0:00

A listener. Note this story contains

0:03

adult language and some graphic descriptions

0:05

of violence. It's

0:15

November on a Sunday afternoon in Pennsylvania,

0:18

and I'm looking for answers a few hundred

0:20

miles from home. All

0:24

right, So it's a pretty

0:26

November day in Pennsylvania

0:29

where Ray Caruth now lives, and

0:33

I'm headed there right now. I

0:35

originally met Ray Kruth in when

0:38

he was a first round draft choice for the Carolina

0:40

Panthers. I interviewed him a number

0:42

of times back then. But two years

0:45

later, the former NFL wide receiver was

0:47

arrested on a murder charge involving the

0:49

death of his pregnant girlfriend, Sharika Adams.

0:52

Lamar Kruth is guilty

0:55

of conspiracy to commit murder

0:57

of Sharika Adams. And since

0:59

that time time, despite all the reporting

1:01

I've done and all the attempts I've made,

1:04

I've not spoken face to face with Ray

1:06

Kruth in twenty years. Former

1:09

Carolina Panther Ray Carruth is out of prison

1:11

and now out of the state. The

1:14

Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole

1:16

confirms Carruth is now under its

1:18

supervision. Soon after Kruth

1:20

was released from a North Carolina prison

1:22

after serving nearly nineteen years

1:24

for conspiracy to commit murder, he

1:27

relocated to Pennsylvania. Exactly

1:30

where in Pennsylvania no one seemed

1:32

to know, but I figured out where

1:35

he lives and so on. That late autumn

1:37

afternoon, I traveled to the Keystone

1:39

State to ring Ray Krruth's

1:41

doorbell. To

1:43

my surprise, what I had hoped could be Caruth's

1:46

first sit down, face to face interview

1:48

in nearly two decades quickly

1:50

became something far more, a

1:52

wide ranging conversation between the two

1:54

of us that spanned several weeks in

1:57

person, on the phone, through

1:59

email, el and by text. We

2:02

talked about life here in two thousand and eighteen,

2:05

from smartphones to social media

2:07

to the many kinds of cheerios that have been

2:09

invented since he went to prison. We

2:12

talked about Kruth's future as a freeman

2:15

in the history that will follow him wherever

2:17

he goes. And

2:21

of course, we talked about fatherhood and

2:24

the child he had wanted dead. What

2:26

would you do if you met your

2:28

father? His

2:31

son? Chancellor ly say

2:34

hey, yeah yeah.

2:39

From the Charlotte Observer and McClatchy Studios,

2:42

this is Caruth I'm

2:44

Scott Fowler, and this is the epilogue healing

2:48

and the road ahead. I

3:00

will take a look at the twists and turns

3:03

and here. October

3:06

two, two thousand eighteen,

3:08

was a cold morning in Clinton, North Carolina,

3:11

some two hundred miles east of Charlotte.

3:14

At four am. The sky was clear outside

3:17

Sampson Correctional Institution, but

3:19

I couldn't see any stars through the dozens

3:21

of lights being set up by local and national

3:24

TV crews.

3:30

Everyone was there to cover Ray Carruth's

3:32

release after nineteen years

3:34

behind bars. Two people

3:36

were conspicuously absent outside

3:39

the prison that morning, Sandra and

3:41

Chancellor Lee Adams, Sharika's

3:43

mother and the son Caruth tried to

3:45

have killed. I'm still praying about

3:47

where I'm gonna be October two.

3:50

Sandra told us months before that she had

3:52

mixed feelings about attending Caruth's

3:54

release from prison. Part of me

3:57

wants to be there,

4:00

right there where he has to come past me

4:03

so he can acknowledge his son.

4:06

And then there's part of me that

4:09

just wants to be chilling out

4:12

on a beach somewhere on October

4:15

and moving on with my life. Ultimately,

4:20

Sandra and Chancellor. Lee left Charlotte

4:22

for a few days, telling me later that local

4:25

TV coverage had been overwhelming. For

4:27

the last nineteen years he has

4:29

lived as Ray Wiggins, North

4:32

Carolina. Every time she turned on the TV, she

4:34

said she heard the sounds of her daughter dying.

4:41

They're in Clinton. The morning was quiet,

4:43

except for all the portable generators the TV

4:45

crews had brought with them. Prison

4:49

officials wasted no time. Kruth

4:51

could legally be released as early as eight

4:53

am on October two, and

4:55

at eight oh two am, inmate

4:58

number zero seven one to E to

5:00

two appeared about forty yards away

5:02

from the media in a black leather jacket,

5:05

a white T shirt, and a black skull

5:07

cap. Do I'm gonna step out of the shot here so

5:09

everybody has a view. He's being

5:12

escorted by several different people. You'll

5:14

be able to see him with a clear image in just

5:16

a couple of seconds. He walked a few yards

5:18

to awaiting Chevy Tahoe, chauffeured

5:21

by a car service his family had hired.

5:24

He exchanged a few words with prison officials,

5:27

climbed into the back seat of the suv, and

5:29

the driver sped away. Kruth

5:34

didn't speak to the media, so

5:36

I taped a few of my own thoughts with producers

5:38

Matt Walsh and Jeff Signer. They

5:41

had also made the drive to Clinton. So

5:44

it's about eight thirty AM and

5:46

Raykruth just walked out of

5:48

prison. He's forty four now.

5:51

Wherever he's gonna live, which we're not sure where

5:53

it is, but he has to have a

5:55

post release program which

5:57

includes regular visits

5:59

to someone who's sort of like a parole officer.

6:02

Basically, I thought he wouldn't

6:04

talk, and he didn't. He

6:06

walked directly out of this little Britain building

6:09

about twenty or thirty yards

6:12

and then he went out through the gate and

6:15

he has gone.

6:19

Caruth's release was national news everywhere

6:22

from NPR. May

6:25

be hard to remember just how shocking it was

6:27

back in when Carolina Panther's

6:29

wide receiver, Ray kr Ruth was charged

6:32

with the ann Well,

6:34

my NFL star next Carolina Panther. Ray

6:36

Kruth is now a freeman. Walking out of

6:38

a North Carolina prison this morning,

6:41

it caused people to remember where they were twenty

6:43

years ago when those details surrounding

6:45

Sharika's death had first come to light.

6:48

Ray who

6:51

helped playing the gut comedian

6:55

Steve Harvey had that famous riff in the original

6:57

Kings of Comedy about Caruth being

7:00

und in the trunk of a car running

7:02

from authorities in n Was

7:05

this not they ignitted to ever

7:07

seen? Normally? What you try

7:09

to say is a person do their

7:11

time, they get out, they

7:14

deserve a second chance, because

7:16

we can't just throw people

7:18

away. The day after Caruth's

7:20

release, Harvey reflected on that

7:22

with his co host on his national radio

7:24

show, This When Right

7:27

Here is different. Man. I

7:29

wrote a joke about this guy

7:31

hiding it. Why he thought he was gonna get away

7:33

with this? When you running from the law,

7:36

you want to get a pass support y

7:39

read to your fel like

7:42

they ain't gonna spatch your black ass and

7:44

nashvill you know

7:46

I've forgotten all about the joke he

7:48

gets today. Man, do

7:50

you know how much living we've done almost

7:53

nineteen years before

7:55

his release, I've been told Karuth my head

7:57

back to Sacramento where he grew up. The

8:00

two days after he got out, TMZ

8:02

was the first to report something unexpected.

8:05

Former Carolina panther Ray Kruth is out

8:07

of prison and now out of the state.

8:10

The Pennsylvania a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania

8:12

Department of Corrections confirmed that information

8:15

to me, but she wouldn't say exactly

8:17

where in the state Kruth was or

8:19

who he was living with. Sandra

8:21

Adams was equally confused by the move. Yes,

8:24

that's that's that's good for me. It is

8:26

because I thought he was going to Texas

8:28

or California maybe, but as

8:31

long as Ray Kruth was more than four miles

8:33

away from her and her grandson. Sandra

8:35

told me later the reasons why hardly mattered.

8:38

All of it still farther away from

8:40

North Carolina, and I think that gives

8:43

me a better sense of security.

8:45

And not that I'm afraid of

8:48

him, but I don't want

8:50

even the thought of him popping up at

8:52

my door. Six

9:00

days after Ray Caruth's released from prison,

9:02

Sandra and Chancellor Lee did something they've never

9:05

done before,

9:09

thanks to a Carolina Panthers season ticket

9:11

holder who lives in Charlotte. My name

9:13

is Jason Underwood and

9:17

I'm a finance manager at Duke Energy. My

9:19

wife, Angelica uh and I have

9:21

been married fourteen years, and

9:23

my son Alexander is

9:26

thirteen and been taking him to

9:28

games since he was a toddler and he

9:30

was afraid of the flyover planes and

9:32

screaming to take him out of the stadium. And

9:35

and then I have a seven year old daughter around Gabriella.

9:42

Underwood has been to hundreds of Panthers

9:44

games in n He

9:47

lived about an hour and fifteen minutes away from

9:49

Charlotte when Sharika was shot, and

9:51

I just remember following it day by day and just

9:54

almost hoping that it wasn't him, that

9:56

someone would actually do something like

9:58

that, you know, or sure

10:00

Heke had died. There were all kinds of stories

10:03

being floated, and up until

10:06

he flew and got into the trunk,

10:08

I held out hope that it wasn't him.

10:10

But when that happened, I think we all just knew an

10:13

innocent person doesn't do that. I've

10:16

never met Underwood until recently. I

10:20

was glad to finally call it dude on Alexander,

10:23

Sandra and Chancellor Lee had only met him a

10:25

few years ago, but that's when Underwood

10:28

decided he wanted to do something for them.

10:30

In two thousand and fifteen, I

10:33

believe that was when the first

10:35

article in your series came

10:37

out, and I couldn't believe

10:40

it, you know, I think I reread

10:42

the article about three times, just because I was

10:44

incredulous that someone could

10:46

be this forgiving, could have this level

10:48

of grace. And then shortly

10:51

after that, we were sitting in the

10:53

Duke Energy seats at a Panther Tampa

10:55

Bay game. And of course this is two thousand and fifteen,

10:58

the year that they had the run to the Super Bowl, and

11:00

we were right behind them, and if probably

11:02

if I hadn't been for that that article, I wouldn't

11:04

have recognized. And so,

11:07

you know, I leaned forward and I said, are

11:09

you who I think you are? And then she didn't

11:12

immediately response. She's just kind of sized me up. You

11:14

know, I'm sure she's approached fifty

11:16

times a day, and she just

11:18

kind of nodded, yes, yes, I believe.

11:20

So that

11:23

conversation began a friendship that

11:25

continues to this day. Underwood

11:27

and the adams Is have gotten together several times

11:30

to attend a preseason Panthers game or to

11:32

share a meal. Underwood didn't really

11:34

understand why the Panthers weren't more proactive

11:36

with the adams Is, who, after all, had been

11:39

tragically affected by the team drafting

11:41

Caruthan and bringing

11:43

him to Charlotte in the first place. So

11:48

for the past few years, Underwood has been in

11:50

touch with Riley Fields, the Panthers

11:52

director of community Relations. I

11:55

know that he wanted to provide a

11:57

game day experience for them,

12:00

and the prior season back

12:02

in seventeen, I think

12:04

there was the hope that maybe he was going

12:06

to come to a game and then Chancellor

12:09

was ill or something like that, and it just

12:11

it just never happened. So Fields has

12:13

been working for the Panthers since two thousand three,

12:16

about two years after Kruth was convicted

12:18

of conspiracy to commit murder. Fields

12:21

had never met the adams Is, but after talking

12:23

to Underwood, he wanted to do something for the family

12:25

too. So when Underwood told Fields

12:27

he planned to bring Sandra and Chancellor lead to a

12:30

game this past October, Fields

12:32

decided to supersize the visit. Jason

12:35

reached back out. He wanted to still kind

12:37

of follow through, I think on the promise that he had

12:39

made too to Sandra and

12:41

bring him to a game and um kind

12:44

of describe what they were doing that day,

12:46

and and I thought that we had an

12:48

opportunity maybe to provide a little

12:50

bit of an enhancement to what Chancellor's

12:53

experience could be on that day. So it was

12:56

started with the efforts of I would

12:58

say a good Samaritan, and um,

13:00

it just picked up a little bit of momentum

13:03

from that point on. I

13:05

was covering the game on October when

13:07

the Panthers hosted the Baltimore Ravens.

13:09

I met Jason and his son and Sandra

13:12

and Chancellor Lee outside the gates at Bank

13:14

of America Stadium. You got to cam

13:16

Newton Jersey. They

13:19

had all just come from breakfast together and

13:21

Chancellor wore a brand new cam Newton

13:23

jersey.

13:30

Instead of heading to their seats, however, we all

13:32

met fields and he walked

13:34

them through the player's tunnel right

13:38

out onto the field where

13:43

Chancellor Lee's father had once heard the roar

13:45

of seventy thousand fans cheering

13:48

for him.

13:54

I've got goose bumps as we're sitting here talking about

13:56

it. When Chancellor came

13:58

out of the tunnel, every on the

14:00

sidelines like whoa, and he

14:02

got a pause. People in the stands

14:04

there was a pause. There was just support

14:07

for him because I think there's a light

14:09

that radiates out of him and to

14:12

have people celebrate him

14:14

in that moment for

14:25

almost an hour, Sandra and Chancellor Earle

14:28

stood on the field while the Panthers warmed up.

14:31

Fields hadn't told the players they were coming, and

14:33

not all of them knew the story anyway. On

14:36

the chaotic night Chancellor Lee was born

14:38

in Most of

14:40

the players on this team were still in elementary

14:42

school, but some of them still recognize

14:44

the team's special guests and made

14:46

it a point to welcome them.

14:52

Pro Bowl center Ryan Khalil is a dad

14:54

himself. Yeah, it's familiar with the story, and

14:56

it's a situation that I can possibly

14:58

fathom. I gotta go. Learned me the family

15:00

and seemed like a great kid. So he

15:06

came over to the Adams Is twice, the

15:08

second time to offer Chancellor Ly a

15:10

gift. We

15:14

usually have an extra ball at the end of our individual

15:16

period, so and I've usually given it out to

15:19

kids around the sidelines, so I thought it would be right

15:21

up to giving ball. Look at

15:23

you.

15:32

Anthers safety Mike Adams isn't related

15:34

to Sandra or Chancellor Lee, but seeing

15:36

the last name Adams on his jersey still

15:39

made Sandra feel like she had family on the

15:41

field.

15:45

I recognize him because he don't. To me, he looked

15:47

just like right when she said Adams.

15:50

Adams, you're out of your my cousin, My cousin did

15:52

I went over there and then I'm like, okay, yeah,

15:54

we cousin. It

15:58

was humble. Before I left, I give in my

16:00

gloves and and everything, and you

16:02

know, I was proud to just

16:04

being his presence. You know, it made me feel

16:06

good. Then came another player visit

16:09

from wide receiver Devin Funch. Us Fields

16:15

and the rest of the Panthers just call him

16:17

Funch. Several guys came

16:20

over and Funch was

16:22

in his I'm just gonna say, full battle

16:24

regalia. I mean, he had a helmet on. They're

16:26

all padded up. I mean, it's it's a pretty spectacular

16:28

site. And then certainly someone like Devon

16:31

who's six three six four, they

16:34

look like superheroes in in

16:36

some sense. And he came over and

16:38

um handed Chancellor's gloves

16:41

and got down set a few things to

16:43

him, and you know, then he was off Chancellors

16:47

holding the gloves and

16:49

he just said wow, and

16:52

just out of nowhere, he turned

16:55

and I could feel him looking at me, and

16:57

I looked down at him and he just says, thank

17:00

you. That

17:03

it was just I mean, no,

17:06

that was not expected. Of him. He did

17:08

not have to say that. That was

17:10

just um, it's a

17:13

good stuff. It's good stuff.

17:17

Sandra's favorite visit on the sideline came

17:19

from someone who wouldn't be playing that day.

17:26

Hedge fund billionaire David Tepper

17:28

bought the team from Jerry Richardson. This past

17:30

summer. Tepper has taught publicly

17:32

about growing up with an abusive father. He

17:35

specifically wanted to introduce himself to

17:37

the adams Is and then the three of them took

17:39

a photo together. The

17:47

NFL, about four plus years

17:49

ago, found ourselves in a complicated

17:52

situation and facing a lot of challenges

17:55

and made a decision to

17:57

be part of the solution on domestic

18:00

and send sexual assault. Anna Isaacson

18:02

is the NFL Senior vice president

18:04

for Social Responsibility. She told

18:06

me recently about how the NFL is trying to

18:08

better educate players in society

18:11

at large about domestic violence.

18:13

And we've been looking at it through a couple of different

18:16

lenses, handling discipline

18:18

in a certain way, but also really focusing on

18:21

survivors and family members and providing

18:24

resources when people find themselves in

18:26

situations dealing with violence.

18:28

All of that sounds like great ideas.

18:31

And very little of it was probably

18:33

in place in when

18:35

Ray Caruth's conspiracy first

18:37

surfaced. I think there's a better understanding.

18:40

I honestly think that there

18:42

was a lack of understanding of how

18:44

pervasive the issues were, of

18:47

why people find themselves in these situations,

18:49

what leads to it, what are the warning signs.

18:53

I think hearing from survivors and telling

18:55

their story helps people to see

18:57

that this goes on everywhere. And

19:00

when you're hearing someone speak emotionally

19:02

of the real impact that it's had on their family.

19:05

I mean, of course I find it incredibly powerful

19:07

and moving, but I just think it moves people in a

19:09

different way.

19:21

About ninety minutes later, I caught up

19:23

with Sandra in the stands

19:28

take pictures. The thoughts of the players

19:31

and the owner came over

19:33

into It was huge.

19:39

The team upgraded their seats for a better view,

19:42

and after the Panthers first touchdown Jeffrey

19:45

tim five touchdown,

19:49

the in house TV cameras showed Sandra

19:51

and Chancellory on the huge video scoreboards

19:54

had a name upon the thing when you walking,

20:00

where is that? And

20:07

the crowd went crazy.

20:17

Even the players on the field heard. The noise

20:19

level changed then including All

20:21

Pro linebacker Luke Keikley. You

20:24

know, I didn't I didn't have a chance to meet him, but they

20:26

showed him on the Jumbo tryn and he was he was

20:28

smiling big time and and you could just

20:30

hear hear the crowd react when when they showed him

20:32

on there, he was half he was excited, and I

20:34

really got the crowd going. I

20:37

tried to ask Chancellor Lee about the experience,

20:40

but Panther fans kept coming by, anxious

20:42

to meet him. One after another.

20:44

They asked for photos, what the Adams is, or

20:47

simply wanted to tell them how inspirational

20:49

they were.

20:55

Chancellor Lee just kept smiling. It

20:58

kind of accelerated when they got the jumbo

21:00

tron, you know, because not a lot of people

21:02

may have known Underwood had a front

21:05

row seat as Sandra and her grandson were

21:07

approached over and over, I'd say forty

21:09

or fifty some some of the people they were

21:11

just there to tell her how inspired

21:14

they were, and yeah, they generally wanted

21:16

a picture, but you know, Sandra just she

21:19

just one after the other, okay, okay,

21:25

and those conversations always became more

21:28

than just a quick hello. Even

21:31

thirteen year old Alexander Underwood found

21:33

that when you asked Sandra how she's doing, you

21:35

often end up talking a lot about yourself.

21:37

Oh she's so kind. She always

21:40

wants to know more about everybody else. You

21:42

know, I thought somebody

21:44

that would you know, was in the papers and

21:47

everything, would act differently,

21:49

but no, she's just like one of us, but way

21:51

kinder. In my time with the

21:54

adams Is over the years, I've often

21:56

seen Sandra be hesitant about strangers

21:58

wanting to interact with Chancellor League. But

22:00

on this day, all the interactions were positive.

22:03

Sandra made sure of that. I really

22:06

still want to thank the Panthers and their

22:09

staff about how smoothly

22:11

everything went, and and I felt

22:14

like that was my time to

22:16

really give back to the community

22:18

because people have been praying

22:20

for us and really encouraging

22:23

us for all these years, and this

22:25

was just my way of saying, come

22:28

on, welcome in. You know, in

22:30

the past, I'd been a little reluctant

22:32

about everybody taking pictures of Chancellor

22:35

and everything, but you know, this

22:37

was my chance to show our hearts

22:39

and to give back and say, hey, sure, you

22:41

know, come on take a picture with us. We're glad

22:44

to be here. You know, it really

22:46

made him feel special, and especially

22:49

being so close to his birthday as

22:51

well, that was like a treat

22:53

for him.

23:01

After Sandra and Chancellor release Great Day

23:03

at the Stadium, it seemed like at least

23:05

one part of this saga had some closure,

23:08

But after two decades of reporting, I

23:10

felt like there was still something missing from the story.

23:13

Caruth himself all

23:15

right. So it's a pretty November

23:18

day in Pennsylvania, where

23:20

Ray Caruth now lives. Caruth

23:23

hadn't returned my messages in months, but

23:25

through a little more reporting I had been

23:27

able to figure out that he was living with a friend.

23:30

So in November I took a flight to Pennsylvania

23:33

and I rented a car and I'm headed

23:36

there right now in a

23:38

black Buick regal license

23:41

plate. I recorded these notes

23:43

while sitting in a parking lot near the highway,

23:46

and so my plan is to just walk

23:48

up to the door and knock on it and

23:52

make sure that he doesn't want to speak

23:54

to me. In fact, he hasn't done a

23:57

lengthy sit down interview about the events

23:59

of Night to shureke adams

24:01

death really ever. But

24:04

the closest he came was in two thousand

24:06

one when he talked to c an n s

24:08

I, Ray, did you conspire to murder Shriek

24:10

Adams and your unborn son? No?

24:12

I did not. I was not there. I

24:14

didn't see the shooting. I didn't hear any shots.

24:17

I can't testify anything that happened Surrek and Ray

24:20

Road. But even that story,

24:22

he has changed some components of it through

24:25

David Rudolph in this podcast. Uh,

24:28

and this is sort of new information. I guess.

24:31

At some point on Ray Road, Ray

24:34

saw Van Brett Watkins pull

24:36

out and he panned.

24:39

He took off because he was

24:41

afraid that Van Brett Watkins

24:44

was coming to get him.

24:47

I'm feeling a little bit nervous about

24:49

this. Certainly he doesn't know

24:52

that I'm coming. I drove

24:54

to Caruth's house and parked

24:56

in his empty driveway.

24:59

OW walked seven steps up to the glass

25:02

storm door inside.

25:04

The front door was open, and I could see

25:06

a pair of small dogs that looked like chihuahua's

25:08

barking like crazy. I

25:10

rang the doorbell and then

25:13

the barking stopped. A

25:15

silhouette appeared from around the corner.

25:17

A muscular man about five ft

25:19

ten. His head was freshly

25:22

shaven. It was Ray

25:24

Kruth. He opened

25:26

the glass door and stepped outside, wearing

25:28

a white T shirt, red gym shorts,

25:31

and Nike tennis shoes. I

25:34

introduced myself, not really sure what he

25:36

would do next, but really not

25:38

expecting what he actually did. Carruth

25:42

laughed, I had a feeling

25:44

you might pop up sometime, he said. He

25:47

asked me not to tell anyone where he lives, and

25:49

I agreed. I apologized

25:52

for showing up at his door unannounced. I

25:54

explained that I didn't have his phone number, and

25:56

that I thought it was only fair to give him one more chance

25:59

to talk before we finished a podcast

26:01

that is named for him. After all.

26:05

He was silent for a moment, and then Kruth

26:07

opened the door. Come on in, he

26:09

said, I can't

26:11

share Kruth's voice here, unfortunately,

26:14

because he declined to let me record our

26:16

conversation. He told me he's

26:18

trying to rebuild his life quietly, but

26:20

he pointed to his kitchen table. Have

26:23

a seat. He told me he

26:25

did agree to let me share almost all of

26:27

what we discussed over the next half hour

26:30

about his past, the defendant, ray

26:32

Lamar Karuth, and his future.

26:35

He got into that white suv and

26:37

now is unclear where he is off

26:39

to, but his time here at Sampson

26:41

Correctional Institute has come to an end. He

26:47

sat across from me with that same half

26:49

smile I remembered from the day he got out

26:51

of prison. He was holding a bottle

26:53

of cleaner and a sponge. Kruth

26:55

said he was getting ready for a visit from his mother,

26:57

Theodrey, who was flying in from Cali,

27:00

Fornia that night. I could see

27:02

the kitchen had indeed been cleaned like someone

27:04

expecting to visit from their mother. And when

27:06

I mentioned I hadn't seen Theodrey at the prison

27:08

in October, Karuth confirmed this

27:10

would be the first time they had seen each other since

27:12

he got out. Something else stood

27:14

out at that kitchen table. There were ten

27:17

boxes of different kinds of cheerios lined

27:19

up directly in front of me, in two rows

27:21

of five. Kruth smiled when I

27:23

asked about them. Okay, buddy, what's your favorite

27:26

kind of cheerios? He

27:28

said he had seen an ad for the cereal while

27:30

he was locked up. As he put it in

27:33

the commercial and African American

27:35

dad is fixing his young son breakfast.

27:39

Other favorite were

27:42

favorite. Karuth

27:44

told me the ad stayed with him on an emotional

27:47

level. Okay, but what's

27:49

your most favorite of all? Kind

27:52

of half with you me

27:57

too. He

28:00

later put these thoughts in an email. He said,

28:02

I could read here quote the

28:05

commercial had sentimental value mainly

28:07

because of the content, though not necessarily

28:10

the color of the actor's skin. I

28:12

guess it resonated with me because it was the

28:14

kind of moment I'm sure every man would

28:16

love to have with his child. It

28:18

was a poignant reminder of what I was missing

28:20

out with on my own children, the closeness,

28:23

the moments, and the memories. End

28:26

quote. Caru said he has

28:28

a job lined up, though it's one he can

28:30

do on his laptop from his home. In

28:33

fact, in our conversation, Kruth

28:35

said he doesn't leave the house much yet. He

28:39

said he has found a nearby jim where

28:41

he can keep up the two hours a day, six

28:43

days a week regimen he developed in prison.

28:46

Had some roll with John Madden and John

28:49

Let's talk about the trouble of Carolina Panthers.

28:51

He said he weighs two and two pounds,

28:54

only two pounds over his NFL playing

28:56

weight into the end zone touchdown

28:59

Ray correct and sitting there in the

29:01

kitchen, he certainly looked like it, unlike

29:03

players with longer careers. Kruth said

29:06

he had suffered no adverse health effects

29:08

from his time in the NFL, though he

29:10

said he wonders about concussions, and

29:12

that quote, I once got hit so

29:14

hard I couldn't close my eyes. A

29:16

teammate slapped me upside the helmet with

29:18

full force, and my vision was restored.

29:22

My eyelids have been flipped inside

29:24

out end quote.

29:30

On Fridays, he goes to pray at a nearby

29:32

mosque. Karuth converted

29:34

to Islam in prison, and he said

29:36

that he leaves the mosque each time quote

29:39

awestruck, but

29:43

Kruth knows he's a man with a past.

29:46

He wears a black rubber bracelet that his mother

29:48

gave him. On it are the numbers twelve,

29:50

fifteen ninety nine, in ten,

29:52

twenty two eighteen, the

29:55

dates of his incarceration. On the

29:57

other side are the words never

29:59

forget, twists and turns,

30:01

and here

30:04

he said his mother wears a copy of the same

30:06

bracelet. And if Karuth has learned

30:08

anything about social media since his release

30:10

from prison, it's that some people have very

30:12

strong feelings about him. It's only

30:14

a matter of time. He said, before someone

30:17

snaps a photo of him at the grocery store

30:19

or at the gym, and it's all over Facebook

30:22

or Twitter. But one

30:24

day, he said, he hopes to live a more

30:26

normal life. He wants to join

30:28

a bowling league, because once upon

30:31

a time, Karuth was good at that sport too.

30:34

He had his own shoes and a customized

30:36

red ball engraved with the words Sugar Ray

30:39

with sugar spelled s u

30:41

g A. He

30:44

said he still enjoys softball, a sport

30:46

he played recreationally in Charlotte

30:48

and then again in prison. Kruth

30:51

says he loved playing center field partly

30:53

because it was the only time he had so much open

30:55

space to roam. He said

30:57

he's using this time on parole to gauge

31:00

whether or not any of that will be possible

31:02

here. If not, Karuth told

31:04

me he'll make arrangements to leave the country.

31:08

The first shades of normalcy are returning.

31:11

It had been so long since it had been in a car,

31:14

he said. Karruth often got car sick

31:16

in his first few weeks after release. Driving

31:19

again was important to him, but his license

31:21

expired long ago while he was in prison.

31:25

Getting a new one became an early way he's

31:27

had to start over. And I literally

31:29

could see how proud Karuth was when he passed

31:31

the test for his Pennsylvania Learners permit.

31:33

The other day, he texted me a photo

31:35

of himself standing outside in the driving

31:38

snow. He's wearing a bushy

31:40

hat, a heavy coat, and a huge

31:42

grin, holding up his new permit

31:44

and pointing to it, ma'am.

31:48

Where Clearly,

31:51

in our conversation since his release, Kruth

31:54

prefers to talk about now instead

31:56

of then

31:58

said what did it mean?

32:04

He steadfastly refused to discuss

32:06

Sharika Adam's death, saying it

32:08

would do no good for anyone. He

32:11

has never admitted to hiring Van Brett Watkins

32:13

to shoot Sharika, although Karuth's

32:16

lawyer told me in August that Karuth no longer

32:18

feels the jury got the verdict wrong.

32:21

I think in some strange way, the jury

32:23

sort of figured it out

32:27

and sort of compromised

32:29

to a place that you know, even

32:31

Ray can accept. Okay, I'm

32:33

responsible for this situation,

32:36

so I needed to pay a price. I

32:39

told Karuth that I spent several hours in

32:41

prison with Watkins for this podcast,

32:44

and that Watkins told me he wanted Kruth

32:46

dead. What do you feel about Ray

32:48

Kruth now? Karuth

32:52

told me he's aware. He said he didn't

32:54

want to delve into those threats, although

32:56

he is tired of Watkins blaming him

32:58

for making Watkins pulled the trigger in the drive

33:00

by shooting. He's obviously a very

33:03

angry and disturbed man who doesn't

33:05

seem to care too much for me. Karuth wrote,

33:07

if I could tell him one thing, it would

33:10

be that we must all accept responsibility

33:12

for the decisions we make in life. He

33:14

and he alone, is accountable for the situation

33:17

he finds himself in, not me.

33:19

I wish him nothing but inner peace. Kruth

33:23

says he's found that piece himself. He

33:25

wrote to me that quote, I've forgiven

33:28

myself for any and all wrongdoing that

33:30

I've done in the past, and I'm simply

33:32

trying to live my life as peacefully and

33:34

gracefully as I possibly can

33:37

end quote.

33:40

But whether or not his future will ever include

33:42

his disabled son, whether

33:47

or not Karuth will ever have his own Cheerios

33:49

moment with Chancellor Lee is perhaps

33:51

the biggest unknown. For

33:54

years, Sandra had requested visitation

33:57

papers from Karuth so that she could

33:59

bring his son to need him in prison, Kruth

34:01

dragged his feet, and the dynamic

34:04

irritated Sandra. I am not going

34:06

to keep begging a killer to

34:09

want to be part of my grandson's life.

34:11

Shortly before his release, Kruth

34:13

finally did send the papers, but by

34:16

then Sandra and Chancellor Lee had changed

34:18

their minds and decided not to go. Kruth

34:21

told me he would like to be in Chancellor Lee's

34:23

life, but that he's also not going

34:25

to force the issue. He asked

34:27

me to relay that message to Sandra, and

34:29

then he wrote down his phone number so I could tell

34:32

him what she said. They're

34:34

in his kitchen. He was more pleasant than I

34:36

often am when a stranger comes to my door

34:38

wanting something for me. He

34:40

was charming at times. He laughed a

34:42

lot, often at his own expense. I'm

34:45

not sure what I expected, but that wasn't

34:47

it. And see, that's the thing about it. Like when

34:49

I watched shows that tell

34:51

his story. He reminded me of what his friend

34:54

Monique Young told me. He just had

34:56

that type of personality, very

34:58

funny and silly. You know, people may

35:00

not know that, but he's very funny and silly.

35:02

Yet for the rest of his life, Karuth

35:05

will also be a convicted felon who

35:07

served nearly nineteen years in connection

35:09

with Sharika's death. As

35:12

much as he's excited about his second chance,

35:14

Kruth knows the impacts of his actions

35:17

are permanent. Had

35:19

he just been manipulating me or had

35:22

prison really changed him? Was

35:24

he going to become a productive member of society?

35:27

Would he ever see the adams Is And

35:29

how would Saunder react when I told her I had finally

35:31

seen Karuth in person after all these

35:33

years. After

35:36

half an hour, I could tell Karuth was being

35:38

polite but also ready for me to go.

35:41

I thanked Ra Karuth for his time, and

35:43

he sent me on my way with a bottle

35:45

of water from his refrigerator. So

35:49

I just left Rakkruth's house and

35:52

we had a long conversation at

35:54

his kitchen table. He was

35:56

quite surprised to see me With that. I

35:59

headed home. Soon

36:04

after my trip to Pennsylvania, I met

36:06

Sandra and Chancellor Lee at a park near

36:08

their home in Charlotte. Sandra

36:10

and I sat at a picnic table under an awning.

36:13

Chancellor Lee had just gotten picked up from

36:15

school and he decided to stay in the

36:17

car and listen to the radio. I

36:20

hadn't told Sandra that I had gone to see Karuth,

36:22

but she knows how long I've covered this story, and

36:25

she's a smart lady. Interview

36:28

him. You

36:32

were you were than

36:34

the Martin, than you even thought you were. Yes,

36:36

I did, did you good?

36:40

First? I gave Sandra another letter that Van

36:42

Brett Watkins had sent me from prison, this

36:45

one after the hit man had seen the print series

36:47

that accompanied this podcast. On

36:50

one corner of the envelope, the man who

36:52

shot Sharika had drawn a picture of himself

36:54

in prison. In the drawing, he

36:57

hung upside down by shackles

36:59

from a cinder wall. He pinned

37:01

some of his nicknames on the picture too,

37:04

serial killer hit Man

37:07

New York. In the letter,

37:09

he again contrasted his inability

37:11

to forgive Caruth with Sandra's

37:13

ability to move on following her daughter's

37:16

death. Mostly, the letter

37:18

was like every other letter Watkins has sent me

37:20

before Caruth's release, and in that

37:22

way it reinforced how little might

37:24

change for the Adams As now that Chancellor

37:27

Lee's father is a freeman. I really

37:29

see our lives going on just like it

37:31

had been in the past. Ray

37:33

is not in North Carolina. I don't

37:35

think he will becoming to

37:38

North Carolina. Nothing's

37:40

changed with that. So I

37:43

see us going on and discontinuing

37:46

the work that we do advocating

37:48

for peace, you know. And I can

37:50

do that without even saying his name literally,

37:53

not to say literally, not to say

37:55

his name, because I want the same respect.

37:58

I don't think he has any reason

38:01

to be saying my name or

38:04

saying the name of Chancellor Lee Adams,

38:06

because for me, my main

38:09

goal is the Chancellor knows

38:12

nothing but love. So is

38:14

he aware that his father

38:16

is out of prison at this point? He is,

38:18

He is aware that he's out of prison, and

38:20

he knows that he's far away. And

38:23

I've reassured him because he was very

38:25

upset. He was very

38:28

upset by the thought he was coming

38:30

to take him away from me. And

38:32

Chancellor doesn't normally cry.

38:35

He actually cried and

38:38

clung to me so much.

38:40

Did I had to really just reassure him, nobody

38:43

has taken you from me. You're

38:45

not going anywhere. And so, you

38:47

know, I think he's he's settled back

38:49

down into that comfort level. I

38:53

told her that Caruth was holding out hope for a relationship

38:56

with his son and asked her what she thought

38:59

give us time and give us time. I'm

39:01

not saying that I never want

39:04

him to see Chancellor and meet Chancellor.

39:07

I want to see where his head is because

39:09

you know, I'm doing my part, and really

39:11

I want him to just go ahead and live his life

39:14

peacefully. And we're gonna

39:16

live our lives peacefully. We're just

39:18

gonna be concentrating on, you know, maybe

39:20

giving to other people making them feel more

39:23

at ease, because we're kind of old

39:25

pros at this, and you

39:28

know, you never stop missing

39:30

your loved ones. But for

39:32

the families that have just lost

39:35

loved ones, the feelings are really

39:37

wrong. So you know, we're here

39:39

to offer hope that hey,

39:42

life can go on. You can still

39:44

have a smile ministry. You

39:46

know, you can laugh and it's okay

39:49

to move on because you're doing that

39:51

in honor of your loved one. I mean, that's

39:53

an important message, right for people who are listening

39:56

to this, but they feel guilty if they're something

39:58

bad's happened, the death of a love one that I

40:00

can never be happy again, And

40:03

I think they do their loved one a

40:06

greater disservice by doing that, because

40:08

you defined the whole life by that

40:11

moment that they departed rather

40:13

than all the good that they did while they

40:15

were living. And I think that just

40:17

adds to Sharika's legacy,

40:20

because I said, you never really

40:23

know how many people

40:25

you are impacting. But the

40:28

joy that I find in this is that what

40:30

people meant for evil has turned

40:33

out to be really, really good.

40:35

It gave me a voice, It

40:37

catapulted me into my purpose,

40:41

and my life couldn't be more fulfilled.

40:45

The following week, I called Ruth myself

40:48

and told him what Sandra had said, including

40:51

the part about his son crying. During

40:54

the forty one minute phone call, Caruth

40:56

reiterated to me that he would quote never

40:58

in a million years try to separate

41:01

them. Following our

41:03

call, Kruth sent me several emails

41:05

to more fully explain his thoughts

41:07

and said those could be shared. He

41:09

wrote, quote, when it comes

41:12

to Miss Adams and Chancellor, my

41:14

only desire is for true forgiveness

41:16

and a genuine opportunity to be

41:18

a part of my son's life. And

41:20

out of respect for Miss Adams and her feelings

41:23

towards me, I have no plans

41:25

of ever trying to force my way in. I'm

41:27

going to be patient and give her the space

41:29

she rightfully deserves when the

41:31

time is right, I believe that Miss Adams

41:34

will eventually extend an invitation

41:36

for me to have contact with my son, and

41:39

I will eagerly accept. I

41:44

since Karuth is being sincere about

41:46

that, he told me that he's spoken on

41:48

the phone with Ray Jr. His older son,

41:50

whose mother was Kruth's high school sweetheart,

41:53

every day since his release. He

41:56

said that as soon as authorities in Pennsylvania

41:58

will let him travel out of stay, he

42:00

plans to go visit that son. And

42:03

in one of his recent emails, Caruth

42:05

asked me this rhetorical question, which

42:07

I've thought a lot about. Quote

42:10

question for you, and I'm not actually

42:12

looking for a response. Do

42:15

you think that it's possible for a generally

42:17

good person to get him or herself

42:19

involved in a situation as heart

42:22

wrenchingly horrible as the one I

42:24

was in? Or is it your belief

42:26

that such a person could only be cut

42:29

from the worst of molds? End

42:32

quote? I

42:34

suspect listeners of this podcast will

42:36

have their own answers to that. I've

42:39

received so much feedback to these first

42:42

seven chapters, the vast majority

42:44

about Sharika, Sandra and Chancellor

42:46

Lee. The heroes of this complicated

42:49

story. People have told me how

42:51

they admire Sharika's strength, Chancellor

42:54

Lee's determination, and Sandra's

42:56

grace through the darkness

42:58

of nearly unimaginable us. It

43:01

is their life that shines in this story, guiding

43:03

the road ahead for all of us. I'm

43:09

Scott Fowler and this podcast is produced

43:11

by Jeff Signer and Rachel Wise and

43:13

Davin Coburn at McClatchy Studios.

43:16

Find lots more about this case at Charlotte Observer

43:18

dot com slash Caruth and

43:21

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43:25

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43:29

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43:32

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43:34

Coalition Against Domestic Violence Safe

43:37

Alliance and the Children's Defense

43:39

Fund. Leave us a rating

43:41

and a review on Apple Podcast, and you

43:43

can reach me directly at s Fowler at

43:45

Charlotte Observer dot com.

43:48

Thanks so much for listening, Boo