March 1, 2025 • 24 mins
In this episode, we discuss the contract killer, Charles Harrelson and the crimes he committed.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
This podcast discusses true crime, which may tell violence, and
other material intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion is advised. Hey,
it's Kayla and it's Lexi, and today is probably gonna
be a bit of a shorty boy, because I thought
I had more information until I wrote my episode. And
it's not long.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
So we've all been there. We've all been there, you know,
like when the weather forecast is like you're gonna get
twenty five inches of snow and then it's like, just kidding, here's.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Too Yeah, I mean not like every episode I sp
be like forty five minutes long, Like, r gonna work, all.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Right, there's no rules. We make our own rules.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
So today's episode is I haven't done a true crime
episode in a while, so we're doing a true crime one.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Ooh, I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So we're going to talk about Charles Harrelson today.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I've not heard anything about this one.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
You'll know a little tidbit. Oh okay, it'll kind of click. Okay,
it's in the first paragraphs. It's not going to take
you long. Charles Harrelson was born July twenty third, nineteen
thirty eight, in Huntsville, Texas. Or in Love Lady in
Houston County, depending on the sourceer read to avoid in
Alma Lee Harrelson. His father was a farmer and was
(01:30):
later a guard in the prison system. Charles shopped out
of high school to go to California to join the
Navy as a sonar man, and on February twenty sixth,
nineteen fifty eight, he married Diane Lou Oswald and had
three sons together, Jordan, Kenneth Woodrow, Woody, Tracy, and Brett V.
So the Woody one, if he sounds familiars because it's
(01:52):
Woody Harrelson the actor.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
What that I was wondering I was when you said
Woodrow's short for Woody. I was like, Oh, that makes sense,
that's what Woody would be short for. Harrelson.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah, that's his dad. I'm talking about his dad today.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Oh my god, I can't believe we're doing a true
crying episode about Woody Harrelson's dad.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Yeah. So for those who don't who know the name,
we can't play them. He played in The Hunger Games
as Hamich, and he was in the Zombieland movies as
what was it Tallahassee?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I think Tallahassee oh man, his favorite role one hundred percent.
My favorite role of his is one hundred percent zombie land.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Mm hmmm. I haven't seen something playing a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I have to rewatch it. That's so good. That's so
good because.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Also, as I was looking into this, like a rumor,
I guess him and another actor might be brothers because
of this guy what the hell is his name? The
guy that says all right, all right, all right? What
the hell is his name?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Like all I can think of is that line in Hey,
yuh where they're like all right, all right, Like I
don't think it's that guy actor Matthew McConaughey. Yes, yeah, sorry,
My wife just happened to know that based on my
half of the conversation. That's amazing. She has a special
(03:15):
talent for celebrities. Like we'll watch a movie and she'll
just like name all of them like an IMDb article,
And I'm like, how do you know this? Like i'd
be mixing up like Andy Samberg and Jesse Eisenberg, like
I can't tell people apart, and she'll be able to
be like that's her middle name, that's her birthday, that's
her star sign. I'm like how do you do that?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
It's magical, that's a talent. So Charles did not hold
down one job. He usually had odd jobs that he
would do, such as a book salesman and repairing dental equipment.
It just kind of like all around the place.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
He did odd jobs and repairing dental equipment.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yeah, like he just would just do random things.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
He was also a huge gambler and was convicted of
armed robbery in nineteen sixty. However, what helped him make
his money was that he was a contract killer to
help pay his gambling debts.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
What oh yeah, okay, yeah, you know, yeah, I've repaireddental equipment.
I can fixture sync. Do you need me to kill someone? Like?
That was his life, that's his resume.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Like, So he and Diane got divorced in nineteen sixty four,
and Diane took the children to Lebanon, Ohio.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
I wonder why.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah, I don't think. I don't know if he was
killing whenever he was with her. I think he just
kind of progressed into that, oh gambling.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
That is kind of divorced dad activities. Oh well, better
gamble and then become a contract killer.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Because start listening to creating killing people.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
It's always creed, Like, buddy, just go to the gym.
It doesn't have to be that serious.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Throughout his twenties, Charles would consort with gamblers and would
strive to have expensive things and live a lavish lifestyle,
even though that wasn't always so because again, and he's
a gambler, but like he wanted nice things. Who doesn't.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
During his twenties, he spent time in prison in California.
I'm sure what forges. I couldn't really find a source.
I would to assume either armed robbery or drugs, because
that's kind of like a recurring theme in here. But
everybody that met him, like prison guards and all that,
would say that he was done for having a charming personality.
(05:26):
And I feel like a lot of criminals like this
have like that charming personality so they can ever want.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, I feel like they say that about like every criminal.
Like it's it's very infrequent that we cover a case
that it's like this guy. Everyone everyone in the neighborhood
was like, yeah, he sucks.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
He was such a dick. Not a surprise he killed.
In nineteen sixty eight, he returned to Texas and became
a suspect and the murder of gambler Alan harry Berg.
He then traveled to Missouri, where he was apprehended on
a federal firearms charge. So the book Run Brother is
written by Allen's brother, David Berg. I didn't read it.
(06:03):
I kind of want to because it goes throughout this
whole case and kind of mixes Charles in with it.
Oh wow. But if you want to hear more about
this case, I recommend reading Run Brother. Run. So. In
the book, it is alleged that a rival carpet salesman
hired Harrelson to kill Alan for roughly fifteen hundred dollars,
which I feel like, even back then, if you're going
(06:24):
to kill somebody, you should ask for more or fire.
No life is worth money, But I feel like, if
you're going to go to prison, it's gonna be more
than fifteen hundred. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I mean, man's is committing murder for a single stimulus check. Literally.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
In June nineteen sixty eight, thirty one year old Alan
went out for a drink at the Brass Jug with
a friend named Fergus Ginther. After Fergus left, Allen was
noted of disappeared. At first, the police dismissed him as
a runaway husband, so his father, Nat Berg, hired a
private investigator and offered a reward. Five months later, a
man named Dennis Wheatock, who was one of NAT's former
(07:05):
carpet and upholstry employees, told Nat about a night at
a bar called Lucky Pierre's when he heard someone complaining
about Alan owing him a business deal and said he
wanted to murder him. He just casually saying I just
wanted to kill him.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Like just just at the bar. Was just like he
was just like, hey, guys, I'm here to kill someone.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
In the book, David wrote, quote Chuck, a drinking buddy
of Wheatock's pet, toss a business card that said, quote,
have gun, will travel, and then they laughed end quote
what the hell, that's just here's my card.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Just not trying to be subtle whatsoever. Like he's like,
I have a gun. I am here to kill if
you know, if you guys need that, that's the service
I offer, you know, just saying it again so that
no one thinks I'm here to have a good time.
I'm out for blood, like no subtle. Also pay for
my guess also pay for my gas? Can anyone lend
(08:00):
me money for an uber? I would kill for that wink.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
The man who said I'd murdered him was a man
named Frank Damara, who was a man who stole money
from former employers Alan and Nat. So the guy that
used to work for Alan, I guess was a rival
turned into a rival and wanted him gone because he
had a business deal that he Allan owed him money.
(08:27):
Is how I understand it.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
I didn't realize the carpet sales industry was so cutthroat.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
I I was reading this and I'm like this, this is.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
For carpet, all of that over some rugs.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I mean, that has to be like a very lucrative business,
because what house doesn't need flooring.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
That's a good point, you know. I am sitting on
a rug as we speak. I'm on the floor because,
like in case you guys are wondering where I'm podcasting from,
I'm having floor time.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
The book says that that Sandra Sue Ataway was Harrelson's
girlfriend and lord Allen to the Houston bar called the
Brash Jar. It also alleges that he was forced into
a car by gunpoint and was driven to a remote
location and then shot in the temple. Alan was then
reportedly strangled after the shot had failed.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, I couldn't imagine being shot and then strangled, Like that's.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, being shot and then didn't work. So they're like, well,
guess I have to strangle you. I mean that that
truly sounds horrendous.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah. Back in Texas, Sandra suit Ataway became a witness
against Charles. She says she saw the abduction and hired
killing of Berg, who was stuffed in the back of
a car in the parking lot of the club. She
said that she was with Charles at the time of
abduction and saw the murder and disposed of the body
on the Surfside Island waterfront. So Charles managed to jump
(09:53):
bail and the Texas Rangers and agents from the sheriff
departments of Brazoria and Harris Counties with Atlanta Lease arrested
him in Atlanta, Georgia on November twentieth, nineteen sixty eight.
He was acquitted of the murder due to an effective
defense and counseled Percy Foreman, resulting in a deadlock jury.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
A dead luck jury is when it's like split fifty
to fifty and they can't come to a decision, right
I think?
Speaker 1 (10:15):
So, okay, okay, Yeah, after the trial, the victim's family
uncovered new documents about the case. They discovered that Charles
alibi was a lie. They found statements from a witness
who Harrelson confessed to, and interviews with attorney that outlined
the crime. So I couldn't really find any other source
to say what happened with this information. Maybe he just
(10:37):
couldn't be tried a second time for the same crime.
That's what I would assume. This is why this didn't
come out after that.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah, that makes sense because I know that's like, that's
how a lot of people quote unquote get away with
it is because you can't try someone a second time
for the same crime.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
So not long after this case, Charles remained incarcerated in
a way, did a trial for his second murder, for
higher case, grain dealer Sam Carmelo di Tigellia Junior, whose
remains were found in an irrigation pumphouse in McAllen, Texas.
The first trial ended in a mistrial, but the second
(11:16):
time around, he was found guilty and sentenced to fifteen
years on August twenty seventh, nineteen seventy three, after his sentencing,
his attorney's foreman and Dick di Gwern, appealed his time
of incarceration. They stated he had been incarcerated since nineteen
sixty eight and they wanted that time to count towards
his sentence. The Texas Department of Corrections released him August
(11:40):
nineteen seventy six, but the US Marshals took him to
a federal facility at Levenworth, Kansas, to complete a sentence
for a firearms charge, and was released in nineteen seventy eight.
Then after his release, he returned to Texas to continue
gambling and married Joe Anne Starr on January seventh, nineteen
seventy nine, in Las Vegas. So, yeah, he's kind of everywhere,
being ready said for everything at once.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
It blows my mind that that ended with you being
like and then he married someone, like damn, he got married.
At least they got each other like, oh my god,
you're like, yeah, I've been arrested and sat trial and
been in jail for literally every crime in existence. And
(12:22):
she was like that's fine. She was like, that's hot,
that's mine. What do they say there's someone for everyone.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Yeah. On May twenty ninth, nineteen seventy nine, federal Judge
John Howard Wood Junior was killed with one shot in
the back while leaving his home in the Alamo Heights
neighborhood of San Antonio. During the investigation, Texas ranger Jack
O'Day dean, captain of Company D in San Antonio, got
an anonymous call that implicated Charles Harrison as a possible hitman.
(12:55):
So Dean was familiar with Harrelson as he also worked
in the Djelia case Degelia case.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
He was like this guy, this guy again again, gambler,
make firearm crime committer.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
In February of nineteen eighty, Harrelson was arrested again on
more firearms charges in Uston, but was released on balance
skipped court. I don't know, like how many firearm charges
can a person be charged with before they're just like
kept in prison because this is like number three.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Or four, right, And I feel like firearms charges are
one of those things where maybe you shouldn't be getting
like a slap on the rest and be like, well,
don't do it again, And then you do it like
five more times and they're like, surely this won't escalate.
I'm like, they keep illegally obtaining firearms to probably do
not good things with those firearms.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
He was found outside of Van Horn, Texas, on September first,
and Harrelson, while under the influence of cocaine, was captured
after a six hour standoff after threatening to kill himself.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Oh my god, there's just so many twists and turns
in the story. Like every time I think it's like okay,
and then that's it. You're like, Okay, here's more. This
is like it's like an oxy clean commercial, just every.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Cycoatee in there.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yeah, yeah, every second and you're like, but wait, there's more.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Well. Under arrest, he confessed to killing Judge John Howard
Wood Junior, and he also confessed to killing President John F.
Kennedy on November twenty second, nineteen sixty three.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
What isn't that a tactic? Isn't isn't that some sort
of tactic that people do where they'll confess to a
murder and then they'll confess to something like really ridiculous
in high profile like John F. Kennedy, or they'll like
I also killed Abraham Lincoln and Mlkay and then people
are like, what, like it's a tactic and they do
it for some reason. But it escapes me, like why
(14:44):
it happens?
Speaker 1 (14:46):
I have no idea, Like I was going to turn
half this episode into a conspiracy theory, but there wasn't
really much to discuss, because that's the conspiracy theory is
like he is that he killed he did it is
that he killed JFKA because he was a hitman. Yeah,
But like they had from what I remember looking at
the assassination, there were three men they called them tramps.
(15:09):
I don't know why, but they could. There were three
men that were suspects and he, I guess looked like
one of them. But it wasn't him. It was somebody else.
Like I have the names of my notes, I didn't
put them in the script.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
And there it is everyone. There's the wood Woody Harrelson's
dad killed JFK conspiracy theory. He kind of looked like
one of the guys that maybe did it. Yeah, and
nothing else. That's it. That's all I got. Enjoy this
episode of True Crime MythBusters.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Tell us what you think. This claim drew media attention
for years, as he exploited his physical similarity to one
of the three people who had been questioned after the assassination. Again,
he was like, I kind of look like that guy.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Maybe it's me just getting fame and attention truly wherever
he could.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
That's basically all it was. Maybe he's like that tactic
you were talking about, where it's like, if I say
something so outlandish, maybe they'll forget the fact that maybe
I'd killed this guy because they're not going to believe me.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah, or like write me off as crazy kind of thing, like, oh, yeah,
I did kill this guy, but I'm also insane, so
let me go and then yeah, I don't know if
it's ever worked, but it's a tactic.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Charles would often brag about committing various crimes, real or not,
and was actually disproven to be one of the three
men of the Kennedy assassination, probably because of his claim.
The FBI's investigation of the Wood killing actually exceeded the
cost of the inquiry into the killing of Kennedy and
was the most costly investigation in history to that date,
which was more than eleven million dollars.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
That's kind of crazy to think about that that investigation
was more well funded than JFK's assassination.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Yeah, wow, Yeah, They're like, maybe I don't know, I
don't know. They're like, maybe he did it. We got
to look into it. Maybe he's maybe it wasn't the
other guy.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
But and then meanwhile they're also like, he's also on
trial for like an entirely separate murder, like damn.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
While investigating the killing of Wood, details revealed that it
may have been a contract killing. He was allegedly paid
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which is a little
bit more than fifteen hundred.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
That seems a little more like typical of contract killing
as opposed to like fifteen hundred.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Like you said, yeah, so he's paid that to shoot Wood,
who was at the time presiding over the trial and
sentencing of drug kingpin Jamille Jimmy Chagra. Judge Wood, who
was nicknamed Maximum John, was known for giving out lengthy sentences,
especially for narcotics cases.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Maximum John. That sounds like the arch enemy to Lil John.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
On April fifteenth, nineteen eighty, to the Federal Grand Juriandic
did three defendants in the murder of Wood, Harrelson, his
wife Joe Anne, who allegedly bought the murder weapon, and
Elizabeth Chagra who is Jimmy's wife, for covering up the crime.
It is thought that Jimmy allegedly hired Harrelson to Killwood.
Jimmy was tried in a second venue and acquitted in Jacksonville, Florida,
(18:21):
but was convicted of drug charges and obstruction of justice.
His brother, Joe Chagra, pled guilty to a murder conspiracy
charge and agreed to be a government witness against all
the accused except for his brother. Harrelson's trial was held
in the John H. Wood Junior US Courthouse in San
Antonio in September nineteen eighty two. Judge William S. Sessions
(18:42):
presided over the trial, which lasted more than two and
a half months and had ninety four witnesses. That's a
lot of witnesses.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
That's a ton for one crime.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
For one crime. Harrelson was found guilty and got two
life sentences plus five years. He was institutionalized in Marion, Illinois,
and then transferred to Atlanta, Georgia.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Does institutionalized in this instance just mean like in a
regular prison custody or does it mean like he was
in some sort of like psych holding.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
I don't think it was in a psych holding, Okay, Okay, Yeah, no,
I didn't see anything about psychiatry. Harrelson was involved in
a failed prison break in nineteen ninety five, which resulted
in his transfer to the supermax facility USP Florence Admax
near Florence, Colorado, where he served the rest of his life.
(19:33):
His son, Woodie, funded his unsuccessful appeal in nineteen ninety seven.
Charles Harrelson was found dead from a heart attack in
prison on the morning of March fifteenth, two thousand and seven.
His sons inherited papers he compiled and hoped would become
published memoirs. In the papers, he admitted that he was
involved in dozens of killings starting in the early sixties.
(19:54):
His involvement was often related to driving the car or
lesser roles, but he claimed to assassinate it at least
six people.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
That's crazy, Just what an insane like parent to have.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Yeah, yeah, I saw. I think like, I don't think
they were close. I think he would go and visit
his dad, but I don't think like they had like
that close relationship.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
It sounds like it would be hard to have a
close relationship with someone of that caliber, like as a
as a son, you know what I mean? I just
I can't imagine trying to keep a relationship with like
if my dad was a contract killer and a serial
gambler and constantly illegally doing things with firearms, like in
and out of jail and on and off trial, Like
(20:37):
I can't imagine it's like, yeah, he comes to my
all my soccer games.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yeah, I can imagine wanting that relationship at some point,
like wishing they weren't that way.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, you know, like it's kind of like, you know,
you only get like, well not everybody, but you know
most people only get like one dad, and so it's
probably like, you know, dang, I wish I had a
dad or a relationship with my dad that was maybe
a little more normal, and then sort of just trying
to make it that way.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
But yeah, so I found out about this, Like I
made a post on Instagram asking like people's favorite conspiracy
and someone one of the doctors I used to work with, commented,
Woody Harrelson's dad was a contract killer.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
That's so funny, We're JFK.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
I was like, got me look into.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
This, right, Like, how has that not come up like
at work at some point? Like I definitely feel like
that's a conversation I would have with one of my
coworkers during like a particular rare lull when they happen
in the emergency department, where like your coworker just turns
to you after checking email and they're like, did you
know Woody Harrelson's dad is a contract killer? And you're
just like, really, Hi.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
How's your day going. Woody Harrelson's dad was a murderer.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I'm just gonna sprinkle that into conversation. Like the one
time one of my coworkers was like, did your guys
mom ever make you practice swallowing eminem's to like just
taking pills? And all of us were like, hey, what, Like, no, no,
none of us did that. That's a completely unique experience.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
I feel like that's a choking hazard because I don't know.
They're a little big? Were they the penut? Eminem's those
are huge?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Oh hopefully not. I didn't. I should ask her. I
should be like, hey, girl, which eminems? And how old
were you?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
But yeah, that's all I have for you guys today.
Sorry it's a shorty, but that's gonna happen sometimes.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah, I'm sorry, We'll mix it up. We've got we
offer you varying lengths and varying topics. I hope you
like variety.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Variety is the spice of.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
You guys can message us on any of our socials.
We're on Instagram x Facebook threads, not really threads. It's
connected to my Instagram.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
We're on as we're on. I personally like not the podcast,
like I personally am on Blue Sky. I'm super insanely
inactive on it, but like I think I have DMS open.
You could give it a shot. I'm on Instagram. I'm
trying to redownload TikTok Allegedly I might be able to
do that again, so hopefully you can. You can definitely
(23:25):
reach out to Klvia TikTok. Hopefully soon you can reach
out to me too.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
And you guys can send an email to a Little
Wicked Podcast at gmail dot com for just say hi,
give us any recommendations you want to hear about.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Send us a carrier pigeon.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Yeah, send us carrier pigeon.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Rate us on Apple Podcasts. I think you can also
RD on Spotify now too. Yeah, you can noise noise
telepathically communicate.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
With us something. It's nice hearing from you, guys. Every
once in a while.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Put fortunes in our fortune cookies.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
But let's see, that's all I have for today. I
need to start writing down, like adjectives beforehand, so I'm
not like, uh uh.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
I actually do that, like for my scripts, Like I
do that ahead of time, like I write down Like
that was like, yeah, I actually do write down my adjectives.
I find it incredibly helpful. So then I'm only ad
libbing for like your episodes.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, well that was twistingly wicked.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I think that was contractually wicked.
This podcast discusses true crime, which may tell violence, and
other material intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion is advised. Hey,
it's Kayla and it's Lexi, and today is probably gonna
be a bit of a shorty boy, because I thought
I had more information until I wrote my episode. And
it's not long.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
So we've all been there. We've all been there, you know,
like when the weather forecast is like you're gonna get
twenty five inches of snow and then it's like, just kidding, here's.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Too Yeah, I mean not like every episode I sp
be like forty five minutes long, Like, r gonna work, all.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Right, there's no rules. We make our own rules.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
So today's episode is I haven't done a true crime
episode in a while, so we're doing a true crime one.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Ooh, I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So we're going to talk about Charles Harrelson today.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I've not heard anything about this one.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
You'll know a little tidbit. Oh okay, it'll kind of click. Okay,
it's in the first paragraphs. It's not going to take
you long. Charles Harrelson was born July twenty third, nineteen
thirty eight, in Huntsville, Texas. Or in Love Lady in
Houston County, depending on the sourceer read to avoid in
Alma Lee Harrelson. His father was a farmer and was
(01:30):
later a guard in the prison system. Charles shopped out
of high school to go to California to join the
Navy as a sonar man, and on February twenty sixth,
nineteen fifty eight, he married Diane Lou Oswald and had
three sons together, Jordan, Kenneth Woodrow, Woody, Tracy, and Brett V.
So the Woody one, if he sounds familiars because it's
(01:52):
Woody Harrelson the actor.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
What that I was wondering I was when you said
Woodrow's short for Woody. I was like, Oh, that makes sense,
that's what Woody would be short for. Harrelson.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah, that's his dad. I'm talking about his dad today.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Oh my god, I can't believe we're doing a true
crying episode about Woody Harrelson's dad.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Yeah. So for those who don't who know the name,
we can't play them. He played in The Hunger Games
as Hamich, and he was in the Zombieland movies as
what was it Tallahassee?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I think Tallahassee oh man, his favorite role one hundred percent.
My favorite role of his is one hundred percent zombie land.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Mm hmmm. I haven't seen something playing a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I have to rewatch it. That's so good. That's so
good because.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Also, as I was looking into this, like a rumor,
I guess him and another actor might be brothers because
of this guy what the hell is his name? The
guy that says all right, all right, all right? What
the hell is his name?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Like all I can think of is that line in Hey,
yuh where they're like all right, all right, Like I
don't think it's that guy actor Matthew McConaughey. Yes, yeah, sorry,
My wife just happened to know that based on my
half of the conversation. That's amazing. She has a special
(03:15):
talent for celebrities. Like we'll watch a movie and she'll
just like name all of them like an IMDb article,
And I'm like, how do you know this? Like i'd
be mixing up like Andy Samberg and Jesse Eisenberg, like
I can't tell people apart, and she'll be able to
be like that's her middle name, that's her birthday, that's
her star sign. I'm like how do you do that?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
It's magical, that's a talent. So Charles did not hold
down one job. He usually had odd jobs that he
would do, such as a book salesman and repairing dental equipment.
It just kind of like all around the place.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
He did odd jobs and repairing dental equipment.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yeah, like he just would just do random things.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
He was also a huge gambler and was convicted of
armed robbery in nineteen sixty. However, what helped him make
his money was that he was a contract killer to
help pay his gambling debts.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
What oh yeah, okay, yeah, you know, yeah, I've repaireddental equipment.
I can fixture sync. Do you need me to kill someone? Like?
That was his life, that's his resume.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Like, So he and Diane got divorced in nineteen sixty four,
and Diane took the children to Lebanon, Ohio.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
I wonder why.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah, I don't think. I don't know if he was
killing whenever he was with her. I think he just
kind of progressed into that, oh gambling.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
That is kind of divorced dad activities. Oh well, better
gamble and then become a contract killer.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Because start listening to creating killing people.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
It's always creed, Like, buddy, just go to the gym.
It doesn't have to be that serious.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Throughout his twenties, Charles would consort with gamblers and would
strive to have expensive things and live a lavish lifestyle,
even though that wasn't always so because again, and he's
a gambler, but like he wanted nice things. Who doesn't.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
During his twenties, he spent time in prison in California.
I'm sure what forges. I couldn't really find a source.
I would to assume either armed robbery or drugs, because
that's kind of like a recurring theme in here. But
everybody that met him, like prison guards and all that,
would say that he was done for having a charming personality.
(05:26):
And I feel like a lot of criminals like this
have like that charming personality so they can ever want.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, I feel like they say that about like every criminal.
Like it's it's very infrequent that we cover a case
that it's like this guy. Everyone everyone in the neighborhood
was like, yeah, he sucks.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
He was such a dick. Not a surprise he killed.
In nineteen sixty eight, he returned to Texas and became
a suspect and the murder of gambler Alan harry Berg.
He then traveled to Missouri, where he was apprehended on
a federal firearms charge. So the book Run Brother is
written by Allen's brother, David Berg. I didn't read it.
(06:03):
I kind of want to because it goes throughout this
whole case and kind of mixes Charles in with it.
Oh wow. But if you want to hear more about
this case, I recommend reading Run Brother. Run. So. In
the book, it is alleged that a rival carpet salesman
hired Harrelson to kill Alan for roughly fifteen hundred dollars,
which I feel like, even back then, if you're going
(06:24):
to kill somebody, you should ask for more or fire.
No life is worth money, But I feel like, if
you're going to go to prison, it's gonna be more
than fifteen hundred. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I mean, man's is committing murder for a single stimulus check. Literally.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
In June nineteen sixty eight, thirty one year old Alan
went out for a drink at the Brass Jug with
a friend named Fergus Ginther. After Fergus left, Allen was
noted of disappeared. At first, the police dismissed him as
a runaway husband, so his father, Nat Berg, hired a
private investigator and offered a reward. Five months later, a
man named Dennis Wheatock, who was one of NAT's former
(07:05):
carpet and upholstry employees, told Nat about a night at
a bar called Lucky Pierre's when he heard someone complaining
about Alan owing him a business deal and said he
wanted to murder him. He just casually saying I just
wanted to kill him.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Like just just at the bar. Was just like he
was just like, hey, guys, I'm here to kill someone.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
In the book, David wrote, quote Chuck, a drinking buddy
of Wheatock's pet, toss a business card that said, quote,
have gun, will travel, and then they laughed end quote
what the hell, that's just here's my card.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Just not trying to be subtle whatsoever. Like he's like,
I have a gun. I am here to kill if
you know, if you guys need that, that's the service
I offer, you know, just saying it again so that
no one thinks I'm here to have a good time.
I'm out for blood, like no subtle. Also pay for
my guess also pay for my gas? Can anyone lend
(08:00):
me money for an uber? I would kill for that wink.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
The man who said I'd murdered him was a man
named Frank Damara, who was a man who stole money
from former employers Alan and Nat. So the guy that
used to work for Alan, I guess was a rival
turned into a rival and wanted him gone because he
had a business deal that he Allan owed him money.
(08:27):
Is how I understand it.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
I didn't realize the carpet sales industry was so cutthroat.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
I I was reading this and I'm like this, this is.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
For carpet, all of that over some rugs.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I mean, that has to be like a very lucrative business,
because what house doesn't need flooring.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
That's a good point, you know. I am sitting on
a rug as we speak. I'm on the floor because,
like in case you guys are wondering where I'm podcasting from,
I'm having floor time.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
The book says that that Sandra Sue Ataway was Harrelson's
girlfriend and lord Allen to the Houston bar called the
Brash Jar. It also alleges that he was forced into
a car by gunpoint and was driven to a remote
location and then shot in the temple. Alan was then
reportedly strangled after the shot had failed.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, I couldn't imagine being shot and then strangled, Like that's.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, being shot and then didn't work. So they're like, well,
guess I have to strangle you. I mean that that
truly sounds horrendous.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah. Back in Texas, Sandra suit Ataway became a witness
against Charles. She says she saw the abduction and hired
killing of Berg, who was stuffed in the back of
a car in the parking lot of the club. She
said that she was with Charles at the time of
abduction and saw the murder and disposed of the body
on the Surfside Island waterfront. So Charles managed to jump
(09:53):
bail and the Texas Rangers and agents from the sheriff
departments of Brazoria and Harris Counties with Atlanta Lease arrested
him in Atlanta, Georgia on November twentieth, nineteen sixty eight.
He was acquitted of the murder due to an effective
defense and counseled Percy Foreman, resulting in a deadlock jury.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
A dead luck jury is when it's like split fifty
to fifty and they can't come to a decision, right
I think?
Speaker 1 (10:15):
So, okay, okay, Yeah, after the trial, the victim's family
uncovered new documents about the case. They discovered that Charles
alibi was a lie. They found statements from a witness
who Harrelson confessed to, and interviews with attorney that outlined
the crime. So I couldn't really find any other source
to say what happened with this information. Maybe he just
(10:37):
couldn't be tried a second time for the same crime.
That's what I would assume. This is why this didn't
come out after that.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah, that makes sense because I know that's like, that's
how a lot of people quote unquote get away with
it is because you can't try someone a second time
for the same crime.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
So not long after this case, Charles remained incarcerated in
a way, did a trial for his second murder, for
higher case, grain dealer Sam Carmelo di Tigellia Junior, whose
remains were found in an irrigation pumphouse in McAllen, Texas.
The first trial ended in a mistrial, but the second
(11:16):
time around, he was found guilty and sentenced to fifteen
years on August twenty seventh, nineteen seventy three, after his sentencing,
his attorney's foreman and Dick di Gwern, appealed his time
of incarceration. They stated he had been incarcerated since nineteen
sixty eight and they wanted that time to count towards
his sentence. The Texas Department of Corrections released him August
(11:40):
nineteen seventy six, but the US Marshals took him to
a federal facility at Levenworth, Kansas, to complete a sentence
for a firearms charge, and was released in nineteen seventy eight.
Then after his release, he returned to Texas to continue
gambling and married Joe Anne Starr on January seventh, nineteen
seventy nine, in Las Vegas. So, yeah, he's kind of everywhere,
being ready said for everything at once.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
It blows my mind that that ended with you being
like and then he married someone, like damn, he got married.
At least they got each other like, oh my god,
you're like, yeah, I've been arrested and sat trial and
been in jail for literally every crime in existence. And
(12:22):
she was like that's fine. She was like, that's hot,
that's mine. What do they say there's someone for everyone.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Yeah. On May twenty ninth, nineteen seventy nine, federal Judge
John Howard Wood Junior was killed with one shot in
the back while leaving his home in the Alamo Heights
neighborhood of San Antonio. During the investigation, Texas ranger Jack
O'Day dean, captain of Company D in San Antonio, got
an anonymous call that implicated Charles Harrison as a possible hitman.
(12:55):
So Dean was familiar with Harrelson as he also worked
in the Djelia case Degelia case.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
He was like this guy, this guy again again, gambler,
make firearm crime committer.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
In February of nineteen eighty, Harrelson was arrested again on
more firearms charges in Uston, but was released on balance
skipped court. I don't know, like how many firearm charges
can a person be charged with before they're just like
kept in prison because this is like number three.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Or four, right, And I feel like firearms charges are
one of those things where maybe you shouldn't be getting
like a slap on the rest and be like, well,
don't do it again, And then you do it like
five more times and they're like, surely this won't escalate.
I'm like, they keep illegally obtaining firearms to probably do
not good things with those firearms.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
He was found outside of Van Horn, Texas, on September first,
and Harrelson, while under the influence of cocaine, was captured
after a six hour standoff after threatening to kill himself.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Oh my god, there's just so many twists and turns
in the story. Like every time I think it's like okay,
and then that's it. You're like, Okay, here's more. This
is like it's like an oxy clean commercial, just every.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Cycoatee in there.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yeah, yeah, every second and you're like, but wait, there's more.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Well. Under arrest, he confessed to killing Judge John Howard
Wood Junior, and he also confessed to killing President John F.
Kennedy on November twenty second, nineteen sixty three.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
What isn't that a tactic? Isn't isn't that some sort
of tactic that people do where they'll confess to a
murder and then they'll confess to something like really ridiculous
in high profile like John F. Kennedy, or they'll like
I also killed Abraham Lincoln and Mlkay and then people
are like, what, like it's a tactic and they do
it for some reason. But it escapes me, like why
(14:44):
it happens?
Speaker 1 (14:46):
I have no idea, Like I was going to turn
half this episode into a conspiracy theory, but there wasn't
really much to discuss, because that's the conspiracy theory is
like he is that he killed he did it is
that he killed JFKA because he was a hitman. Yeah,
But like they had from what I remember looking at
the assassination, there were three men they called them tramps.
(15:09):
I don't know why, but they could. There were three
men that were suspects and he, I guess looked like
one of them. But it wasn't him. It was somebody else.
Like I have the names of my notes, I didn't
put them in the script.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
And there it is everyone. There's the wood Woody Harrelson's
dad killed JFK conspiracy theory. He kind of looked like
one of the guys that maybe did it. Yeah, and
nothing else. That's it. That's all I got. Enjoy this
episode of True Crime MythBusters.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Tell us what you think. This claim drew media attention
for years, as he exploited his physical similarity to one
of the three people who had been questioned after the assassination. Again,
he was like, I kind of look like that guy.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Maybe it's me just getting fame and attention truly wherever
he could.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
That's basically all it was. Maybe he's like that tactic
you were talking about, where it's like, if I say
something so outlandish, maybe they'll forget the fact that maybe
I'd killed this guy because they're not going to believe me.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah, or like write me off as crazy kind of thing, like, oh, yeah,
I did kill this guy, but I'm also insane, so
let me go and then yeah, I don't know if
it's ever worked, but it's a tactic.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Charles would often brag about committing various crimes, real or not,
and was actually disproven to be one of the three
men of the Kennedy assassination, probably because of his claim.
The FBI's investigation of the Wood killing actually exceeded the
cost of the inquiry into the killing of Kennedy and
was the most costly investigation in history to that date,
which was more than eleven million dollars.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
That's kind of crazy to think about that that investigation
was more well funded than JFK's assassination.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Yeah, wow, Yeah, They're like, maybe I don't know, I
don't know. They're like, maybe he did it. We got
to look into it. Maybe he's maybe it wasn't the
other guy.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
But and then meanwhile they're also like, he's also on
trial for like an entirely separate murder, like damn.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
While investigating the killing of Wood, details revealed that it
may have been a contract killing. He was allegedly paid
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which is a little
bit more than fifteen hundred.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
That seems a little more like typical of contract killing
as opposed to like fifteen hundred.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Like you said, yeah, so he's paid that to shoot Wood,
who was at the time presiding over the trial and
sentencing of drug kingpin Jamille Jimmy Chagra. Judge Wood, who
was nicknamed Maximum John, was known for giving out lengthy sentences,
especially for narcotics cases.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Maximum John. That sounds like the arch enemy to Lil John.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
On April fifteenth, nineteen eighty, to the Federal Grand Juriandic
did three defendants in the murder of Wood, Harrelson, his
wife Joe Anne, who allegedly bought the murder weapon, and
Elizabeth Chagra who is Jimmy's wife, for covering up the crime.
It is thought that Jimmy allegedly hired Harrelson to Killwood.
Jimmy was tried in a second venue and acquitted in Jacksonville, Florida,
(18:21):
but was convicted of drug charges and obstruction of justice.
His brother, Joe Chagra, pled guilty to a murder conspiracy
charge and agreed to be a government witness against all
the accused except for his brother. Harrelson's trial was held
in the John H. Wood Junior US Courthouse in San
Antonio in September nineteen eighty two. Judge William S. Sessions
(18:42):
presided over the trial, which lasted more than two and
a half months and had ninety four witnesses. That's a
lot of witnesses.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
That's a ton for one crime.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
For one crime. Harrelson was found guilty and got two
life sentences plus five years. He was institutionalized in Marion, Illinois,
and then transferred to Atlanta, Georgia.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Does institutionalized in this instance just mean like in a
regular prison custody or does it mean like he was
in some sort of like psych holding.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
I don't think it was in a psych holding, Okay, Okay, Yeah, no,
I didn't see anything about psychiatry. Harrelson was involved in
a failed prison break in nineteen ninety five, which resulted
in his transfer to the supermax facility USP Florence Admax
near Florence, Colorado, where he served the rest of his life.
(19:33):
His son, Woodie, funded his unsuccessful appeal in nineteen ninety seven.
Charles Harrelson was found dead from a heart attack in
prison on the morning of March fifteenth, two thousand and seven.
His sons inherited papers he compiled and hoped would become
published memoirs. In the papers, he admitted that he was
involved in dozens of killings starting in the early sixties.
(19:54):
His involvement was often related to driving the car or
lesser roles, but he claimed to assassinate it at least
six people.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
That's crazy, Just what an insane like parent to have.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Yeah, yeah, I saw. I think like, I don't think
they were close. I think he would go and visit
his dad, but I don't think like they had like
that close relationship.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
It sounds like it would be hard to have a
close relationship with someone of that caliber, like as a
as a son, you know what I mean? I just
I can't imagine trying to keep a relationship with like
if my dad was a contract killer and a serial
gambler and constantly illegally doing things with firearms, like in
and out of jail and on and off trial, Like
(20:37):
I can't imagine it's like, yeah, he comes to my
all my soccer games.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yeah, I can imagine wanting that relationship at some point,
like wishing they weren't that way.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, you know, like it's kind of like, you know,
you only get like, well not everybody, but you know
most people only get like one dad, and so it's
probably like, you know, dang, I wish I had a
dad or a relationship with my dad that was maybe
a little more normal, and then sort of just trying
to make it that way.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
But yeah, so I found out about this, Like I
made a post on Instagram asking like people's favorite conspiracy
and someone one of the doctors I used to work with, commented,
Woody Harrelson's dad was a contract killer.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
That's so funny, We're JFK.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
I was like, got me look into.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
This, right, Like, how has that not come up like
at work at some point? Like I definitely feel like
that's a conversation I would have with one of my
coworkers during like a particular rare lull when they happen
in the emergency department, where like your coworker just turns
to you after checking email and they're like, did you
know Woody Harrelson's dad is a contract killer? And you're
just like, really, Hi.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
How's your day going. Woody Harrelson's dad was a murderer.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I'm just gonna sprinkle that into conversation. Like the one
time one of my coworkers was like, did your guys
mom ever make you practice swallowing eminem's to like just
taking pills? And all of us were like, hey, what, Like, no, no,
none of us did that. That's a completely unique experience.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
I feel like that's a choking hazard because I don't know.
They're a little big? Were they the penut? Eminem's those
are huge?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Oh hopefully not. I didn't. I should ask her. I
should be like, hey, girl, which eminems? And how old
were you?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
But yeah, that's all I have for you guys today.
Sorry it's a shorty, but that's gonna happen sometimes.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah, I'm sorry, We'll mix it up. We've got we
offer you varying lengths and varying topics. I hope you
like variety.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Variety is the spice of.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
You guys can message us on any of our socials.
We're on Instagram x Facebook threads, not really threads. It's
connected to my Instagram.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
We're on as we're on. I personally like not the podcast,
like I personally am on Blue Sky. I'm super insanely
inactive on it, but like I think I have DMS open.
You could give it a shot. I'm on Instagram. I'm
trying to redownload TikTok Allegedly I might be able to
do that again, so hopefully you can. You can definitely
(23:25):
reach out to Klvia TikTok. Hopefully soon you can reach
out to me too.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
And you guys can send an email to a Little
Wicked Podcast at gmail dot com for just say hi,
give us any recommendations you want to hear about.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Send us a carrier pigeon.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Yeah, send us carrier pigeon.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Rate us on Apple Podcasts. I think you can also
RD on Spotify now too. Yeah, you can noise noise
telepathically communicate.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
With us something. It's nice hearing from you, guys. Every
once in a while.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Put fortunes in our fortune cookies.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
But let's see, that's all I have for today. I
need to start writing down, like adjectives beforehand, so I'm
not like, uh uh.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
I actually do that, like for my scripts, Like I
do that ahead of time, like I write down Like
that was like, yeah, I actually do write down my adjectives.
I find it incredibly helpful. So then I'm only ad
libbing for like your episodes.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, well that was twistingly wicked.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I think that was contractually wicked.
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