Katie Books Production and Media presents Manhunt, an original audio drama podcast, written,
produced, and narrated by Earl Sewell. Luther wished that he could tell
Carmen about the jam he was in with Packard, but that would mean telling
her his horrible secret. He didn't want to break her heart and felt that
by keeping his dark secret away from her would protect it. To bring a
child into a situation like the one he was in would most certainly end up
in disaster. He'd make everything up to her somehow, some way, But
right now Packard had him between a rock and a hard place until he figured
a way to get him off his back. That was the way things had
to be. Luther was doing exactly what Packard wanted him to do. Luther
had obtained and used a master key to sneak into the medical storage area and
steal needles and prescription drugs, but that wasn't enough for Packard. He started
giving Luther a list of pills his customers wanted, like amphetamines. Every time
Luther saw Packard, the variety and quantity would increase. When Packard called Luther,
he had to answer his phone, no matter what time of day or
night it was If I call you and you don't answer the phone, I'm
turning your mother fucking ass in. I'm not even going to hesitate, So
you'd better stay in an area where you get damn good reception. If my
dope comes up short or if you fuck up my order, I'm going to
be turning your ass in. Do you hear me? Boy? And when
I'm ready for your wife to come and service me, she better do it
as if her life depends on it. Believe me, Luther, I'm coming
for some of that young stuff you got, Packard. Please, can I
just pay you the money back? Luther asked once again. If you ask
me that shit again, Luther, not only will I beat your motherfucking ass,
I'm going to drive you to the police station my damn self, and
ever think about running away or trying to turn against me, I'm going to
have your ass taken out. Are we clear? Yeah? Man. When
Luther exited the building, he walked across the street to where Packard was waiting
with his henchmen. Luther handed the backs to one of the men sitting in
the back seat. So tell me, Luther, Packard asked, do you
ever think about what you did? I mean, doesn't that bother you?
Doesn't it eat away at your conscience? I don't want to talk about that,
Packard, Luther said. We'll talk about whatever I want to. Luther.
I know you. I helped to raise you. Boy. I know
you're afraid the fuck up. You don't like being the cause of something going
wrong or the person that gets blamed. You feel too guilty. You can
thank your mother for making you feel that way. So now tell me how
do you feel about killing someone? Luther's jaws grew tight because he didn't want
to relift what he had done, or don't think about it. Packard laughed
and then reached for a package and handed it to Luther. That's what I
thought here, Packard handed him the package. I took the liberty of keeping
all of the newspaper articles that were written about the murder. Read them the
next time I see you. I want you to tell me how you feel
about what you did. Packard laughed again and then took off. Luther continued
to steal for Packard. He was stealing so much that hospital administrators asked the
Cook County Sheriff's Department to investigate. It frightened the hell out of Luther,
because it meant it was going to be difficult to continue stealing from Packard.
He would have to stop soon or else he'd be caught and possibly imprisoned.
Angry with how his life was currently going, Luther took out a lot of
his frustration on Carmen, who had completely ignored his demand to get an abortion.
Luther did everything he possibly could to make her do what he wanted and
refused to be involved in any aspect of the pregnancy. He didn't go shopping
or to the doctor with her, and he refused to sign up for Lama's
class. As she got further along with her pregnancy, he criticized and belittled
her. Carmen had finally had enough of Luther's antagonistic ways and decided that if
her marriage was going to work, she needed to rescue it Lither. Carmen
said to him one evening while they were watching sitcoms, we need to get
help. I want us to see a marriage counselor. I'm not going to
see a marriage counselor. Carmen, I don't need any help, Luther.
Things between us are bad, and I think we need to get some help.
No, maybe you should get some help. You the one who caused
who you're the one who has caused all the stress in the marriage. Luther
pointed his finger in her face. Luther, the first thing we need to
do is to stop pointing fingers and blaming each other and find out what's going
on to take us back to happy. What would make you happy? Luther
putting that damn baby up for adoption. We don't need it. We could
go on with our lives and it would be just the two of us.
You need to focus on me and my needs and not some baby's needs.
Carmen couldn't believe the words that were coming out of Luther's mouth. She was
trying to figure out at what point had his alternate personality been born. What
signs did she miss? Why wasn't he happy to be having a baby?
She wondered what horrible incident had taken place in his life that she didn't know
about. Is there's something you need to tell me, Luther? Has something
happened? Carmen was trying to get to the root of his aggression. Like
I said, I only want you to take care of me and my needs.
There is not enough room in my heart for a baby. Luther,
I think you need to see a specialist, Carmen said, and then left
the room car on a hang. Let me get in my place. All
I can lose has been taken away. Don't know, man, We both
thought what she was stupid girl. Anyway. As the months continued, Luther
realized that Carmen had no intentions of terminating the pregnancy, and by the beginning
of the new year, she gave birth to their son, a boy named
Nicholas. A day after his son was born, Luther learned that the Cook
County Sheriff's Department had focused its criminal investigation on the hospital's housekeeping staff. Luther
knew it would not take them long to figure out he was the man they
were searching for, so he beat them to the punch and resigned from his
job. Packard was furious that his pipeline to free drugs was now severed,
but instead of turning Luther in like he'd promised, he forced Luther to work
for him indefinitely. We a mystery man. It was now seven PM and
heavy snow had been falling for about an hour. Luther and Carmen were driving
on a highway, heading home from a suburban grocery store that they'd gone to
before the snowstorm hit. Carmen turned around in her seat to make sure Nicholas,
who had drifted off to sleep, was securely strapped into his car seat.
Once she was confident that Nicholas was safe, she focused her attention on
Luther and all of the bullshit he'd been putting her through. She just found
out that Luther was selling drugs, and she wasn't happy about it. After
all of the hard work you've done, going back to school and getting a
degree, I can't believe you want to blow it on something as ignorant as
being a damn drug dealer. You don't understand, Carmen, it's not like
that. Well, then make me understand, Luther. What is it all
about. I've been trying to understand you ever since we got married. I
can't tell you, Okay, I just can't. Carmen folded her arms with
disgust. Thither, I have really had it with you. I can't go
down this road with you. I can do that by myself. You can't
leave me, Carmen. I just need a little more I just need a
little more time to figure things out, figure out what things Luther, You've
been saying that shit for months now, and it has worn thin with me.
Carmen paused for a moment, waiting for his explanation. Fuck it,
you're going to have to find a place of your own. You can do
whatever it is you want to do, just don't come around to see me
and the baby at all. Carmen's words connected directly to Luther's heart. Her
words hurt him. The last thing that he wanted to do was lose her.
All he wanted was for her to understand he was dealing with something he
couldn't tell her about. The fact that he couldn't tell her made him edgy,
and he pressed the accelerator and picked up speed. As he sped up
an incline. The car fish tailed a little, but Luther quickly gained control
over it. Slowed down. Luther, you're driving too fast in the snow
storm, Carmen snapped. You don't tell me what to do. Luther shouted
back and sped up even more. Luther slowed down. The road is slick
out here. Luther ignored her and went even faster down the other side of
the incline. Luther, I got this. I'm tired of people telling me
what to do all of the damn time. Luther grounded Carmen and pinned the
accelerator to the floor of the car. Luther. Carmen pointed out of the
window at the flashing lights of a squad car. Luther ignored her and refused
to slow down. He zoomed past the state trooper and tried to switch lanes
by quickly lost control of the car. The car spun around like a spinning
time. Carmen braced her arm against the dashboard and screamed. Ruther pressed hard
against the brakes and kept turning and steering the wheel, attempting to gain control,
but he cutn't. The car ran off the road and onto a frozen
fishing lake. The car spun around at a dizzy pace until it came to
a complete halt about fifty yards from the shoreline. It was eerily silent and
calm for a brief moment. Once she realized that she was alive, Carmen
glanced over at Luther with murderous eyes before unloading on him. What the fuck
is wrong with you, Luther? Sh Luther held up his hand. He
needed her to be quiet. He tried to turn the car around and drive
back to the shore, but the ice wasn't strong enough to hold the weight
of the car. In an instant, the horrific roar of ice splitting a
thousand ways began singing its gruesome melody. I've got to get out of here.
This ice isn't going to hold the car. I'm gonna make a run
for it. Hannicked and thought only of his own survival. He immediately unlocked
the door, exited the car, and ran as quickly as he could on
the slick ice toward the short line. Luther. Carmen called after him.
She knew that he was crazy, but never in her wildest dreams did she
ever think he'd leave her and the baby in such a life or death situation.
Luther, get your ass back here to help me, she called to
him, But again Luther had disappeared into the driving snowstorm. Carmen quickly unlocked
her seat belt, turned around, got on her knees, and began to
free Nicholas. God hoo, God, Carmen yelled in terror as she fumbled
with her son's seat belt. The moment Carmen freed Nicholas from his car seat,
she cut under the snap followed by a violent chart of the car.
Twisted her body and glanced over her left shoulder and thought that the nose of
the car was about to drop below the surface. She immediately rolled down the
window before turning back around and snatching Nicholas up in her arms. Her hasty
movements caused the ice to groan even louder