Pod Insights Burden of Guilt Tell Me Your Story | EP 4 | Season 2 About this episode After the 2000 trial, Bobby Gumpright’s addiction spiraled and placed him in situations that could have turned fatal. As his lies closed in, a divine voice urged him to come clean —setting him on a journey across Louisiana to do the right thing.
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Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Speaker 00 This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.
0:04 Speaker 01 OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.
0:37 Speaker 02 She'd throw things, wander, and started hoarding. Mom's Alzheimer's was already so hard, but then we found out she had agitation that may happen with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. And that was a different kind of difficult. So we asked her doctor for more help.
0:52 Speaker 03 Seeing symptoms like these in a loved one? It could be time to ask their doctor about Rexulti, Rexiprazole 2mg, the first FDA-approved treatment for this condition. Rexulti is proven to reduce agitation symptoms. Rexulti should not be used as an as-needed treatment. Elderly people with dementia-related psychosis have increased risk of death or stroke. Report fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, which can be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. High blood sugar can lead to coma or death. Weight gain, increased cholesterol, unusual urges, dizziness on standing, falls, seizures, trouble swallowing, or sleepiness may occur. Learn more about these and other side effects at rexulti.com. Tap ad for PI.
1:27 Speaker 02 I'm glad I asked for help.
1:29 Speaker 03 Ask your loved one's doctor about Rexulti.
1:33 Speaker 04 When intimate itch strikes, waiting it out isn't always an option. That's why there's Vagisil Maximum Strength Anti-Ich Cream. It provides fast relief from intense external feminine itching and burning, and 92% of women said Vagisil provided long-lasting itch relief. Intimate itch can have more than 60 causes. From everyday things like shaving, pads, tight clothing, to yeast-infection-related irritation, Vagisil helps protect delicate skin from further irritation. Trusted by generations, clinically and gynecologist-tested. Don't let discomfort get in the way. Visit vagisil.com to find the relief that's right for you.
2:05 Speaker 05 Halloween's almost here, and I've got plans. My first stop is Total Wine & More for cold beer, ready-to-drink cocktails, and a bottle of wine to share. And I know I'm getting the lowest prices. Get the fun started at Total Wine & More. Spirits are not sold in Virginia and North Carolina. Drink responsibly. P21.
2:23 Speaker 06 We go into the emergency room and the lady starts asking what's going on. And my dad's like, "Yeah, we just don't know what's going on." And she goes, "Well, maybe it has something to do with the track marks on his arm."
2:36 Speaker 06 And my dad's like, "What are you talking about?"
2:50 Nancy Glass? I'm Nancy Glass. This is season two of Burden of Guilt, episode four, Tell Me Your Story.
3:02 Nancy Glass? In March of 2000, Bobby Gumpright falsely testified that Jermaine Hudson robbed him at gunpoint. And as you heard in the last episode, the crime never happened.
3:17 Nancy Glass? Bobby was desperate to hide his drug addiction from his parents, so he used the armed robbery story to explain the reason he had no money from his bartending job. For Bobby, addiction and deception fed each other in a continuous loop. The lies kept the addiction alive, and the addiction kept him insulated from consequences. Back in 2000, Bobby convinced himself he was helping police out by testifying against Jermaine at trial. They described Jermaine as a dangerous career criminal. But as Bobby got older, the full weight of what he had masterminded became impossible to live with.
4:00 Nancy Glass? It would be a long, winding route to get the truth out there. Bobby spent years trying to outrun himself, reinventing his life, starting over again and again, all while Jermaine was stuck in Angola prison with no hope of ever living as a free man.
4:22 Nancy Glass? Soon after Jermaine's conviction, Bobby made his first move away from the city he associated with his shame, New Orleans.
4:31 Speaker 06 My dad had just gotten orders to DC, and he didn't think I should stay in New Orleans. I wasn't anywhere in a position to support myself. So he said, "Why don't you go with us?
4:49 Speaker 06 Just go to DC and figure it out."
4:53 Nancy Glass? Just a few weeks before the move to DC, he met a group of guys in their 20s vacationing in New Orleans. And that chance encounter turned into a valuable connection.
5:06 Speaker 06 They were DJs for this company in DC. And I was like, "I'm about to move to DC." And they said, "Hey, you've got a good personality. You ever thought about being a DJ?" And I was like, "No, but that sounds awesome."
5:19 Speaker 06 I had a job before I even got there.
5:22 Nancy Glass? So Bobby started working as a mobile DJ for bars, weddings, and private parties.
5:29 Nancy Glass? Those occasions provided a place where he could get away with continuing to drink and use drugs. He was 20 years old. He had a job, a cover for his behavior. And pretty soon, he met a woman at one of his wedding gigs.
5:46 Speaker 06 Started dating, and then we ended up getting married. She was in the Air Force. And maybe a year later, she got orders to Alaska. And we ended up going to Alaska.
6:01 Nancy Glass? It might have been a chance for a fresh start and stability, but Bobby kept chasing the high.
6:08 Speaker 06 Get to Alaska and immediately get a job at a bar and hook into the people there. And that's where I started doing heroin.
6:20 Speaker 06 Still doing cocaine. Crack comes into it, like just a little bit of everything.
6:25 Nancy Glass? When Bobby reflects on that marriage now, he admits he was in it for one reason.
6:31 Speaker 06 I was still so selfish. I was just looking for somebody to take care of me.
6:39 Nancy Glass? Bobby was really good at hiding his addiction. At first, his new wife didn't know he had a problem, but she caught on.
6:47 Speaker 06 It came to a point where I had to admit it.
6:54 Nancy Glass? The marriage limped along for nearly a decade before collapsing for good, and eventually, the couple divorced in 2010. Bobby moved back to Washington, DC, bouncing between friends' couches and DJ gigs while he looked for something more lucrative to do.
7:14 Speaker 06 I met a guy at one of my DJ gigs, and he worked for a tugboat company. And so, because I was in the Coast Guard, he was like, "Oh, you could probably get on with our tugboat company." I said, "Well, that'd be good money." So he got me a job with this company, and we were doing dredge work on the Potomac River. But I was still working with drug addicts.
7:39 Speaker 06 We had connected through drugs. So I continued smoking crack with him once I got the job.
7:47 Nancy Glass? Even when he was high, Bobby had a way of winning people over. He was personable and funny. He still had his charisma. Plenty of people were charmed by him. But not everyone fell for the facade. When our team contacted one of Bobby's former employers, the bitterness was unmistakable. He described Bobby as a con artist and a liar. Bobby doesn't push back on that characterization. He admits to ripping people off, even his drug dealers.
8:22 Speaker 06 I would get a guy into confidence. I'd be working a job. I'd buy a bunch of drugs and I'd always pay and always have money. And then finally, I would get to the point where I'd be like, hey, man, just float me. Just float me for a week. And then he'd float me and I'd pay him. And we'd kind of build a relationship. And then I'd get a big amount from him and I'd say, oh, I got you. And I'd leave.
8:52 Nancy Glass? But when he worked on the tugboat, he didn't leave fast enough. Here's what happened. Bobby bought a $40 bag of weed. He couldn't pay at the time, but he had built rapport with the dealer and asked to be floated for a few days. The dealer agreed. Even after the dealer gave him more time, Bobby still didn't come up with the money. The dealer was no longer interested in any excuses.
9:20 Speaker 06 Him and his nephew came on board the boat one night. I was sleeping. And smacked me on the leg and woke me up and, where's my money? And I says, I don't have your money. And he says, well, you're supposed to pay me. And I says, I know, but I'll pay you, but I just, I don't have it right now. At this point, I had sat up and I'm talking to him and I didn't even see that he had a bottle in his right hand. He took the beer bottle and he smashed it over the back of my head. And he stabbed me four times in the neck with it. So I'm just sitting there and I'm bleeding. You better have my money, is what he said.
10:04 Speaker 06 And his nephew lifts up his shirt. He had a gun underneath his belt.
10:12 Nancy Glass? Bobby was afraid to get off the boat after seeing the gun. So instead, covered in blood and badly injured, Bobby snuck away and boarded a smaller tugboat to get help. A good Samaritan saw Bobby bleeding and on the verge of passing out and called 911.
10:32 Speaker 06 Took me to the hospital and went into the ER. And all I remember is being on a table where they were pulling the glass out and I had like six or seven doctors around me.
10:45 Nancy Glass? Those doctors told him how close he had come to dying.
10:50 Speaker 06 He was about half an inch away from my carotid.
11:00 Nancy Glass? It's a shocking example of how much power Bobby's addiction had over him because even a near-death experience wouldn't scare Bobby straight or motivate him to seek help.
11:13 Nancy Glass? After the attack on the boat, he moved back in with his parents. They were still completely in the dark about his addiction, but they were about to find out.
11:30 Speaker 06 I was doing heroin at the time.
11:34 Speaker 06 And I remember one day I was in there and I shot up. I think it was one of the times when I overdosed.
11:41 Speaker 06 And I just remember coming to hours later, needle still hanging in my arm.
11:49 Speaker 06 And I'm sitting there going, man, if my dad had walked in the room, you know?
11:54 Nancy Glass? Bobby was out of money and out of drugs. He spiraled into withdrawal.
12:01 Speaker 06 I got real sick because heroin withdrawals can be real bad.
12:06 Speaker 06 So I just laid in bed and for three days I just laid there sweating, puking.
12:15 Nancy Glass? Bobby's dad was in denial about what was going on with his son until it finally hit a breaking point.
12:22 Speaker 06 My dad kept coming up, you know, what's going on? I'm like, oh, I'm just sick. I got the flu or whatever, you know? And three days later, he looks at me and he goes, this is something worse than the flu.
12:31 Nancy Glass? Captain Gumpright took action. I went and got him and made him get up and took him to the hospital emergency room.
12:40 Speaker 06 We go into the emergency room and the lady starts asking what's going on. And my dad's like, yeah, we just don't know what's going on. And she goes, well, maybe it has something to do with the track marks on his arm.
12:53 Speaker 06 And my dad's like, what are you talking about?
13:04 Speaker 01 OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of 5-star Trust Pilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.
13:37 Speaker 01 She'd throw things, wander, and started hoarding. Mom's Alzheimer's was already so hard, but then we found out she had agitation that may happen with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. And that was a different kind of difficult. So we asked her doctor for more help.
13:52 Speaker 03 Seeing symptoms like these in a loved one? It could be time to ask their doctor about Rexulti, Rexipirzol 2mg, the first FDA-approved treatment for this condition. Rexulti is proven to reduce agitation symptoms. Rexulti should not be used as an as-needed treatment. Elderly people with dementia-related psychosis have increased risk of death or stroke. Report fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, which can be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. High blood sugar can lead to coma or death. Weight gain, increased cholesterol, unusual urges, dizziness on standing, falls, seizures, trouble swallowing, or sleepiness may occur. Learn more about these and other side effects at rexulti.com. Tap ad for PI.
14:27 Speaker 01 I'm glad I asked for help.
14:29 Speaker 03 Ask your loved one's doctor about Rexulti.
14:33 Speaker 04 When intimate itch strikes, waiting it out isn't always an option. That's why there's Vagisil Maximum Strength Anti-Ich Cream. It provides fast relief from intense external feminine itching and burning, and 92% of women said Vagisil provided long-lasting itch relief. Intimate itch can have more than 60 causes. From everyday things like shaving, pads, tight clothing, to yeast-infection-related irritation, Vagisil helps protect delicate skin from further irritation. Trusted by generations, clinically and gynecologist-tested. Don't let discomfort get in the way. Visit vagisil.com to find the relief that's right for you.
15:05 Speaker 05 The Halloween party is at my place this year. It's my favorite party to host. With the lowest prices and the huge selection, Total Wine & More is my first stop. A bottle of wine for me while I'm preparing the snacks, ready to drink cocktails for the party, and beer for the friends who always end up on the couch. Between hosting and grabbing something to bring, I love getting the lowest prices. Now I'm ready for Halloween. Are you? Get the fun started at Total Wine & More. Spirits are not sold in Virginia and North Carolina. Drink responsibly. B21.
15:38 Nancy Glass? For more than a decade, Bobby had managed to keep his addiction a secret from his parents. But when he ran out of money and drugs, his withdrawal symptoms prompted his father to rush him to an emergency room. An observant nurse figured it out immediately.
15:55 Speaker 06 She goes, "Well, maybe it has something to do with the track marks on his arm."
16:00 Speaker 06 And my dad's like, "What are you talking about?" So, right then and there, I had to admit to him that I was using heroin. And I remember just his whole body just slumped.
16:14 Speaker 06 I don't think he knew how to react.
16:18 Speaker 06 He immediately went into fix-it mode. "What can we do? What do we do here? What's the next thing to do to fix this?"
16:28 Speaker 06 I had a nurse come in and she said, "I was your nurse when you were a baby in this hospital." And she said, "I just hate to see you like this. Do you want help? Do you want to live different?" And I was like, "Yeah, I do."
16:47 Nancy Glass? With the nurse's guidance, Bobby found a recovery program in Massachusetts.
16:54 Speaker 06 After that, I think I was clean for about eight months.
16:58 Nancy Glass? He attended AA meetings and learned that recovery requires making amends. His sobriety would be inseparable from freeing Jermaine from his wrongful imprisonment.
17:11 Speaker 06 When you're in AA, you start hearing about dealing with the wreckage of your past.
17:17 Speaker 06 And then Jermaine came into my mind again.
17:21 Speaker 06 And I thought with getting my life back on track, I gotta do something about my past. And that's the one thing in my past that I just can't ever shake.
17:32 Nancy Glass? Every so often, Bobby checked Louisiana's online inmate listings to see if Jermaine was still in prison.
17:39 Speaker 06 I was like, well, I wonder if he's still there. I wonder, maybe he got out, you know? Maybe they let him out.
17:46 Nancy Glass? Call it lying to himself, call it wishful thinking. But the truth was, every time he checked, Jermaine was still at Angola, all because of his lie.
17:58 Nancy Glass? Bobby became fixated on coming clean, telling the truth. He sought guidance from two people he trusted in AA. Both encouraged him to stay quiet, let sleeping dogs lie. But given how central amends are to recovery, we were surprised to hear that.
18:17 Nancy Glass? Bobby contacted a local attorney. This was another attempt to come clean.
18:23 Speaker 06 He said, I think I can help you.
18:26 Speaker 06 It'll just be $5,000 for a retainer.
18:31 Speaker 06 $5,000. Might have, well, been a million dollars to me.
18:37 Nancy Glass? Maybe telling a family member would be different. One day, when he was talking with his stepmother Sharon, there was an opening.
18:46 Speaker 06 One night, we got into a conversation and she asked me some questions about, well, what else have you lied about? I started to just be brutally honest.
18:57 Speaker 06 And I told her.
18:59 Speaker 06 I don't think she grasped what I said. All I know is, oh, Bobby. That's all I heard and then wasn't talked about after that.
19:09 Nancy Glass? Maybe she didn't believe him or didn't understand. But for Bobby, it felt like nobody wanted to touch this or even hear about what he had done.
19:20 Speaker 06 I just kept moving, you know? And then I kept relapsing after that.
19:28 Speaker 06 I was drinking a bottle of Fireball a day and taking 150 to 200 milligrams of oxycodone a day.
19:43 Nancy Glass? After each relapse, he'd get back up and generate new momentum. Bobby always managed to find another opportunity.
19:54 Speaker 06 I'm a really good interviewer. I would do everything I could to get the job, but then I'd stop showing up, or start slacking, or whatever.
20:04 Nancy Glass? In 2019, Bobby found a job he really liked.
20:09 Speaker 06 I'd gotten a job with UPS as a driver. I enjoyed it. That was always a good job and made good money.
20:17 Nancy Glass? But once again, he was using during the workday, and people started to notice.
20:22 Speaker 06 I was drinking. I was smoking crack in the back of the truck. Like, it was just out of control.
20:29 Speaker 06 Finally, one day, I think I went in and they were like, "Hey, manager wants to see you." And I went in there and he was like, "Bro, everybody can tell.
20:39 Speaker 06 We gotta take you in for a drug screen." So they took me over, did the drug screen, and as soon as they got the results, they said, "You're fired."
20:47 Nancy Glass? By 2020, the last threads holding him near his family had unraveled. With no job and no relationship, he knew it was the right time to put all his effort into Jermaine's release. No one else was going to do it for him.
21:04 Speaker 06 All of a sudden, I just knew. I had to go to New Orleans.
21:08 Nancy Glass? He headed to Louisiana, but his desire to come clean couldn't compete with his addiction. He didn't make it all the way to New Orleans. Instead, he found refuge in a drug house a few hours away.
21:23 Speaker 06 I'd been living at this house in Eunice for four or five months at that point, just doing methamphetamine.
21:34 Speaker 06 Out of my mind.
21:37 Speaker 06 And one night, I just, I had a spiritual experience.
21:44 Speaker 06 It's hard to describe, but I remember looking in the mirror and just asking to die.
21:55 Speaker 06 I just wanted to die. All I could think about was Jermaine, and I just wanted to die. Just, "Please kill me."
22:04 Speaker 06 I didn't believe in God at the time, so I didn't know who I was talking to, but I just knew I wanted to die. And I just, I heard a voice, clear, audible. People can think that it was the drugs all they want, but I know what I experienced. All I heard was, "Son, why are you so angry?" I said, 20 years ago, I, I told a lie that sent a man to prison for life. I don't know what to do. In the Bible, it says, "The prodigal son, when he's living in the pigpen, that he comes to himself." And that's what happened.
22:49 Speaker 06 It's, it's like, all of a sudden, I just came to myself, like, what I was always meant to be and understand about myself. The next day, I walked into town. And it was a Sunday, and across the street was Greater True Life Baptist Church. And on the sign was the pastor's name. And his name was Jermaine Tezano.
23:20 Nancy Glass? To anyone else, the sign looked like an old church marquee with a letterboard beneath it. But to Bobby, it was something else entirely. Pastor Jermaine. Jermaine. The pastor had the same name as the man whose life he destroyed.
23:41 Speaker 06 And I just felt like it was God talking to me. So I ran across the street, and I ran up to the door.
23:52 Nancy Glass? For Bobby, this wasn't just a sign. It was the sign that after 21 years, he was being led to finally come in clean.
24:02 Speaker 06 I hadn't had a shower in a while. I was disheveled, stunk. You know, I'd just slept in an abandoned house the night before, so I wasn't much to look at. And I just went over and asked if I could come in. And they let me come in and let me sit down and just listen to the service. And I didn't hear a word that they said the whole service. I just sat there and cried. I didn't know what I was doing or why I was there.
24:31 Nancy Glass? Pastor Jermaine Tezano eyed him warily from the pulpit.
24:37 Speaker 04 I noticed somebody in the congregation sitting. And in my mind, I'm thinking, okay, who invited you?
24:50 Nancy Glass? You may remember this story from our first episode when we told you about Bobby walking into True Light Baptist Church. What Bobby didn't know then was that his race and his disheveled appearance put the congregation on edge.
25:04 Speaker 04 You are Caucasian in the majority African American church. Like, what's your intentions?
25:14 Speaker 06 At the end of the service, the pastor and another man came over and asked me if they could talk to me in the back.
25:23 Nancy Glass? Even though the pastor had reservations, he invited Bobby into his office to talk. And that's where Bobby told the pastor what he had done to Jermaine and how it had destroyed him inside.
25:35 Speaker 04 I couldn't really tell him anything. I just, I really didn't respond too much because I was shocked. I just wanted to hear him, you know? So I listened to him and I said to myself, typical things that happen to black men. From Emmett Till and, you know, it happens.
26:03 Nancy Glass? Pastor Tezano was disturbed, but at the same time, he realized Bobby was homeless and struggling. So the pastor and a church minister took Bobby for a hot meal and paid for a night at the Days Inn. Bobby could have a night of rest and the pastor would have some time to think about what to do next.
26:24 Nancy Glass? Did it occur to you what a generous thing this was? Here comes this guy who's crying and smells terrible and looks a little scary. And they believe you and they take care of you.
26:36 Speaker 06 Yeah, it didn't make much sense to me. I had never been treated like that by strangers before. So it was, it was very strange. And especially because, you know, I was a white guy and I didn't see why they were being so nice.
26:54 Speaker 06 He even told me, he said, "Call me the next day, you know, call, call me in the morning and I'm gonna have you come over to the church." And I don't, I don't know what he planned on doing from there, but I got up in the morning and I started hitchhiking to New Orleans.
27:06 Nancy Glass? So you knew he was planning on seeing you the next day. Why did you just leave?
27:12 Speaker 06 I needed to get to New Orleans and deal with it.
27:17 Speaker 06 I got four rides.
27:20 Speaker 06 All of them had bibles on their dash.
27:24 Speaker 06 God leads us to do things like that.
27:28 Speaker 06 The last car that picked me up dropped me right in front of the courthouse.
27:33 Speaker 06 I walked into the courthouse and I said, "Who would deal with old cases?" And they said, "Oh, you'd go to the DA's office for that."
27:43 Nancy Glass? So Bobby walked over to the DA's office. Again, he asked to speak to someone in charge of old cases.
27:51 Speaker 06 This guy comes down and he opens the door and says, "Can I help you?"
27:58 Speaker 06 I said, "I was involved in a case 20 years ago and I committed perjury and I'd like to talk to somebody about it."
28:10 Speaker 06 OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Best
28:23 Speaker 02 Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.
28:42 Speaker 02 She'd throw things, wander, and started hoarding. Mom's Alzheimer's was already so hard. But then we found out she had agitation that may happen with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. And that was a different kind of difficult. So we asked her doctor for more help.
28:57 Speaker 03 Seeing symptoms like these in a loved one? It could be time to ask their doctor about Rexulti. Rexipirzol 2mg, the first FDA-approved treatment for this condition. Rexulti is proven to reduce agitation symptoms. Rexulti should not be used as an as-needed treatment. Elderly people with dementia-related psychosis have increased risk of death or stroke. Report fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, which can be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. High blood sugar can lead to coma or death. Weight gain, increased cholesterol, unusual urges, dizziness on standing, falls, seizures, trouble swallowing, or sleepiness may occur. Learn more about these and other side effects at rexulti.com. Tap ad for PI.
29:32 Speaker 02 I'm glad I asked for help.
29:34 Speaker 03 Ask your loved one's doctor about Rexulti.
29:38 Speaker 04 When intimate itch strikes, waiting it out isn't always an option. That's why there's Vagisil Maximum Strength Anti-Ich Cream. It provides fast relief from intense external feminine itching and burning. And 92% of women said Vagisil provided long-lasting itch relief. Intimate itch can have more than 60 causes. From everyday things like shaving, pads, tight clothing, to yeast-infection-related irritation, Vagisil helps protect delicate skin from further irritation. Trusted by generations, clinically and gynecologist-tested. Don't let discomfort get in the way. Visit vagisil.com to find the relief that's right for you.
30:10 Speaker 05 The Halloween party is at my place this year. It's my favorite party to host. With the lowest prices and the huge selection, Total Wine & More is my first stop. A bottle of wine for me while I'm preparing the snacks, ready-to-drink cocktails for the party, and beer for the friends who always end up on the couch. Between hosting and grabbing something to bring, I love getting the lowest prices. Now I'm ready for Halloween. Are you? Get the fun started at Total Wine & More. Spirits are not sold in Virginia and North Carolina. Drink responsibly. B21.
30:43 Nancy Glass? Bobby Gumpright was more determined than ever to tell the truth about what happened in 1999. Asking for help at the courthouse, he was directed to the district attorney's office. Once an employee came to speak with him, Bobby came right out with it.
30:59 Speaker 06 I said I committed perjury and I'd like to talk to somebody about it.
31:04 Nancy Glass? He was immediately shown the door.
31:06 Speaker 06 I can't talk to you about that. You need to get yourself a lawyer. Okay. Shuts the door and goes back upstairs.
31:14 Nancy Glass? You see, they didn't have a procedure for this kind of situation. Clearly, recanting false testimony was going to be far more difficult than giving it. He was frustrated, dejected. For a while, he stayed in New Orleans, living a transient life, sometimes in different homeless shelters. Bobby was back on the street, but Jermaine hadn't gone anywhere. For the first time in 21 years, Jermaine had reason for hope. You see, New Orleans elected a new district attorney, Jason Williams, on a campaign rooted in criminal justice reform. This opened up an opportunity he hadn't had before.
31:56 Speaker 05 I was actually going to plead guilty to that crime because the laws hadn't changed.
32:03 Nancy Glass? Jermaine had a deal on the table. He would finally get out of Angola, and all he had to do was something he said he would never do: admit to a crime we all know he didn't commit. Jermaine had always maintained his innocence. He never wanted that felony conviction on his record. But after 21 years in prison, he just didn't care anymore.
32:26 Speaker 05 I just want to get out of here. That was my ticket to get home.
32:34 Nancy Glass? To go live life.
32:41 Nancy Glass? Earlier Bobby explained how God spoke to him while he was living in Eunice. Even on the streets of New Orleans, he still felt that presence and renewed sense of purpose. And it was there where he met a stranger who shared his faith. After a conversation, the stranger offered to connect Bobby to a residential Christian rehab called A Place of Restoration. Bobby accepted the help. He went that same day and met the director, Jeremy Smith.
33:13 Speaker 06 So got to the program and sat down in a room with the director. His first question was, so tell me your story. And as soon as he said that, I just said, you want to know my story? I'll tell you my story. So I told him everything.
33:30 Nancy Glass? His unsettling teenage years, the lie Bobby drummed up at 18, committing perjury, the chaos and drugs he drowned himself in to numb his pain, the guilt of sending an innocent man to prison for 99 years. It all spilled out in that quiet room. Bobby felt incredible relief that finally someone was interested in the truth. Here's Jeremy Smith.
34:02 Nancy Glass? He finished the rest of his story and all I heard was alarm bells. I don't know that I heard anything that happened in his life from 19 years old to 40, whenever he finished. All I could think is, what do I do with this? He could barely complete his sentences. He was crying and it was like, there was a real grieving happening right in front of me. But I'm kind of skeptical by nature, so you know, I always feel like I have to check everything out.
34:30 Nancy Glass? So when he finished.
34:31 Speaker 04 telling me his story as quickly as I could. I said, OK, finish filling out your paperwork. I've got some stuff to go do in my office. And I just went as fast as I could to my office. And I Googled. And immediately, I found four documents of the state of Louisiana versus Jermaine Hudson. And I started reading. And his name was in it. And the ages checked out and the years checked out and his story checked out. And then I thought, wow. I'd never dealt with anything like that.
35:03 Nancy Glass? Jeremy knew he had to do something.
35:06 Speaker 04 So I went back to him and I said, look, I should be honest. I went and checked out what you told me. And I don't think we can just leave a man sitting in prison, you know? And he said, I don't want to. I have to get this off my chest.
35:27 Nancy Glass? Years earlier, Bobby feared the consequences if he came forward to recant his testimony from 2000. But now, he didn't care. He was just relieved. Jeremy Smith realized he needed to talk with the District Attorney's Office in New Orleans.
35:46 Speaker 04 So at that point, I did what any responsible man would do. And I called my mom. And I said, Mom, this is what happened. What do I do?
35:57 Nancy Glass? Calling his mom was a smart decision. It turned out that Jeremy's mother had a friend who was a law professor of ethics at Tulane University Law School. What are the odds of that?
36:09 Speaker 04 And then she says, you need to call Emily Mall, who's with the New Orleans District Attorney's Office now.
36:15 Nancy Glass? Bobby was sitting across Jeremy Smith's desk, telling the truth about what had happened. And in the meantime... Emily Ma had been installed as the director of a newly created civil rights division at the district attorney's office. Emily's office was reviewing cases, contacting victims, and trying to negotiate post-conviction relief, which meant letting people out of prison. They were up to their eyeballs, digging into over 1,000 cases that could qualify cases where inmates were convicted by non-unanimous juries or given excessive sentences.
36:54 Speaker 04 So I called the district attorney's office and I asked for Emily Ma. And whoever answered the phone said she was busy. Can I take a message? She'll call you back. And I said, can I just tell you in 10 seconds why I'm calling? And so as fast as I could, I explained the purpose for my call. And his tone changed and the sense of urgency changed. And he said, hold on one second. And in less than a second, she was on the phone. She proceeded to say, this is so crazy. His case file is on my desk right now.
37:37 Nancy Glass? Coming up on Burden of Guilt.
37:39 Speaker 06 I just told him that I was gonna tell the truth. And you might see my picture on the front page of the New York Times as this horrible monster. And I'm sorry for embarrassing you, but I gotta do this. He just don't really love me. And I just do what I had to do.
38:11 Nancy Glass? Thank you for listening. If you're enjoying Burden of Guilt, subscribe, rate, and review the series with five stars. Yay! It helps other people find our show. Check out our Instagram account at Glass Podcasts, where we recap each episode with show notes that include people, places, and court records. You can reach out to the Burden of Guilt team at [email protected] . That's [email protected] . Burden of Guilt is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts.
38:52 Nancy Glass? The series is executive produced and hosted by me, Nancy Glass. This episode was written and produced by Carrie Hartman, also produced by Ben Fetterman and Andrea Gunning. Our story editor is Monique LaBord. Our associate producer is Jade Abdul Malik. Our production manager is Kristen Melkury. Our iHeart team is Ally Perry and Jessica Krychek. Thank you to our voice actor, Rob Stoller. Audio editing by Zach Prouto. Scoring and sound design by Matt Del Vecchio. Mixed and mastered by Anna McLean. The Burden of Guilt theme is composed by Oliver Baines.
39:36 Nancy Glass? Music library provided by MyB Music. And we want to give our special thanks to Jermaine Hudson and Bobby Dumpright. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart Radio app or Apple Podcasts.
39:59 Speaker 05 Halloween's almost here, and I've got plans. My first stop is Total Wine & More for cold beer, ready-to-drink cocktails, and a bottle of wine to share. And I know I'm getting the lowest prices. Get the fun started at Total Wine & More. Spirits are not sold in Virginia and North Carolina. Drink responsibly. P21.
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