Charles Void Harrelson ( born July 23, 1938 [1] - March 15, 2007 [2] [3] ) is an American hired killer sentenced to two life sentences on charges of killing federal judge Jonathan Wood. The father of Hollywood actor Woody Harrelson [2] .
| Charles Harrelson | |
|---|---|
| Charles Voyde Harrelson | |
 | |
| Birth name | Charles Voyde Harrelson |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | Huntsville ( Texas , USA ) |
| Date of death | March 15 2007 (68 years old) |
| Place of death | ADX Florence Prison ( Colorado , USA ) |
| A country | |
| Occupation | Payed assassin |
| Father | Void Harrelson |
| Mother | Alma Harrelson |
| Spouse | Nancy Hillman Harrelson Joe Ann Harrelson Diana Lou Oswald Gina Adell Foster |
| Children | Woody Harrelson , film actor Brett Harrelson , motorcycle racer Jordan Harrelson , businessman |
Content
The Killing of Degelia
Harrelson was tried for the murder of Sam Degelia Jr., having been hired by Degelia's childhood friend, Pete Scamardo. Scamardo smuggled drugs across the Mexican border, and Harrelson distributed them to the United States. After a police raid in Kansas City in June 1968, Harrelson lost a heroin batch, causing Scamardo to force him to kill his business partner.
Harrelson was arrested on testimony, but during the trial, his lawyer Percy Foreman, known for his defense of James Earl Ray , the alleged killer of Martin Luther King , managed to introduce an unexpected alibi . A nightclub singer said that Harrelson was with her during the murder. The case was postponed until the circumstances were clarified, and a new hearing took place already in 1974 . At that time, Tol Dawson, the chief investigator in the case, had a warrant for the arrest of the singer for giving false evidence. The singer found out about this and fled to Aruba , and without her testimony Harrelson was charged and received 15 years in prison. He went out for good behavior after five years.
Killing Judge Wood
Harrelson was sentenced to two life sentences for the murder of District Judge John Wood, who was shot in the back on May 29, 1979 near his home in San Antonio , Texas . According to the prosecution, Harrelson was hired by drug lord Jamil Chagra of El Paso . Wood, nicknamed "Max John" due to the imposition of long prison sentences for drug offenses, had to hold a hearing in the Chagra case on the day of his murder.
In Harrelson’s arrest, the key ones were a tip from an anonymous informant and recording a conversation between Jimmy (Jamil) and his brother Joe Chagra. At the trial, Harrelson stated that he had committed the killing in order to get a huge fee from Chagra.
Harrelson was eventually convicted largely due to an overheard conversation between the Chagra brothers during Joe’s visits to prison, where Jamil was already accused of drug trafficking and complicity in the crime. Harrelson received two life sentences, and Joe Chagra - ten years in prison. Jamil Chagra was acquitted when his brother refused to testify against him, but received 30 years for the drug trade.
The Kennedy Assassination
Harrelson mentioned in a confession in the Wood case that he shot President Kennedy in 1963 in Dallas . Later, he began to deny his involvement in the murder, and convicting evidence against him was not found. Conspirologists attribute to Harrelson the role of one of the “three vagabonds,” suspicious individuals found in a freight car near the place of the murder, which today is nothing more than speculation [4] [5] .
Escape Attempt and Death
In 1996, Harrelson made an unsuccessful attempt to escape from a federal prison in Atlanta , after which he was transferred to the ADX Florence maximum security prison in , Colorado .
On March 15, 2007, he was found dead in his cell, apparently due to natural causes [6] .
Woody Harrelson subsequently tried to challenge the court decision and remove the charges from his father, but he failed. [7]
Personal life
Harrelson was born into the family of Woid Harrelson and Alma Lee Sparks in Huntsville . In addition to Diana Lou Oswald, from whom he had three sons (Woody and his two brothers), Charles was at different times married to Nancy Hillman, Joe Ann and Gina Adell. After he was arrested for the murder of Wood, his son Woody often visited Charles in prison. In 1988, Woody Harrelson said that despite the fact that his father impressed him as a well-read and educated man, he still had mixed feelings for Charles and perceived him more as a friend than a father.
Notes
- ↑ Judge Wood's assassin dies of heart attack (link not available) . searches.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Date of treatment September 24, 2017. Archived September 24, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 Woody Harrelson's Father Dies in Prison . CBC News (DENVER March 21, 2007). Date of treatment July 16, 2008. Archived April 24, 2012.
- ↑ Robbins, Maro; Guillermo Contreras. Judge Wood's assassin dies of heart attack (link not available) . San Antonio Express-News (March 21, 2007). Date of treatment March 21, 2007. Archived March 26, 2007.
- ↑ Secrets of Woody's hitman father . The Times . April 8, 2007.
- ↑ JFK and Harrelson . - Spartacus.Schoolnet.
- ↑ Woody Harrelson's dad dies in prison . Associated Press (March 21, 2007). Date of treatment March 21, 2007. Archived March 24, 2007.
- ↑ Loves the Beach, the Planet and Movies . The New York Times (November 25, 2007). Date of treatment November 25, 2007. Archived April 24, 2012.