to their seats, however, we all met fields and he
walked them through the player's tunnel right out onto the
field where Chancellor Lee's father had once heard the roar
(13:45):
of seventy thousand fans cheering for him. I've got goose
bumps as we're sitting here talking about it. When Chancellor
came out of the tunnel, every on the sidelines like whoa,
and he got a pause. People in the stands there
was a pause. There was just support for him because
(14:08):
I think there's a light that radiates out of him
and to have people celebrate him in that moment for
almost an hour, Sandra and Chancellor Earle stood on the
(14:28):
field while the Panthers warmed up. Fields hadn't told the
players they were coming, and not all of them knew
the story anyway. On the chaotic night Chancellor Lee was
born in Most of the players on this team were
still in elementary school, but some of them still recognize
the team's special guests and made it a point to
welcome them. Pro Bowl center Ryan Khalil is a dad himself. Yeah,
(14:55):
it's familiar with the story, and it's a situation that
I can possibly fathom. I gotta go. Learned me the
family and seemed like a great kid. So he came
over to the Adams Is twice, the second time to
offer Chancellor Ly a gift. We usually have an extra
(15:15):
ball at the end of our individual period, so and
I've usually given it out to kids around the sidelines,
so I thought it would be right up to giving ball.
Look at you. Anthers safety Mike Adams isn't related to
Sandra or Chancellor Lee, but seeing the last name Adams
(15:38):
on his jersey still made Sandra feel like she had
family on the field. I recognize him because he don't.
To me, he looked just like right when she said Adams. Adams,
you're out of your my cousin, My cousin did I
went over there and then I'm like, okay, yeah, we cousin.
It was humble. Before I left, I give in my
(16:00):
gloves and and everything, and you know, I was proud
to just being his presence. You know, it made me
feel good. Then came another player visit from wide receiver
Devin Funch. Us Fields and the rest of the Panthers
just call him Funch. Several guys came over and Funch
(16:22):
was in his I'm just gonna say, full battle regalia.
I mean, he had a helmet on. They're all padded up.
I mean, it's it's a pretty spectacular site. And then
certainly someone like Devon who's six three six four, they
look like superheroes in in some sense. And he came
over and um handed Chancellor's gloves and got down set
(16:43):
a few things to him, and you know, then he
was off Chancellors holding the gloves and he just said wow,
and just out of nowhere, he turned and I could
feel him looking at me, and I looked down at
him and he just says, thank you. That it was
(17:04):
just I mean, no, that was not expected. Of him.
He did not have to say that. That was just um,
it's a good stuff. It's good stuff. Sandra's favorite visit
on the sideline came from someone who wouldn't be playing
that day. Hedge fund billionaire David Tepper bought the team
(17:29):
from Jerry Richardson. This past summer. Tepper has taught publicly
about growing up with an abusive father. He specifically wanted
to introduce himself to the adams Is and then the
three of them took a photo together. The NFL, about
four plus years ago, found ourselves in a complicated situation
(17:53):
and facing a lot of challenges and made a decision
to be part of the solution on domestic and send
sexual assault. Anna Isaacson is the NFL Senior vice president
for Social Responsibility. She told me recently about how the
NFL is trying to better educate players in society at
large about domestic violence. And we've been looking at it
(18:15):
through a couple of different lenses, handling discipline in a
certain way, but also really focusing on survivors and family
members and providing resources when people find themselves in situations
dealing with violence. All of that sounds like great ideas.
And very little of it was probably in place in
(18:35):
when Ray Caruth's conspiracy first surfaced. I think there's a
better understanding. I honestly think that there was a lack
of understanding of how pervasive the issues were, of why
people find themselves in these situations, what leads to it,
what are the warning signs. I think hearing from survivors
and telling their story helps people to see that this
(18:58):
goes on everywhere. And when you're hearing someone speak emotionally
of the real impact that it's had on their family.
I mean, of course I find it incredibly powerful and moving,
but I just think it moves people in a different way.
(19:21):
About ninety minutes later, I caught up with Sandra in
the stands take pictures. The thoughts of the players and
the owner came over into It was huge. The team
upgraded their seats for a better view, and after the
(19:42):
Panthers first touchdown Jeffrey tim five touchdown, the in house
TV cameras showed Sandra and Chancellory on the huge video
scoreboards had a name upon the thing when you walking,
where is that? And the crowd went crazy. Even the
(20:18):
players on the field heard. The noise level changed then
including All Pro linebacker Luke Keikley. You know, I didn't
I didn't have a chance to meet him, but they
showed him on the Jumbo tryn and he was he
was smiling big time and and you could just hear
hear the crowd react when when they showed him on there,
he was half he was excited, and I really got
the crowd going. I tried to ask Chancellor Lee about
(20:39):
the experience, but Panther fans kept coming by, anxious to
meet him. One after another. They asked for photos, what
the Adams is, or simply wanted to tell them how
inspirational they were. Chancellor Lee just kept smiling. It kind
of accelerated when they got the jumbo tron, you know,
(21:01):
because not a lot of people may have known Underwood
had a front row seat as Sandra and her grandson
were approached over and over, I'd say forty or fifty
some some of the people they were just there to
tell her how inspired they were, and yeah, they generally
wanted a picture, but you know, Sandra just she just
one after the other, okay, okay, and those conversations always
(21:27):
became more than just a quick hello. Even thirteen year
old Alexander Underwood found that when you asked Sandra how
she's doing, you often end up talking a lot about yourself.
Oh she's so kind. She always wants to know more
about everybody else. You know, I thought somebody that would
you know, was in the papers and everything, would act differently,
(21:49):
but no, she's just like one of us, but way kinder.
In my time with the adams Is over the years,
I've often seen Sandra be hesitant about strangers wanting to
interact with Chancellor League. But on this day, all the
interactions were positive. Sandra made sure of that. I really
still want to thank the Panthers and their staff about
(22:10):
how smoothly everything went, and and I felt like that
was my time to really give back to the community
because people have been praying for us and really encouraging
us for all these years, and this was just my
way of saying, come on, welcome in. You know, in
the past, I'd been a little reluctant about everybody taking
(22:33):
pictures of Chancellor and everything, but you know, this was
my chance to show our hearts and to give back
and say, hey, sure, you know, come on take a
picture with us. We're glad to be here. You know,
it really made him feel special, and especially being so
close to his birthday as well, that was like a
treat for him. After Sandra and Chancellor release Great Day
(23:03):
at the Stadium, it seemed like at least one part
of this saga had some closure, But after two decades
of reporting, I felt like there was still something missing
from the story. Caruth himself all right. So it's a
pretty November day in Pennsylvania, where Ray Caruth now lives.
Caruth hadn't returned my messages in months, but through a
(23:26):
little more reporting I had been able to figure out
that he was living with a friend. So in November
I took a flight to Pennsylvania and I rented a
car and I'm headed there right now in a black
Buick regal license plate. I recorded these notes while sitting
in a parking lot near the highway, and so my
(23:46):
plan is to just walk up to the door and
knock on it and make sure that he doesn't want
to speak to me. In fact, he hasn't done a
lengthy sit down interview about the events of Night to
shureke adams death really ever. But the closest he came
was in two thousand one when he talked to c
(24:07):
an n s I, Ray, did you conspire to murder
Shriek Adams and your unborn son? No? I did not.
I was not there. I didn't see the shooting. I
didn't hear any shots. I can't testify anything that happened
Surrek and Ray Road. But even that story, he has
changed some components of it through David Rudolph in this podcast. Uh,
(24:28):
and this is sort of new information. I guess. At
some point on Ray Road, Ray saw Van Brett Watkins
pull out and he panned. He took off because he
was afraid that Van Brett Watkins was coming to get him.
I'm feeling a little bit nervous about this. Certainly he
(24:50):
doesn't know that I'm coming. I drove to Caruth's house
and parked in his empty driveway. OW walked seven steps
up to the glass storm door inside. The front door
was open, and I could see a pair of small
dogs that looked like chihuahua's barking like crazy. I rang
(25:10):
the doorbell and then the barking stopped. A silhouette appeared
from around the corner. A muscular man about five ft ten.
His head was freshly shaven. It was Ray Kruth. He
opened the glass door and stepped outside, wearing a white
T shirt, red gym shorts, and Nike tennis shoes. I
(25:34):
introduced myself, not really sure what he would do next,
but really not expecting what he actually did. Carruth laughed,
I had a feeling you might pop up sometime, he said.
He asked me not to tell anyone where he lives,
and I agreed. I apologized for showing up at his
door unannounced. I explained that I didn't have his phone number,
(25:56):
and that I thought it was only fair to give
him one more chance to talk before we finished a
podcast that is named for him. After all. He was
silent for a moment, and then Kruth opened the door.
Come on in, he said, I can't share Kruth's voice here, unfortunately,
because he declined to let me record our conversation. He
(26:17):
told me he's trying to rebuild his life quietly, but
he pointed to his kitchen table. Have a seat. He
told me he did agree to let me share almost
all of what we discussed over the next half hour
about his past, the defendant, ray Lamar Karuth, and his future.
He got into that white suv and now is unclear
(26:39):
where he is off to, but his time here at
Sampson Correctional Institute has come to an end. He sat
across from me with that same half smile I remembered
from the day he got out of prison. He was
holding a bottle of cleaner and a sponge. Kruth said
he was getting ready for a visit from his mother, Theodrey,
who was flying in from Cali, Fornia that night. I
(27:01):
could see the kitchen had indeed been cleaned like someone
expecting to visit from their mother. And when I mentioned
I hadn't seen Theodrey at the prison in October, Karuth
confirmed this would be the first time they had seen
each other since he got out. Something else stood out
at that kitchen table. There were ten boxes of different
kinds of cheerios lined up directly in front of me,
in two rows of five. Kruth smiled when I asked
(27:24):
about them. Okay, buddy, what's your favorite kind of cheerios?
He said he had seen an ad for the cereal
while he was locked up. As he put it in
the commercial and African American dad is fixing his young
son breakfast. Other favorite were favorite. Karuth told me the
(27:45):
ad stayed with him on an emotional level. Okay, but
what's your most favorite of all? Kind of half with
you me too. He later put these thoughts in an email.
He said, I could read here quote the commercial had
(28:06):
sentimental value mainly because of the content, though not necessarily
the color of the actor's skin. I guess it resonated
with me because it was the kind of moment I'm
sure every man would love to have with his child.
It was a poignant reminder of what I was missing
out with on my own children, the closeness, the moments,
and the memories. End quote. Caru said he has a
(28:28):
job lined up, though it's one he can do on
his laptop from his home. In fact, in our conversation,
Kruth said he doesn't leave the house much yet. He
said he has found a nearby jim where he can
keep up the two hours a day, six days a
week regimen he developed in prison. Had some roll with
John Madden and John Let's talk about the trouble of
(28:50):
Carolina Panthers. He said he weighs two and two pounds,
only two pounds over his NFL playing weight into the
end zone touchdown Ray correct and sitting there in the kitchen,
he certainly looked like it, unlike players with longer careers.
Kruth said he had suffered no adverse health effects from
his time in the NFL, though he said he wonders
(29:10):
about concussions, and that quote, I once got hit so
hard I couldn't close my eyes. A teammate slapped me
upside the helmet with full force, and my vision was restored.
My eyelids have been flipped inside out end quote. On Fridays,
he goes to pray at a nearby mosque. Karuth converted
(29:34):
to Islam in prison, and he said that he leaves
the mosque each time quote awestruck, but Kruth knows he's
a man with a past. He wears a black rubber
bracelet that his mother gave him. On it are the
numbers twelve, fifteen ninety nine, in ten, twenty two eighteen,
(29:54):
the dates of his incarceration. On the other side are
the words never forget, twists and turns, and here he
said his mother wears a copy of the same bracelet.
And if Karuth has learned anything about social media since
his release from prison, it's that some people have very
strong feelings about him. It's only a matter of time.
(30:15):
He said, before someone snaps a photo of him at
the grocery store or at the gym, and it's all
over Facebook or Twitter. But one day, he said, he
hopes to live a more normal life. He wants to
join a bowling league, because once upon a time, Karuth
was good at that sport too. He had his own
shoes and a customized red ball engraved with the words
(30:38):
Sugar Ray with sugar spelled s u g A. He
said he still enjoys softball, a sport he played recreationally
in Charlotte and then again in prison. Kruth says he
loved playing center field partly because it was the only
time he had so much open space to roam. He
said he's using this time on parole to gauge whether
(31:00):
or not any of that will be possible here. If not,
Karuth told me he'll make arrangements to leave the country.
The first shades of normalcy are returning. It had been
so long since it had been in a car, he said.
Karruth often got car sick in his first few weeks
after release. Driving again was important to him, but his
(31:21):
license expired long ago while he was in prison. Getting
a new one became an early way he's had to
start over. And I literally could see how proud Karuth
was when he passed the test for his Pennsylvania Learners permit.
The other day, he texted me a photo of himself
standing outside in the driving snow. He's wearing a bushy hat,
a heavy coat, and a huge grin, holding up his
(31:43):
new permit and pointing to it, ma'am. Where Clearly, in
our conversation since his release, Kruth prefers to talk about
now instead of then said what did it mean? He
(32:04):
steadfastly refused to discuss Sharika Adam's death, saying it would
do no good for anyone. He has never admitted to
hiring Van Brett Watkins to shoot Sharika, although Karuth's lawyer
told me in August that Karuth no longer feels the
jury got the verdict wrong. I think in some strange way,
the jury sort of figured it out and sort of
(32:28):
compromised to a place that you know, even Ray can accept. Okay,
I'm responsible for this situation, so I needed to pay
a price. I told Karuth that I spent several hours
in prison with Watkins for this podcast, and that Watkins
told me he wanted Kruth dead. What do you feel
about Ray Kruth now? Karuth told me he's aware. He
(32:53):
said he didn't want to delve into those threats, although
he is tired of Watkins blaming him for making Watkins
pulled the trigger in the drive by shooting. He's obviously
a very angry and disturbed man who doesn't seem to
care too much for me. Karuth wrote, if I could
tell him one thing, it would be that we must
all accept responsibility for the decisions we make in life.
(33:14):
He and he alone, is accountable for the situation he
finds himself in, not me. I wish him nothing but
inner peace. Kruth says he's found that piece himself. He
wrote to me that quote, I've forgiven myself for any
and all wrongdoing that I've done in the past, and
I'm simply trying to live my life as peacefully and
gracefully as I possibly can end quote. But whether or
(33:41):
not his future will ever include his disabled son, whether
or not Karuth will ever have his own Cheerios moment
with Chancellor Lee is perhaps the biggest unknown. For years,
Sandra had requested visitation papers from Karuth so that she
could bring his son to need him in prison, Kruth
(34:01):
dragged his feet, and the dynamic irritated Sandra. I am
not going to keep begging a killer to want to
be part of my grandson's life. Shortly before his release,
Kruth finally did send the papers, but by then Sandra
and Chancellor Lee had changed their minds and decided not
to go. Kruth told me he would like to be
(34:22):
in Chancellor Lee's life, but that he's also not going
to force the issue. He asked me to relay that
message to Sandra, and then he wrote down his phone
number so I could tell him what she said. They're
in his kitchen. He was more pleasant than I often
am when a stranger comes to my door wanting something
for me. He was charming at times. He laughed a lot,
(34:43):
often at his own expense. I'm not sure what I expected,
but that wasn't it. And see, that's the thing about it.
Like when I watched shows that tell his story. He
reminded me of what his friend Monique Young told me.
He just had that type of personality, very funny and silly.
You know, people may not know that, but he's very
funny and silly. Yet for the rest of his life,
(35:04):
Karuth will also be a convicted felon who served nearly
nineteen years in connection with Sharika's death. As much as
he's excited about his second chance, Kruth knows the impacts
of his actions are permanent. Had he just been manipulating
me or had prison really changed him? Was he going
to become a productive member of society? Would he ever
(35:27):
see the adams Is And how would Saunder react when
I told her I had finally seen Karuth in person
after all these years. After half an hour, I could
tell Karuth was being polite but also ready for me
to go. I thanked Ra Karuth for his time, and
he sent me on my way with a bottle of
water from his refrigerator. So I just left Rakkruth's house
(35:51):
and we had a long conversation at his kitchen table.
He was quite surprised to see me With that. I
headed home. Soon after my trip to Pennsylvania, I met
Sandra and Chancellor Lee at a park near their home
in Charlotte. Sandra and I sat at a picnic table
(36:12):
under an awning. Chancellor Lee had just gotten picked up
from school and he decided to stay in the car
and listen to the radio. I hadn't told Sandra that
I had gone to see Karuth, but she knows how
long I've covered this story, and she's a smart lady.
Interview him. You were you were than the Martin, than
(36:35):
you even thought you were. Yes, I did, did you good? First?
I gave Sandra another letter that Van Brett Watkins had
sent me from prison, this one after the hit man
had seen the print series that accompanied this podcast. On
one corner of the envelope, the man who shot Sharika
had drawn a picture of himself in prison. In the drawing,
(36:56):
he hung upside down by shackles from a cinder wall.
He pinned some of his nicknames on the picture too,
serial killer hit Man New York. In the letter, he
again contrasted his inability to forgive Caruth with Sandra's ability
to move on following her daughter's death. Mostly, the letter
(37:18):
was like every other letter Watkins has sent me before
Caruth's release, and in that way it reinforced how little
might change for the Adams As now that Chancellor Lee's
father is a freeman. I really see our lives going
on just like it had been in the past. Ray
is not in North Carolina. I don't think he will
becoming to North Carolina. Nothing's changed with that. So I
(37:43):
see us going on and discontinuing the work that we
do advocating for peace, you know. And I can do
that without even saying his name literally, not to say literally,
not to say his name, because I want the same respect.
I don't think he has any reason to be saying
my name or saying the name of Chancellor Lee Adams,
(38:06):
because for me, my main goal is the Chancellor knows
nothing but love. So is he aware that his father
is out of prison at this point? He is, He
is aware that he's out of prison, and he knows
that he's far away. And I've reassured him because he
was very upset. He was very upset by the thought
(38:29):
he was coming to take him away from me. And
Chancellor doesn't normally cry. He actually cried and clung to
me so much. Did I had to really just reassure him,
nobody has taken you from me. You're not going anywhere.
And so, you know, I think he's he's settled back
(38:49):
down into that comfort level. I told her that Caruth
was holding out hope for a relationship with his son
and asked her what she thought give us time and
give us time. I'm not saying that I never want
him to see Chancellor and meet Chancellor. I want to
see where his head is because you know, I'm doing
(39:10):
my part, and really I want him to just go
ahead and live his life peacefully. And we're gonna live
our lives peacefully. We're just gonna be concentrating on, you know,
maybe giving to other people making them feel more at ease,
because we're kind of old pros at this, and you know,
you never stop missing your loved ones. But for the
(39:32):
families that have just lost loved ones, the feelings are
really wrong. So you know, we're here to offer hope
that hey, life can go on. You can still have
a smile ministry. You know, you can laugh and it's
okay to move on because you're doing that in honor
of your loved one. I mean, that's an important message,
(39:54):
right for people who are listening to this, but they
feel guilty if they're something bad's happened, the death of
a love one that I can never be happy again,
And I think they do their loved one a greater
disservice by doing that, because you defined the whole life
by that moment that they departed rather than all the
good that they did while they were living. And I
(40:17):
think that just adds to Sharika's legacy, because I said,
you never really know how many people you are impacting.
But the joy that I find in this is that
what people meant for evil has turned out to be really,
really good. It gave me a voice, It catapulted me
(40:38):
into my purpose, and my life couldn't be more fulfilled.
The following week, I called Ruth myself and told him
what Sandra had said, including the part about his son crying.
During the forty one minute phone call, Caruth reiterated to
me that he would quote never in a million years
(41:00):
try to separate them. Following our call, Kruth sent me
several emails to more fully explain his thoughts and said
those could be shared. He wrote, quote, when it comes
to Miss Adams and Chancellor, my only desire is for
true forgiveness and a genuine opportunity to be a part
of my son's life. And out of respect for Miss
(41:22):
Adams and her feelings towards me, I have no plans
of ever trying to force my way in. I'm going
to be patient and give her the space she rightfully
deserves when the time is right, I believe that Miss
Adams will eventually extend an invitation for me to have
contact with my son, and I will eagerly accept. I
(41:44):
since Karuth is being sincere about that, he told me
that he's spoken on the phone with Ray Jr. His
older son, whose mother was Kruth's high school sweetheart, every
day since his release. He said that as soon as
authorities in Pennsylvania will let him travel out of stay,
he plans to go visit that son. And in one
of his recent emails, Caruth asked me this rhetorical question,
(42:07):
which I've thought a lot about. Quote question for you,
and I'm not actually looking for a response. Do you
think that it's possible for a generally good person to
get him or herself involved in a situation as heart
wrenchingly horrible as the one I was in? Or is
it your belief that such a person could only be
(42:28):
cut from the worst of molds? End quote? I suspect
listeners of this podcast will have their own answers to that.
I've received so much feedback to these first seven chapters,
the vast majority about Sharika, Sandra and Chancellor Lee. The
heroes of this complicated story. People have told me how
(42:51):
they admire Sharika's strength, Chancellor Lee's determination, and Sandra's grace
through the darkness of nearly unimaginable us. It is their
life that shines in this story, guiding the road ahead
for all of us. I'm Scott Fowler and this podcast
is produced by Jeff Signer and Rachel Wise and Davin
(43:13):
Coburn at McClatchy Studios. Find lots more about this case
at Charlotte Observer dot com slash Caruth and for just
thirty dollars, subscribe now to a full year of The
Observer's award winning sports coverage at Charlotte Observer dot com
slash sports pass. Thank you to our nonprofit partners No More,
(43:34):
the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Safe Alliance and the
Children's Defense Fund. Leave us a rating and a review
on Apple Podcast, and you can reach me directly at
s Fowler at Charlotte Observer dot com. Thanks so much
for listening, Boo
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