Κατάδικος δραπέτευσε στη Νέα Υόρκη για να κάνει οικογένεια - Δεκαετίες μετά η αστυνομία τον εντόπισε

Η Σέριλ Λοβ έφτιαχνε τσάι στην κουζίνα του σπιτιού της στο Μπρούκλιν όταν η αστυνομία χτύπησε την πόρτα και έτρεξε προς το μέρος του συζύγου της, που βρισκόταν ακόμη στο κρεβάτι, αναγκάζοντάς τον να αποκαλύψει ένα μυστικό που έκρυβε 40 χρόνια.

«Τους άκουσα να ρωτάνε: "Πώς σε λένε;"», θυμάται η ίδια. «Και είπε, "Μπόμπι Λοβ". Μετά του είπαν, "Όχι. Ποιο είναι το πραγματικό σου όνομα". Τον άκουσα να λέει κάτι πολύ χαμηλόφωνα. Και μετά του απάντησαν: "Έκανες μεγάλη βόλτα"».

Αφηγούμενη το περιστατικό του 2015, η Σέριλ προσθέτει: «Δεν έβγαζε νόημα. Ήμουν παντρεμένη με τον Μπόμπι για 40 χρόνια. Δεν είχε καν ποινικό μητρώο. Άρχισα να κλαίω και ούρλιαζα: "Μπόμπι, τι συμβαίνει; Σκότωσες κάποιον;". Και μου απαντά: "Αυτό πάει πολύ πίσω Σέριλ, πολύ πριν σε γνωρίσω. Πίσω στη Βόρεια Καρολίνα"».

Την ιστορία του ζευγαριού έφερε στο φως το φωτογραφικό μπλογκ Humans of New York, που αφηγήθηκε με λεπτομέρειες και μέσα από 11 «κεφάλαια» στο Instagram, την σύλληψη, την διπλή ζωή και την εξιλέωση του Μπόμπι -γεννημένος Γουόλτερ Μίλερ- που παντρεύτηκε και έκανε οικογένεια με διαφορετικό όνομα. Η ιστορία ξεκινά από την απόδρασή του το 1977 από φυλακή του Ράλεϊ όπου εξέτιε ποινή κάθειρξης 30 ετών για ένοπλη ληστεία.

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(1/11) “It was just a normal morning. Almost exactly five years ago. I was making tea in the kitchen. Bobby was still in bed. And we get this knock on the door. I opened it up slowly, and saw the police standing there. At first I wasn’t worried. We had this crazy lady that lived next door, and the police were always checking up on her. So I assumed they had the wrong address. But the moment I opened the door, twelve officers came barging past me. Some of them had ‘FBI’ written on their jackets. They went straight back to the bedroom, and walked up to Bobby. I heard them ask: ‘What’s your name?’ And he said, ‘Bobby Love.’ Then they said, ‘No. What’s your real name?’ And I heard him say something real low. And they responded: 'You've had a long run.' That’s when I tried to get into the room. But the officer kept saying: ‘Get back, get back. You don’t know who this man is.’ Then they started putting him in handcuffs. It didn’t make any sense. I’d been married to Bobby for forty years. He didn’t even have a criminal record. At this point I’m crying, and I screamed: ‘Bobby, what’s going on?’ Did you kill somebody?’ And he tells me: ‘This goes way back, Cheryl. Back before I met you. Way back to North Carolina.’”

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Η σύλληψη του Μπόμπι οδήγησε σε έκδοσή του πίσω ξανά στην Βόρεια Καρολίνα. Εκεί, αφού φυλακίστηκε για λιγότερο από ένα χρόνο προκειμένου να συμπληρώσει την αρχική ποινή του, αφέθηκε τελικά ελεύθερος ξανά το 2016, απαλλαγμένος επίσης από τις δεκαετίες ψεμάτων και τον φόβο μήπως τον ανακαλύψουν. «Νιώθω σαν να έφυγε από πάνω μου ένα βάρος», λέει ο 69χρονος σήμερα Μπόμπι.

«Μεγαλώσαμε φτωχά, αλλά δεν συνέβη τίποτα φοβερά δραματικό μέχρι που πήγα σε μια συναυλία του Σαμ Κουκ σε ηλικία 14 ετών. Είχα ενθουσιαστεί που πήγαινα στην συναυλία, οπότε έσπρωξα για να βρεθώ στην πρώτη σειρά, κοντά στην σκηνή. Το πλήθος μετακινούταν συνεχώς επειδή η μουσική ήταν χορευτική. Και στον τραγουδιστή δεν άρεσε καθόλου. Έλεγε συνεχώς στον κόσμο να καθίσει κάτω. Και μετά από μόλις δυο τραγούδια, εξοργίστηκε τόπο πολύ που κατέβηκε από την σκηνή. Τότε θυμάμαι να φωνάζω με όλη μου την δύναμη: "Ο Σαμ Κουκ είναι χάλια!". Στη Βόρεια Καρολίνα του 1964 αυτό ήταν αρκετό για να με συλλάβουν», εξηγεί ο Μπόμπι για το πώς ξεκίνησαν όλα. 

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Στη συνέχεια κρατήθηκε για λίγο σε φυλακή ανηλίκων, όπου όπως λέει «έμπλεξε με τα λάθος παιδιά», πριν μετακομίσει βόρεια για να ζήσει με τον αδερφό του στην Ουάσιγκτον. «Αυτά τα παιδιά λήστευαν τράπεζες και γλίτωναν. Οπότε αποφάσισα να τους ακολουθήσω. Πηγαίναμε στην Βόρεια Καρολίνα επειδή εκεί οι τράπεζες είχαν λιγότερη ασφάλεια. Και την γλιτώσαμε μερικές φορές. Μετά από κάθε ληστεία, πηγαίναμε σε ένα κλαμπ στριπτίζ και το παίζαμε πλούσιοι. Νιώθαμε σαν γκάγκστερ. Δεν κατηγορώ κανέναν άλλο παρά τον εαυτό μου. Απλώς απολάμβανα την αίσθηση του να έχω χρήματα. Αλλά η χαρά δεν κράτησε πολύ», αφηγείται ο ίδιος.

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(2/11) “Back in the day my name was Walter Miller. It was a pretty normal childhood. We grew up poor, but nothing really dramatic happened until I went to a Sam Cooke concert at the age of fourteen. I was excited to be at that concert, so I pushed my way to the front row—right near the stage. The crowd was really moving, because it was dance music. And Sam Cooke didn’t like that. He kept telling people to sit down. And after only two songs, he got so angry that he walked off the stage. So I screamed at the top of my lungs: ‘Sam Cooke ain’t shit!’ And in North Carolina, back in 1964, that was enough to get me arrested for disorderly conduct. Things went downhill pretty quick after that. My mother was raising eight kids on her own, so she couldn’t control me. I got into all sorts of trouble. I lifted purses from unlocked cars. I was stealing government checks out of mailboxes. I got bolder and bolder, until one day I got busted stealing from the band room at school. They shipped me off to a juvenile detention center called Morrison Training School. I hated everything about that place. The food was terrible. The kids were violent. I still have scars from all the times I got beat up. Every night, while I was falling asleep, I could hear the whistle of a freight train in the distance. And I always wanted to know where that train was going. So one night, when the guard turned his back to check the clock, I ran out the back door-- toward the sound of that whistle. And that was the first place I ever escaped from.”

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(2/11) “Back in the day my name was Walter Miller. It was a pretty normal childhood. We grew up poor, but nothing really dramatic happened until I went to a Sam Cooke concert at the age of fourteen. I was excited to be at that concert, so I pushed my way to the front row—right near the stage. The crowd was really moving, because it was dance music. And Sam Cooke didn’t like that. He kept telling people to sit down. And after only two songs, he got so angry that he walked off the stage. So I screamed at the top of my lungs: ‘Sam Cooke ain’t shit!’ And in North Carolina, back in 1964, that was enough to get me arrested for disorderly conduct. Things went downhill pretty quick after that. My mother was raising eight kids on her own, so she couldn’t control me. I got into all sorts of trouble. I lifted purses from unlocked cars. I was stealing government checks out of mailboxes. I got bolder and bolder, until one day I got busted stealing from the band room at school. They shipped me off to a juvenile detention center called Morrison Training School. I hated everything about that place. The food was terrible. The kids were violent. I still have scars from all the times I got beat up. Every night, while I was falling asleep, I could hear the whistle of a freight train in the distance. And I always wanted to know where that train was going. So one night, when the guard turned his back to check the clock, I ran out the back door-- toward the sound of that whistle. And that was the first place I ever escaped from.”

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Μετά από μια σύλληψη για ληστεία τον Ιούνιο του 1971, οπότε και είχε δεχθεί πυροβολισμούς στα οπίσθια από έναν αστυνομικό, «τελείωσαν όλα για τον Γουόλτερ Μίλερ», εξηγεί. Το δικαστήριο τον καταδίκασε σε 25 με 30 χρόνια φυλάκιση. Η μητέρα του πέθανε ενώ ο ίδιος βρισκόταν στην φυλακή, κάτι που «τον ταρακούνησε», όπως λέει. «Επειδή συνεχώς προσευχόταν να αλλάξω την ζωή μου. και ποτέ δεν το είδε να συμβαίνει», σημειώνει. 

Σύμφωνα με το News & Observer, βρήκε την ευκαιρία να δραπετεύσει όταν βρέθηκε μέσα σε ένα φορτηγάκι της φυλακής οδεύοντας προς κάποια εξωτερική δουλειά. Είχε κρύψει τα πολιτικά ρούχα του κάτω από την στολή της φυλακής και μετά ξόδεψε 10 δολάρια σε εισιτήριο λεωφορείου για το Μανχάταν. Τότε πήρε το όνομα του γιου ενός παλιού φίλου του, και γνώρισε την Cheryl στη δεκαετία του '80 όταν δούλευαν μαζί στο Baptist Medical Center του Μπρούκλιν. Παντρεύτηκαν το 1985 και έκαναν τέσσερα παιδιά. 

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(8/11) “Cheryl was innocent. The opposite of me. And that’s why I was so attracted to her. I never wanted to date someone like myself: who drank, and smoked, and had a past. Cheryl was soft. Almost naïve in a way. I never told her about my history, and she didn’t really press me. I did tell her that I grew up in the South-- which was true. And that I’d come to New York City to try something new. That was true too. But I never told her about Walter Miller. I didn’t see the need. Walter died a long time ago, on that Greyhound bus out of Raleigh. I was a new man. I was Bobby Love now. And if that was enough for her, why complicate things? We got married in 1985. Time went by. We raised four children together. I just couldn’t risk it. My family in North Carolina kept telling me: ‘You’ve got to come clean. You’ve got to tell her.’ But they didn’t know my wife. Not like I did. Cheryl is a righteous woman. Most people, when they see a dollar dropped on the street, will put it in their pocket. But not Cheryl. She will stop everyone on the sidewalk, looking for the owner. She’s that kind of woman. And that’s not the kind of woman who could keep a secret like this. I’m not trying to say that she’d have called the cops on me. But she’d have made me call the cops on myself. She’d turn up the heat. So I just couldn’t tell her about Walter Miller. And there was no need. Bobby Love didn’t have a criminal record. Bobby Love was a family man. Bobby Love was a deacon at his church. Every Sunday our pastor would preach about forgetting the past, and forgiving ourselves, and looking ahead. And that’s exactly what I was doing. That part of my life was buried back in North Carolina. And it wasn’t coming back.“

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Όταν συνελήφθη ξανά το 2015, η κόρη του Τζέσικα, είπε στην Daily News: «Ο πατέρας μου ήταν αποφασισμένος να αλλάξει ζωή και για περίπου 40 χρόνια έκανε ακριβώς αυτό». Μετά την οριστική του αποφυλάκιση το 2016, ο Μπόμπι δήλωσε κατενθουσιασμένος που επέστρεψε στην γυναίκα και τα παιδιά του. «Προσπαθώ να βάλω πάλι σε σειρά την ζωή μου», δήλωσε τότε.

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(9/11) “There was a piece missing. All these years I loved my husband. And he loved me— but something was missing. First, he never liked to be in photographs. And he always thought people were watching him. But I just thought it was vanity. I kept saying: ‘C’mon, Bobby. You aren’t that exclusive.’ But then there was the deeper stuff. We had some beautiful love making. But other than that, there wasn’t much affection. Not many hugs. Not much cuddling. Not much communication. I could only get so close and he’d shut down. Sometimes, when we were arguing, I’d be pouring myself out to him. And he’d just sit there with a scowl on his face. I thought it was me. I kept thinking: ‘Maybe he doesn’t want to be here.’ But Bobby was a provider. He was always working two or three jobs. He’d cook, and do laundry, and spend time with the kids. I thought to myself: ‘Everyone is different. People have different upbringings. This might be how Bobby shows love.’ But it was hard. It wore me down. I cried so many tears about it. I remember during Christmas of 2014, I was on my knees in church, saying: ‘Lord, please, I can’t do this anymore.’ I begged God to change my husband’s heart. I’d reached the end of my rope. That was a few weeks before everything went down.“

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(11/11) “I got to work. I wrote letters to the governor. I wrote letters to Obama. I gathered testimonials from everyone that Bobby ever knew: all the kids he used to coach, all the people at our church, all of our family members. I testified on his behalf. I didn’t know a thing about Walter Miller. But I told them all about Bobby Love. And the parole board took mercy. After a year in prison, they let him come home. The day after he was set free, I sat him down and asked: ‘What is it? Are we the Loves? Or are we the Millers?’ And he said: ‘We Love. We Love.’ So I had him change his name legally. And now we’re moving on. I still have my resentments. When we get in a fight, I’ll think: ‘This man better appreciate that I forgave him.’ But the thing is-- I did forgive him. And when I made that decision, I had to accept all the territory that came with it. I can’t make him feel that debt every day of his life. Because that’s not the marriage I want to be in. The whole world knows now. We’ve got no secrets. But I think this whole mess was for the better of things: better for me, better for the kids, and better for Bobby. He doesn’t have to hide anymore. He can look at me when I’m speaking. Not only that, he’s hearing me too. My voice is heard. I used to walk on eggshells. I used to just go along. But I told him one thing. I said: ‘Bobby, I’ll take you back. But I’m not taking a backseat to you no more.’ Because I got my own story to tell. I can write a book too. I might not have escaped from prison, and started a whole new life, and hid it from my family. But I forgave the man who did.”

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