March 25, 2025 • 29 mins
Ken's new civilian life has a fiery collision with the underworld resulting in death and destruction. A life full of secrets takes its toll on the family.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
If you're listening to a tenor foot TV podcast, Girls.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Krook County is released weekly and brought to you absolutely free.
But if you want to hear the whole season right now,
it's available ad free on tenderfoot Plus. For more information,
check out the show notes. Enjoy the episode.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
You're listening to Krook County. The views and opinions expressed
in this podcast are solely those of the individuals participating
in the podcast. This episode also contains subject matter, including
graphic depictions of violence, which may not be suitable for everyone.
Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Hello.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
Friends, We've come such a long way since we launched
Krook County, and I want to thank you for sticking
with me as I tell this story, and for all
the incredible words of kindness and support showed.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Me over these past eight weeks. I'd like to show
that appreciation by having an open and honest conversation with you,
the listeners, on a bonus episode which will air in
a couple weeks. So please visit our instagram at Crook
County Podcast and leave me a comment or an audio
message with questions about the show or anything that you
(01:29):
feel is relevant and I will do my very best
to answer as many of them as I can. Thank
you so much. Our family is so grateful to know
that we are not alone in this journey of discovery
and healing, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Previously on Crook County, I.
Speaker 6 (01:51):
Really wanted to get back into civilian life. I was
ready for it.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Ken leaves the outfit for the Chicago Fire Department.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Just when you think you're away from all this shit,
I'm covering up.
Speaker 6 (02:01):
Fucking murders that these cops are doing.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
The cops are just as crooked as the criminals.
Speaker 7 (02:07):
So the brother of the cops, you know, and you're
so dependent on them that I wouldn't even be here
today if I hadn't stayed on the right side of that.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
And Kenny learns that putting his past behind him is
an impossible task.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
And I always had that pendulum swinging over my fucking
head that I could be called in at any time.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
My name is Kyle Tequila. Welcome to Crook County.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Just that.
Speaker 6 (02:41):
Yeah, he's a soldier, but he's a higher end soldier.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
I've had experiences with them in the past, and I
never liked him, never appreciated him, never even wanted to
recognize him as a human fucking being. And that was
my mission to snuff the fucking light out of this sky.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Episode eight, the rear view mirror.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
I can remember heading off to work with the fire
department still and I'm on the Eisenhower Expressway heading east.
Speaker 6 (03:36):
I see him.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
There's a lot of traffic in the morning, so there's
stop and go, stop and go. So anyway, I managed
to warm my way in and stop and go up
to him. I was on his left, roll down the
window with my we had electric windows even back then.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
Hey believe it or not, roll.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Down the window, spit and of course I knew I
were good as Iri up. He heard it, he saw me,
He spun out of control, and the race was on.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
The question I asked him was simple. You spent all
these years running around the streets of Chicago working for
the outfit, but you are also working these same streets
as a firefighter and a paramedic. So what happens when
you inevitably run into somebody anew from your days in
the mob.
Speaker 6 (04:32):
So we did weaving in and out of traffic.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
On the pull off sections right and left, and people
actually getting out of the way for two and a
half miles with this one hundred mile an hour fucking chase.
So I led the son of a bitch right into
a kill. We have these concrete embankments in Chicago that
(05:09):
the left is the exit and the right is where
you continue traveling. So I led this son of a
bitch because I knew he was raging.
Speaker 6 (05:20):
It wasn't even thinking properly. I knew it.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
So I led him right the right into the exit.
I can't remember what street. I led him right into
the embankment, and I made a quick chop left and
kept going at about seventy miles per hour. But he
wasn't fast enough. He hit that concrete embankment and his
(05:47):
fucking car exploded. I watched it in my rooview mirror,
so I knew nothing was going to happen with this guy.
Speaker 6 (05:57):
He was just simply dead.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
So now you're going to ask yourself, how does a
guy working for a fire departm go out and snuff
out a fucking mobster in front of three hundred people
and go home the next morning and feel good about himself. Well,
you got to understand this. People. I'll use civilians out there.
(06:27):
These people are evil garbage. They deserve to be dead.
The world is a better place without them. You have
no idea what these people are capable of doing, and
have done, and will continue to fucking do, not unless
(06:52):
their lives are snatched from them. And this particular incident,
I knew this fuck. I knew his fucking history, and
I knew I had a snatch the life bier this fuck.
So did I feel bad, No, not one fucking bit.
(07:18):
I slept, woke up the next morning, and did whatever
he had to do without even thinking about it. It
was just a normal fucking kill, that's all, and my
mind at that time that needed.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
To be done.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
I actually feel okay about doing it because I really
believe I did the world of favor because the only
thing this man could have done was make things worse.
That's the people. I don't know what else to fucking
tell you. And if you can't live with that, then.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (07:54):
Grow the fuck.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Up to the top of the porch, to the top
(08:18):
of the wall, now, dash away, dash away, dash away.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Along. It's Christmas Eve in twenty nineteen, So up to.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
The housetop the courses they flew with sleigh full of
toys and Saint Nicholas too, Santa Santa Santa.
Speaker 6 (08:36):
That's St Nicholas. Saint Nicholas and Santa are the same. Dude,
do you know that.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
My dad has been staying with us for a few
days while we recorded these final interviews.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
Ludoffs. No, there's no Rootoff in this No. Yeah, I
don't think there's a Rudolph in this one. No, there's
no Rootoff in this one.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Whoa, they messed up.
Speaker 6 (09:03):
I'll maybe they just forgot on this particular Christmas. That
doesn't mean he's not gonna be here. It's nice. I
can almost guarantee he's gonna be here. It's nice.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
He might have been out for this Christmas here though,
you know, maybe he had a cold.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
Who knows. Let me think.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
I don't see any shiny.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I don't see it either, But we're not gonna worry
about that, right.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
It's so strange to see my dad switch from this cold,
hard killer to the loving grandpa almost instantaneously.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Look at that beard, say look at us, what's that
cookies and milk?
Speaker 6 (09:40):
Just like that?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Right over there?
Speaker 6 (09:42):
Buddy? That what is that carrots? Yeah, that's a carrot?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah, we're gonna go with that one. That's oh, that's right,
that's for the reindeer they gotta eat too.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
Yeah, smart guy.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
But it's the perfect example of just how easy it
was for him to hide this dark double life from
us for all these years.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
I heard him explain as he drove out of sight,
Marry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
As my wife and I sit here by the fire
watching our five year old son Lincoln reading the Night
before Christmas with his grandfather, I'm also reminded of just
how much I loved my dad when I was that age.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
Good Night, Lincoln, I'll see you a morning, lady.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
And even after everything that's happened since, I'll always remember
the man that he was when I was young. I'm
(10:57):
back with my dad's old ambulance partner, Mike. I tell
him what I know about Ken's mafia passed and he
sits there calmly listening. It's mostly me talking, and I
can't tell one way or the other if he's heard
any of this before. He's certainly not telling me. If
he has, how do you feel in me telling you
these things about his mom life?
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Well, I'm not surprised.
Speaker 7 (11:22):
You know, none of it's shocking to me because I
you know, I knew him at the point where he
was transitioning, you know, that's when I first met him,
you know, So, I mean I knew he was way
different than the other people I was working with, you know,
But I saw all the upside potential of your dad,
(11:43):
you know, because he was really good at being a
paramedic and a firefighter.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Amidst all of the awful things that happened in Ken's life,
and perhaps maybe even because of it, he threw his
entire self into his work as a firefighter.
Speaker 7 (12:02):
He had a passion for it, you know, he was
really good at it, and he loved doing it.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I dug up some articles from local papers mentioning Ken's
exploits as a first responder. One article from nineteen ninety
two interviews Ken, who was fighting for fair pay for
his fellow medics and in a sort of twist of fate.
Another article from the Daily Herald in nineteen ninety one
mentions Ken as the first firefighter on the scene of
(12:29):
a fatal plane crash at DuPage Airport. Just a little
over a decade after that, American Airlines crash that inspired
Ken to join the fire department in the first place.
Speaker 7 (12:39):
You could see that he liked it. You know that
he appreciated the fact that he had helped somebody.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
There were many occasions over the years where I got
to see him in action at the station, on ride alongs,
neighborhood events. I witnessed first hand the respect of his
peers and his chief. One of my favorite memories of
all time was probably in third or fourth grade, when
my dad was invited to speak in front of my
whole school about fire safety. After the speech, there was
(13:09):
a Q and A with the students and one smart
ass kid takes the microphone, points at my dad's pants
and goes, did you know your fly was open? So
my dad looks down and sure enough, his zipper has
been open this entire time. So he just looks at
this kid right in the eye and he goes, I
just wanted to make sure you all were paying attention,
and he zips it back up and the whole place
(13:29):
just went nuts. I mean, people were crying, laughing, the kids, teachers, everyone.
One of the funniest things I've ever seen.
Speaker 7 (13:39):
The firefighting thing. He liked that more than I did.
I mean, sure, you know, it's a lot of fun.
It's exciting. You know, there's always the thrill of are
you going to get blown up or not? You know, so,
I mean it's kind of an adrenaline rush kind of thing.
But your dad was more, way more into the firefighting
(14:00):
thing than I ever was. He always wanted to be
the first guy in, get there and get his airpack on,
and get in before anybody else could get in there.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
You know.
Speaker 7 (14:08):
He always wanted to be at the front of the
line for that. I remember a couple times he got
hurt at fire scenes and I was just like, geez,
settle down, man, you don't have to be the first
guy in all the time. And he was like, I
got to get in there. He had to be the
first guy in. You know, he really wanted that.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
And then sometime in the late nineties, the guys at
the station had just finished their dinner when the alarm
bell sounded and a call came through that would forever
change Kenny's life and set in motion a disastrous chain
of events that would eventually destroy our entire family.
Speaker 7 (14:50):
The scariest call I ever did in my life. We
had a fire at a It was a grocery store,
but it used to be a bowling alley, so it
had the bowstring truss roof, you know, the arched roof
like that, and it was very high roof in the place.
So they had to get a thirty foot extension ladder
(15:11):
to get up there. And this thirty foot banger weighs
a ton. It's like three guys got to carry it,
you know, And they had one guy healing it, and
that was your dad. And they had this firefighter and
full gear in an airpack going up into the scuttle.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
And he was a big guy.
Speaker 7 (15:28):
He was probably a two hundred and sixty pound firefighter
and you had fifty pounds of gear in an airpack, so
three hundred and ten pounds you're talking about. He was
all the way up at the tip of the ladder
going in the scuttle, and the ladder kicked out and
it fell on your dad, and the firefighter came down
(15:50):
and he landed right on top of your dad and
he is down on the ground and he looked like shit.
He was gray, and I thought, oh my.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
God, he's really hurt bad, you know.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
And it was probably the worst call I've ever done
in my life because I was so emotionally invested in
the call, and everybody's running around and screaming, and people
are flying back and forth, and I'm telling him slow down.
They're like running with the stretcher. I didn't want him
to dump it over and hurt him again, and so
(16:26):
everything got under control. We got him in the ambulance,
and my partner Joe, was on the phone to the
hospital and your Dad's tell him he started coming around
a bit, and he says, tell him this, tell him that,
tell him this, And my partner hands the phone to
(16:48):
your dad and says, do you want to talk to him?
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Or do you want me to talk to Stills? And
your dad goes, no, go ahead. That's when I knew
he was going to be okay.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
But it was really scary because I've seen a lot
of people look like he looked at that time that.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Have died on us on the way to the hospital.
So it was really scary.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
You know.
Speaker 7 (17:12):
The doctor even said that, you know, if he hadn't
been in such good physical condition at the time that.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
He would he would have never survived.
Speaker 8 (17:26):
It.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Fractured my left hand, fractured my right and left knee,
some damage to my face and skull, and had some surgeries,
got a lot of painkillers, and you know, where the
hell have you been my whole life? You know, it
took a really liking to that, took a really liking
the painkillers, and then that's when I started having problems
(17:54):
with my addiction.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Was after getting those pain pills, after those surgeries.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Catalyzed my addiction, and then fueled it after that, after
it got catalyzed.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
In the years following the accident, the painkillers became a
constant companion, and as the addiction got worse, Ken gradually
shrank inward and distanced himself from his family and friends.
Speaker 7 (18:22):
He knew he was struggling with stuff, but I couldn't
tell what. And I didn't really ask him because I
felt like he wasn't gonna tell me anyway. You know,
he likes to play his cards very close to the
chest when it comes to his personal life and feelings
and what he's going through.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
When the pills stop being enough to satisfy his addiction,
he turned to heroin, which isn't as easy to hide.
You would look at his arms, they were clear as day.
You could see the veins from his fucking his inner
elbow all the way down to his wrist and following
up towards his shoulder.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
They were just gross. He knew something was up.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
You know, it's fucking horrible.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I don't need to rehash the pain we all went
through during this period of self destruction. But as the
years went on and the family fell apart, Holly Corey
and myself eventually separated ourselves from Ken physically and emotionally.
After all the pain and abuse, what else could we do.
I had been a strange from him for nearly five
years when he finally reached out to me for help
(19:42):
in twenty thirteen, and I checked him into rehab in California,
and I always wondered why now, what change had occurred
to make him suddenly surrender himself to getting clean. I
think Ken's brother Rich may have the answer.
Speaker 9 (20:00):
Right before he moved out to California, he called me
up and we were talking and.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
I just knew it.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
You know.
Speaker 9 (20:09):
I don't want to call it a twin thing, because
we never had that, but there was something about his tone, something,
And I left work and I went to the apartment
and I walked in and he was sitting there in
a chair, and that pistol was sitting right next to him,
(20:32):
and I looked at him and I said, what are
you doing. I remember the response, but I said, you
should probably give me that, and he said, I think
you're right. So, as far as I'm concerned, I saved
his life because he was in a really bad place.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Over the last ten years, as my dad sobered up
and embarked on the long, painful path to healing, he
began to open up to me for the first time.
And even though the truth is so much more fucked
up than I could have ever imagined, I'm thankful for
theopportunity to finally see the man I call father for
(21:11):
who he really is.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
And I just hope that God I get forgiven for this.
I just hope he could forgive me. I really do,
because I think about it all the time. Man, regret
it the second of it.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Be careful with choices, people, Be careful the choices you make.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
We can come back and haunt your lifetime.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Throughout this entire process, I have been constantly shocked about
how I can still be constantly shocked. Whenever I learned
some new, awful truth about the world my dad lived in.
My first reaction is how is that even possible? But
then a second, even more powerful reality hits me that
I have been completely sheltered from the evil that played
(22:04):
my dad's entire existence. If his goal to keep this
world away from us, then he succeeded, and despite everything else,
I'm grateful to him for that much. I also want
(22:24):
to express my deep gratitude to the people featured in
this story who were so gracious and brave to open
themselves up to me during these difficult interviews. To my
amazing mom for her strength and perseverance during these last
twenty years as she watched her life crumble around her.
To my best friend and my brother Corey, who still
(22:45):
carries the weight of our father's abuse. To my uncle
Rich for crawling back into his painful past and shedding
some light on their own abusive childhood, and of course,
for saving my dad's life that day in twenty thirteen.
To Jeff Cohne of the Chicago Tribune for sharing his
unmatched expertise on all things mafia. And finally to my
(23:08):
dad's old buddy Mike, who also wanted to share some
words of gratitude.
Speaker 7 (23:14):
He changed my life just being friends with him. He
helped me stand up for myself and be more assertive
in my life and changed my life, you know, forever.
And when I was going into treatment center and I
was struggling, I went and sat and talked to your dad.
(23:37):
He probably doesn't even remember it. It really helped me
get on the path I needed to be on, you know.
He really steered me in the right direction, which is
kind of funny because he was probably messed up at
the time himself, you know, but put me on the
path for my recovery. I wish he understood how important
(24:00):
that he is to me. I'm basically here because of him,
But he doesn't probably realize that.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
So where does that leave us now? Who the hell knows.
I suppose it depends on who you ask. My brother
Corey and my uncle Rich have already made up their minds.
Speaker 9 (24:21):
With everything in consideration. I just I can't, you know,
be the better man and forgive and forget. I just
can't do it because there's just too many things for
too long, you know, just can't do it.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
My mom has a similar take, but focuses on the good.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
I have many video tapes to look back on on
the happy times. I don't have any tapes of the
horrible times.
Speaker 6 (24:53):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
This makes me happy. For me, I've come to peace
with the past. It has tempered me, made me stronger.
I am not ashamed of it. I do not run
from it. I look it right in the eyes and
embrace it. Learn from it, share it with the world,
(25:14):
And one day, when he's old enough, I will share
it with my son and he will know how far
we have come together in spite of it. That is
the real legacy of my father, and that is what
I will choose to remember. Crook County is a production
(25:56):
of iHeart Podcasts and Tenderfoot TV in association with Common Enemy.
All episodes are produced, written and hosted by Me Kyle Tequila.
Executive producers are Donald Dolbright and Payne Lindsay. Original score
by Makeup and Vanity Set. Main title song is called
Crush by the band Starry Eyes. End credit song is
(26:18):
called Dying Islands, also by the band Starry Eyes. Sound
mix by Cooper Skinner. For more podcasts like Crook County,
search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app or visit
Tenderfoot dot TV. Thanks for listening to Season one of
Crook County. It's been an honor to share this story
with you. But don't worry. There's more to come.
Speaker 8 (26:42):
Die in islands, fade away, leave in me alone, Nansi,
my sab it you the show, the deep basbus a
(27:03):
call and the deepest bes calling me.
Speaker 10 (27:12):
Stops call tonight, indifference.
Speaker 8 (27:17):
Who have everyone leaving? Now? Can't believe.
Speaker 10 (27:27):
Southeast he was to do all the things I've done.
I lay awake at.
Speaker 8 (27:37):
Night trying to say, here's got some of the first
bodies that nobody knows. I can't be.
Speaker 10 (27:50):
Alone and tell you that straight away. Leaving me alone,
that's say my stagger to the shore, the deep basins
(28:13):
a calling, stap me a contact colin the deep basbooes,
the collarm.
Speaker 8 (28:34):
Love my Ma, so die a sad way
If you're listening to a tenor foot TV podcast, Girls.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Krook County is released weekly and brought to you absolutely free.
But if you want to hear the whole season right now,
it's available ad free on tenderfoot Plus. For more information,
check out the show notes. Enjoy the episode.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
You're listening to Krook County. The views and opinions expressed
in this podcast are solely those of the individuals participating
in the podcast. This episode also contains subject matter, including
graphic depictions of violence, which may not be suitable for everyone.
Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Hello.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
Friends, We've come such a long way since we launched
Krook County, and I want to thank you for sticking
with me as I tell this story, and for all
the incredible words of kindness and support showed.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Me over these past eight weeks. I'd like to show
that appreciation by having an open and honest conversation with you,
the listeners, on a bonus episode which will air in
a couple weeks. So please visit our instagram at Crook
County Podcast and leave me a comment or an audio
message with questions about the show or anything that you
(01:29):
feel is relevant and I will do my very best
to answer as many of them as I can. Thank
you so much. Our family is so grateful to know
that we are not alone in this journey of discovery
and healing, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Previously on Crook County, I.
Speaker 6 (01:51):
Really wanted to get back into civilian life. I was
ready for it.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Ken leaves the outfit for the Chicago Fire Department.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Just when you think you're away from all this shit,
I'm covering up.
Speaker 6 (02:01):
Fucking murders that these cops are doing.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
The cops are just as crooked as the criminals.
Speaker 7 (02:07):
So the brother of the cops, you know, and you're
so dependent on them that I wouldn't even be here
today if I hadn't stayed on the right side of that.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
And Kenny learns that putting his past behind him is
an impossible task.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
And I always had that pendulum swinging over my fucking
head that I could be called in at any time.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
My name is Kyle Tequila. Welcome to Crook County.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Just that.
Speaker 6 (02:41):
Yeah, he's a soldier, but he's a higher end soldier.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
I've had experiences with them in the past, and I
never liked him, never appreciated him, never even wanted to
recognize him as a human fucking being. And that was
my mission to snuff the fucking light out of this sky.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Episode eight, the rear view mirror.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
I can remember heading off to work with the fire
department still and I'm on the Eisenhower Expressway heading east.
Speaker 6 (03:36):
I see him.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
There's a lot of traffic in the morning, so there's
stop and go, stop and go. So anyway, I managed
to warm my way in and stop and go up
to him. I was on his left, roll down the
window with my we had electric windows even back then.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
Hey believe it or not, roll.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Down the window, spit and of course I knew I
were good as Iri up. He heard it, he saw me,
He spun out of control, and the race was on.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
The question I asked him was simple. You spent all
these years running around the streets of Chicago working for
the outfit, but you are also working these same streets
as a firefighter and a paramedic. So what happens when
you inevitably run into somebody anew from your days in
the mob.
Speaker 6 (04:32):
So we did weaving in and out of traffic.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
On the pull off sections right and left, and people
actually getting out of the way for two and a
half miles with this one hundred mile an hour fucking chase.
So I led the son of a bitch right into
a kill. We have these concrete embankments in Chicago that
(05:09):
the left is the exit and the right is where
you continue traveling. So I led this son of a
bitch because I knew he was raging.
Speaker 6 (05:20):
It wasn't even thinking properly. I knew it.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
So I led him right the right into the exit.
I can't remember what street. I led him right into
the embankment, and I made a quick chop left and
kept going at about seventy miles per hour. But he
wasn't fast enough. He hit that concrete embankment and his
(05:47):
fucking car exploded. I watched it in my rooview mirror,
so I knew nothing was going to happen with this guy.
Speaker 6 (05:57):
He was just simply dead.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
So now you're going to ask yourself, how does a
guy working for a fire departm go out and snuff
out a fucking mobster in front of three hundred people
and go home the next morning and feel good about himself. Well,
you got to understand this. People. I'll use civilians out there.
(06:27):
These people are evil garbage. They deserve to be dead.
The world is a better place without them. You have
no idea what these people are capable of doing, and
have done, and will continue to fucking do, not unless
(06:52):
their lives are snatched from them. And this particular incident,
I knew this fuck. I knew his fucking history, and
I knew I had a snatch the life bier this fuck.
So did I feel bad, No, not one fucking bit.
(07:18):
I slept, woke up the next morning, and did whatever
he had to do without even thinking about it. It
was just a normal fucking kill, that's all, and my
mind at that time that needed.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
To be done.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
I actually feel okay about doing it because I really
believe I did the world of favor because the only
thing this man could have done was make things worse.
That's the people. I don't know what else to fucking
tell you. And if you can't live with that, then.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (07:54):
Grow the fuck.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Up to the top of the porch, to the top
(08:18):
of the wall, now, dash away, dash away, dash away.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Along. It's Christmas Eve in twenty nineteen, So up to.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
The housetop the courses they flew with sleigh full of
toys and Saint Nicholas too, Santa Santa Santa.
Speaker 6 (08:36):
That's St Nicholas. Saint Nicholas and Santa are the same. Dude,
do you know that.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
My dad has been staying with us for a few
days while we recorded these final interviews.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
Ludoffs. No, there's no Rootoff in this No. Yeah, I
don't think there's a Rudolph in this one. No, there's
no Rootoff in this one.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Whoa, they messed up.
Speaker 6 (09:03):
I'll maybe they just forgot on this particular Christmas. That
doesn't mean he's not gonna be here. It's nice. I
can almost guarantee he's gonna be here. It's nice.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
He might have been out for this Christmas here though,
you know, maybe he had a cold.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
Who knows. Let me think.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
I don't see any shiny.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I don't see it either, But we're not gonna worry
about that, right.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
It's so strange to see my dad switch from this cold,
hard killer to the loving grandpa almost instantaneously.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Look at that beard, say look at us, what's that
cookies and milk?
Speaker 6 (09:40):
Just like that?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Right over there?
Speaker 6 (09:42):
Buddy? That what is that carrots? Yeah, that's a carrot?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah, we're gonna go with that one. That's oh, that's right,
that's for the reindeer they gotta eat too.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
Yeah, smart guy.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
But it's the perfect example of just how easy it
was for him to hide this dark double life from
us for all these years.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
I heard him explain as he drove out of sight,
Marry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
As my wife and I sit here by the fire
watching our five year old son Lincoln reading the Night
before Christmas with his grandfather, I'm also reminded of just
how much I loved my dad when I was that age.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
Good Night, Lincoln, I'll see you a morning, lady.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
And even after everything that's happened since, I'll always remember
the man that he was when I was young. I'm
(10:57):
back with my dad's old ambulance partner, Mike. I tell
him what I know about Ken's mafia passed and he
sits there calmly listening. It's mostly me talking, and I
can't tell one way or the other if he's heard
any of this before. He's certainly not telling me. If
he has, how do you feel in me telling you
these things about his mom life?
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Well, I'm not surprised.
Speaker 7 (11:22):
You know, none of it's shocking to me because I
you know, I knew him at the point where he
was transitioning, you know, that's when I first met him,
you know, So, I mean I knew he was way
different than the other people I was working with, you know,
But I saw all the upside potential of your dad,
(11:43):
you know, because he was really good at being a
paramedic and a firefighter.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Amidst all of the awful things that happened in Ken's life,
and perhaps maybe even because of it, he threw his
entire self into his work as a firefighter.
Speaker 7 (12:02):
He had a passion for it, you know, he was
really good at it, and he loved doing it.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I dug up some articles from local papers mentioning Ken's
exploits as a first responder. One article from nineteen ninety
two interviews Ken, who was fighting for fair pay for
his fellow medics and in a sort of twist of fate.
Another article from the Daily Herald in nineteen ninety one
mentions Ken as the first firefighter on the scene of
(12:29):
a fatal plane crash at DuPage Airport. Just a little
over a decade after that, American Airlines crash that inspired
Ken to join the fire department in the first place.
Speaker 7 (12:39):
You could see that he liked it. You know that
he appreciated the fact that he had helped somebody.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
There were many occasions over the years where I got
to see him in action at the station, on ride alongs,
neighborhood events. I witnessed first hand the respect of his
peers and his chief. One of my favorite memories of
all time was probably in third or fourth grade, when
my dad was invited to speak in front of my
whole school about fire safety. After the speech, there was
(13:09):
a Q and A with the students and one smart
ass kid takes the microphone, points at my dad's pants
and goes, did you know your fly was open? So
my dad looks down and sure enough, his zipper has
been open this entire time. So he just looks at
this kid right in the eye and he goes, I
just wanted to make sure you all were paying attention,
and he zips it back up and the whole place
(13:29):
just went nuts. I mean, people were crying, laughing, the kids, teachers, everyone.
One of the funniest things I've ever seen.
Speaker 7 (13:39):
The firefighting thing. He liked that more than I did.
I mean, sure, you know, it's a lot of fun.
It's exciting. You know, there's always the thrill of are
you going to get blown up or not? You know, so,
I mean it's kind of an adrenaline rush kind of thing.
But your dad was more, way more into the firefighting
(14:00):
thing than I ever was. He always wanted to be
the first guy in, get there and get his airpack on,
and get in before anybody else could get in there.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
You know.
Speaker 7 (14:08):
He always wanted to be at the front of the
line for that. I remember a couple times he got
hurt at fire scenes and I was just like, geez,
settle down, man, you don't have to be the first
guy in all the time. And he was like, I
got to get in there. He had to be the
first guy in. You know, he really wanted that.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
And then sometime in the late nineties, the guys at
the station had just finished their dinner when the alarm
bell sounded and a call came through that would forever
change Kenny's life and set in motion a disastrous chain
of events that would eventually destroy our entire family.
Speaker 7 (14:50):
The scariest call I ever did in my life. We
had a fire at a It was a grocery store,
but it used to be a bowling alley, so it
had the bowstring truss roof, you know, the arched roof
like that, and it was very high roof in the place.
So they had to get a thirty foot extension ladder
(15:11):
to get up there. And this thirty foot banger weighs
a ton. It's like three guys got to carry it,
you know, And they had one guy healing it, and
that was your dad. And they had this firefighter and
full gear in an airpack going up into the scuttle.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
And he was a big guy.
Speaker 7 (15:28):
He was probably a two hundred and sixty pound firefighter
and you had fifty pounds of gear in an airpack, so
three hundred and ten pounds you're talking about. He was
all the way up at the tip of the ladder
going in the scuttle, and the ladder kicked out and
it fell on your dad, and the firefighter came down
(15:50):
and he landed right on top of your dad and
he is down on the ground and he looked like shit.
He was gray, and I thought, oh my.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
God, he's really hurt bad, you know.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
And it was probably the worst call I've ever done
in my life because I was so emotionally invested in
the call, and everybody's running around and screaming, and people
are flying back and forth, and I'm telling him slow down.
They're like running with the stretcher. I didn't want him
to dump it over and hurt him again, and so
(16:26):
everything got under control. We got him in the ambulance,
and my partner Joe, was on the phone to the
hospital and your Dad's tell him he started coming around
a bit, and he says, tell him this, tell him that,
tell him this, And my partner hands the phone to
(16:48):
your dad and says, do you want to talk to him?
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Or do you want me to talk to Stills? And
your dad goes, no, go ahead. That's when I knew
he was going to be okay.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
But it was really scary because I've seen a lot
of people look like he looked at that time that.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Have died on us on the way to the hospital.
So it was really scary.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
You know.
Speaker 7 (17:12):
The doctor even said that, you know, if he hadn't
been in such good physical condition at the time that.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
He would he would have never survived.
Speaker 8 (17:26):
It.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Fractured my left hand, fractured my right and left knee,
some damage to my face and skull, and had some surgeries,
got a lot of painkillers, and you know, where the
hell have you been my whole life? You know, it
took a really liking to that, took a really liking
the painkillers, and then that's when I started having problems
(17:54):
with my addiction.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Was after getting those pain pills, after those surgeries.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Catalyzed my addiction, and then fueled it after that, after
it got catalyzed.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
In the years following the accident, the painkillers became a
constant companion, and as the addiction got worse, Ken gradually
shrank inward and distanced himself from his family and friends.
Speaker 7 (18:22):
He knew he was struggling with stuff, but I couldn't
tell what. And I didn't really ask him because I
felt like he wasn't gonna tell me anyway. You know,
he likes to play his cards very close to the
chest when it comes to his personal life and feelings
and what he's going through.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
When the pills stop being enough to satisfy his addiction,
he turned to heroin, which isn't as easy to hide.
You would look at his arms, they were clear as day.
You could see the veins from his fucking his inner
elbow all the way down to his wrist and following
up towards his shoulder.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
They were just gross. He knew something was up.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
You know, it's fucking horrible.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I don't need to rehash the pain we all went
through during this period of self destruction. But as the
years went on and the family fell apart, Holly Corey
and myself eventually separated ourselves from Ken physically and emotionally.
After all the pain and abuse, what else could we do.
I had been a strange from him for nearly five
years when he finally reached out to me for help
(19:42):
in twenty thirteen, and I checked him into rehab in California,
and I always wondered why now, what change had occurred
to make him suddenly surrender himself to getting clean. I
think Ken's brother Rich may have the answer.
Speaker 9 (20:00):
Right before he moved out to California, he called me
up and we were talking and.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
I just knew it.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
You know.
Speaker 9 (20:09):
I don't want to call it a twin thing, because
we never had that, but there was something about his tone, something,
And I left work and I went to the apartment
and I walked in and he was sitting there in
a chair, and that pistol was sitting right next to him,
(20:32):
and I looked at him and I said, what are
you doing. I remember the response, but I said, you
should probably give me that, and he said, I think
you're right. So, as far as I'm concerned, I saved
his life because he was in a really bad place.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Over the last ten years, as my dad sobered up
and embarked on the long, painful path to healing, he
began to open up to me for the first time.
And even though the truth is so much more fucked
up than I could have ever imagined, I'm thankful for
theopportunity to finally see the man I call father for
(21:11):
who he really is.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
And I just hope that God I get forgiven for this.
I just hope he could forgive me. I really do,
because I think about it all the time. Man, regret
it the second of it.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Be careful with choices, people, Be careful the choices you make.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
We can come back and haunt your lifetime.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Throughout this entire process, I have been constantly shocked about
how I can still be constantly shocked. Whenever I learned
some new, awful truth about the world my dad lived in.
My first reaction is how is that even possible? But
then a second, even more powerful reality hits me that
I have been completely sheltered from the evil that played
(22:04):
my dad's entire existence. If his goal to keep this
world away from us, then he succeeded, and despite everything else,
I'm grateful to him for that much. I also want
(22:24):
to express my deep gratitude to the people featured in
this story who were so gracious and brave to open
themselves up to me during these difficult interviews. To my
amazing mom for her strength and perseverance during these last
twenty years as she watched her life crumble around her.
To my best friend and my brother Corey, who still
(22:45):
carries the weight of our father's abuse. To my uncle
Rich for crawling back into his painful past and shedding
some light on their own abusive childhood, and of course,
for saving my dad's life that day in twenty thirteen.
To Jeff Cohne of the Chicago Tribune for sharing his
unmatched expertise on all things mafia. And finally to my
(23:08):
dad's old buddy Mike, who also wanted to share some
words of gratitude.
Speaker 7 (23:14):
He changed my life just being friends with him. He
helped me stand up for myself and be more assertive
in my life and changed my life, you know, forever.
And when I was going into treatment center and I
was struggling, I went and sat and talked to your dad.
(23:37):
He probably doesn't even remember it. It really helped me
get on the path I needed to be on, you know.
He really steered me in the right direction, which is
kind of funny because he was probably messed up at
the time himself, you know, but put me on the
path for my recovery. I wish he understood how important
(24:00):
that he is to me. I'm basically here because of him,
But he doesn't probably realize that.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
So where does that leave us now? Who the hell knows.
I suppose it depends on who you ask. My brother
Corey and my uncle Rich have already made up their minds.
Speaker 9 (24:21):
With everything in consideration. I just I can't, you know,
be the better man and forgive and forget. I just
can't do it because there's just too many things for
too long, you know, just can't do it.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
My mom has a similar take, but focuses on the good.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
I have many video tapes to look back on on
the happy times. I don't have any tapes of the
horrible times.
Speaker 6 (24:53):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
This makes me happy. For me, I've come to peace
with the past. It has tempered me, made me stronger.
I am not ashamed of it. I do not run
from it. I look it right in the eyes and
embrace it. Learn from it, share it with the world,
(25:14):
And one day, when he's old enough, I will share
it with my son and he will know how far
we have come together in spite of it. That is
the real legacy of my father, and that is what
I will choose to remember. Crook County is a production
(25:56):
of iHeart Podcasts and Tenderfoot TV in association with Common Enemy.
All episodes are produced, written and hosted by Me Kyle Tequila.
Executive producers are Donald Dolbright and Payne Lindsay. Original score
by Makeup and Vanity Set. Main title song is called
Crush by the band Starry Eyes. End credit song is
(26:18):
called Dying Islands, also by the band Starry Eyes. Sound
mix by Cooper Skinner. For more podcasts like Crook County,
search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app or visit
Tenderfoot dot TV. Thanks for listening to Season one of
Crook County. It's been an honor to share this story
with you. But don't worry. There's more to come.
Speaker 8 (26:42):
Die in islands, fade away, leave in me alone, Nansi,
my sab it you the show, the deep basbus a
(27:03):
call and the deepest bes calling me.
Speaker 10 (27:12):
Stops call tonight, indifference.
Speaker 8 (27:17):
Who have everyone leaving? Now? Can't believe.
Speaker 10 (27:27):
Southeast he was to do all the things I've done.
I lay awake at.
Speaker 8 (27:37):
Night trying to say, here's got some of the first
bodies that nobody knows. I can't be.
Speaker 10 (27:50):
Alone and tell you that straight away. Leaving me alone,
that's say my stagger to the shore, the deep basins
(28:13):
a calling, stap me a contact colin the deep basbooes,
the collarm.
Speaker 8 (28:34):
Love my Ma, so die a sad way
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