Unveiling the Journey: Reflections on Season 2 of The Straight Outta Prison Podcast

We're pulling back the curtain and taking you on a deep dive into the heart and soul of The Straight Outta Prison Podcast, Season 2. Picture this: 23 hours of riveting and thought-provoking conversations, akin to a binge-worthy Netflix series. We've been told it's like that by our friend Robert, who marathon-listened his way through our podcast. Season 2 was a journey of healing, clarity, and renewed optimism. However, we also grappled with the struggles of walking in faith, and the challenge of recognizing the larger picture when you're in the thick of things.

An exciting part of our podcast is interacting with our patrons. We appreciate their support through Patreon and are eager to answer their intriguing questions. We also discuss our second podcast, the For Real Real. But it’s not all light-hearted and fun. We confront daunting topics such as the violence and overcrowding in Alabama's Department of Corrections, and the power of storytelling through Biblical characters. We also delve into the paradox of Jesus' simplicity and the difficulty in surrendering to it. 

As we move towards the exciting frontier of Season 3, we reminisce about the infamous case of Jason Culverhouse, convicted of murdering his own family, and his life-altering encounter with Jesus. We remember the people we met in prison, their stories of recidivism and their current journeys. We also touch upon Kairos Prison Ministry, a three-day prison program where I've been honored to share my experiences. As we buckle up for Season 3, we can't contain our excitement for the new chapter and the exclusive content we have in store. So, join us for this enlightening and stirring journey. As always, we promise to keep it real!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 5:03

Well, hey guys, thanks for tuning in to the Straight Out of Prison podcast. My name is James K Jones and this is my Story.

Speaker 2: 5:09

And my name is Hailey Jones, and this is his story. That has now become a part of my Story.

Speaker 1: 5:16

So this is the season 2 recap. What's your favorite thing about season 2?

Speaker 2: 5:21

Well, I think in the beginning, when you got saved honestly, because I feel like it was really started a whole new put you in a whole another direction, even though you were still in prison. A whole new world. And actually that's the thing I always ask people I'm like is he saved yet? When they tell me that they're listening, yeah.

Speaker 2: 5:40

I'm like okay, and I was like, how far along are you? Like well, I'm at, and they start trying to give me details. I'm like is he saved yet? Because then that gives me an idea when they're at. On the podcast.

Speaker 1: 5:54

I mean I know her but I don't even know her that we go to church with. That was telling me all about the podcast and she was just saying, okay, here's the redemption in your voice. And I was like how far did you get? And she said episode 5, or husband says she's on 516. And I was like I don't know what to say, but I think it's because she knows me now. So she's like you know, she sees the way on the other side.

Speaker 2: 6:18

Right.

Speaker 1: 6:19

That was kind of funny and I've been surprised by people that are binge listening to this, like we've got a certain amount of followers and we just passed over the 10,000 download, or whatever you call it.

Speaker 2: 6:32

Yeah, the other week.

Speaker 1: 6:34

That's crazy, and we're on every continent except for Antarctica. Yeah, We've been down on every continent, which I'm not even sure if they have phones on Antarctica, all that ice and freezing I mean how could they do, I'm sure?

Speaker 1: 6:46

How could you have anything working that? I'm just kidding, but I'm kind of blown away by that. Like people that just start listening to it and then they just listen to all of them. I even have a good friend, robert, that he's not a podcast guy but he started listening to it because I was nagging him about it, because he's always asked me questions like go listen podcast. And he got two in and he just like binge the whole thing up to like the fifth season two, episode five, and he was so excited I'm like do you realize? That's like 15 hours. You've listened to 15 hours of me talking and he's like I just it's good stuff.

Speaker 2: 7:27

So it's kind of neat. I mean, it is like kind of like a Netflix series in terms of it's just, it's a story. It's your story and I mean stories are timeless, no matter who's they are. You know that you can listen to it, and you obviously, if the story's already happened, something already happened. You want to know what happens next.

Speaker 1: 7:44

That's true, that's true. But where I mean this is like our 23rd podcast, that's 23 hours, Like a Netflix series, usually caps at 10.

Speaker 2: 7:57

No, they have different seasons. Well, that's true. I guess the seasons are 10.

Speaker 1: 8:01

Okay, the seasons are 10.

Speaker 2: 8:04

So what's been your favorite?

Speaker 1: 8:05

part of season two. I think the excitement, you know it was painful going through the middle. You know the episodes, like when I first got to Donaldson. You know they tried to rape me and all that stuff. That was hard like reprocessing all that stuff. I feel like there was some healing in that and I feel like I got a lot of like clarity through all that and it's just like God has always protected me and he always will and it, you know, just helps you like stomp out some more, just make me want to trust him more.

Speaker 2: 8:36

I feel like that's even helped you in the season we're in now. Like so, the first, the couple of weeks that we were actually recording those episodes, you went through like a major funk.

Speaker 1: 8:45

Yeah, it was bad.

Speaker 2: 8:46

Like it was. I don't want to say dark, but it was kind of just like sad, a little bit Like what put me back in a dark place? Yeah.

Speaker 1: 8:55

I remember like there's a lot of shock and a lot of you know, just going through stuff like that and you know, you kind of I buried all that Like it's, you know, because I knew that something good came out of it. So I was like, okay, I was supposed to be here, but at the same time, like if you put yourself back in that situation, that was a desperate situation.

Speaker 2: 9:16

But coming through those two weeks when like, like I said, even when we were recording and you were just retelling the story and you went through this dark, weird it's almost like you're going through the process again which is a good part of that I feel like on the other side of it, like now. I mean, just I live with you, so I see your demeanor most of the time and we work together, we're together a lot, but your overall demeanor just it seems to be more, I don't know, like even even more hopeful, like even for the season that we're in now.

Speaker 1: 9:48

Yeah, it's helping me realize like seasons and the process, like if you're following Jesus, he's always got you in the middle of a process and even if it doesn't look like you understand, you know that makes sense. Like on the other side it makes sense and you're like, okay, okay, now you know, now it all makes sense. Like, looking back at all, all makes sense. But like when you're in the middle of it you're just like scared and fearful and all the things.

Speaker 1: 10:16

Yeah, it's hard to zoom out when you're like in the midst of chaos or this season has helped me with that, because it's like you know, we're in the middle of something new now with our company and even this podcast and all the stuff. Like I don't know what I'm doing with it. I don't know what I'm doing. I mean you don't know what you're doing with this podcast stuff. Or you know, I mean I don't know how to cook, you know how to coach, you know we're good at that stuff, but it is, that's just. It's been very helpful in helping me, just like. It's kind of like just reignited, you know. I just what's next, you know, cause there's always something next.

Speaker 2: 10:50

Right.

Speaker 1: 10:50

There's always something next.

Speaker 2: 10:52

And that's true for everybody, just as an encouragement, like I feel like I need to encourage myself on that. I'm sure someone else needs to hear that too. Okay, so what's some of the questions, or a question that you got? You want to start there?

Speaker 1: 11:05

There was one that I cannot answer and I don't know. I don't even know where else to look, but I said I would find the name of the, the prison commissioner that instituted the honor dorm and all the places in Alabama. I can't find his name. I know that he was appointed by Don Siegelman, who was elected in 1999, and he served from 1999 to 2003. Cause then Don Siegelman was defeated by Bob Riley, so he didn't get another another chance at being governor, so that prison commissioner only got to be commissioner for four years.

Speaker 2: 13:01

So maybe this is someone, if somebody out there knows, I mean, that's listening.

Speaker 1: 13:05

Yeah so what?

Speaker 2: 13:06

what is the actual question?

Speaker 1: 13:07

They want to know the name of the prison commissioner that appointed the honor dorm to all the things in 1999.

Speaker 2: 13:15

Okay.

Speaker 1: 13:16

And I can't find his name.

Speaker 2: 13:17

Okay.

Speaker 1: 13:18

But I know the governor was Don Siegelman.

Speaker 2: 13:20

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 13:21

And he was appointed by him, and he was the new prison commissioner. So, but let's, let's, don't get stuck on that.

Speaker 2: 13:25

Yeah, that's a technical. Okay. Any other question? I mean I know we had more questions, what's another one?

Speaker 1: 13:30

I had a bunch of questions. Yeah, where do we start?

Speaker 2: 13:34

This comes to. Just to be clear, this is questions that we got from people throughout the season and after, as people were listening that we are answering now.

Speaker 1: 13:41

Yeah, and from our we put out to our patrons too, right, exactly, and that's our tell them what our patrons are.

Speaker 2: 13:47

So, yeah, before we do the question, we are we have. Okay, patrons are basically people that listen to our podcast and support and support. You know us recording it I. We did some research when we started spending so much time recording and money and money and recording.

Speaker 2: 14:06

But you know we live in a world of free content. You know blogs and podcasts are usually, you know they're all free and we I found this way that a lot of creators is what they call them a way for creators to kind of support their creations in our cast. In our case it's a podcast, but it's just where you support us. I mean, you can either do $3 a month, $5 a month or 10. So it's not a lot, but it's just a way to to support us to keep going and to keep telling the story and bringing, bringing that to you.

Speaker 1: 14:40

So and with that we've added a lot of.

Speaker 2: 14:42

Shabbat, so it's not just like you give the $3, but we've actually created more another podcast called the for real. Real, which maybe you've heard us talk about, but that's where we talk about. We say things that we will not, or most people will not, put on their highlight. Real, so, just things that are going on in our life, like present time, real life, like with our relationship, our marriage, with our kids, with our our health our weight food, church cancel, culture talk about all that that's on the.

Speaker 1: 15:13

the Patreon is subscription only.

Speaker 2: 15:15

Right, so you get to listen to that when you become a patron. So we call it like a friend of the show, a best friend or basically family.

Speaker 1: 15:22

Yeah, so when you, when you subscribe to that, there's an app to get us a Patreon app.

Speaker 2: 15:28

Or you can download the app.

Speaker 1: 15:29

Yeah, you download it. Yes, you don't know the app. No, the app was just going to magically come through the air and drop into your team.

Speaker 2: 15:37

No, I'm telling you, when people tell me these things, I need them to spell it out for me. Okay, how to do it.

Speaker 1: 15:42

You can do it through a computer or you can go to their website. But if you download the app it gives you like a social media type feed. So like On the patreon app, like there's like a team Jones feed, so you can just click, listen to all the pod, extra pot, there's extra content to from Straight out of prison podcasts, and then we're you know we're doing a bunch of neat stuff like pictures and yeah, but it's easy to access all of that through the app.

Speaker 2: 16:06

Yeah and you can do that through our website. I mean you can find it anywhere social media, but it's our patreon account. You can see it on the podcast link team Jones co slash podcast. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 16:18

All right, so some, but a lot of these questions come from our patrons, because we directly communicate with them right. And that's another way not to have to have those annoying ads on here. You know, I don't have to stop and say let's pause and go to Hello Tishy.

Speaker 2: 16:34

James is against having ads. I'm not so much, but it is a way for us to kind of Support. You know, ourselves I'm not against having ads.

Speaker 1: 16:42

As long as it's not something that's just like fake, like I'm not gonna buy something to connect to my toilet seat. This court water my butt see, I might. You might buy, but you wouldn't use it. You wouldn't use it. It'd be something. There's something else in the way, but uh, anyways, let's move on. That one of the questions. Have I said any questions yet? No One comes from Nora. She says she's fascinated the way that I tell about Stories.

Speaker 2: 17:12

Yeah, she wanted to know she's like can you just do a podcast, that where James tells Bible stories like in his own words she was referencing. Was she referencing where you talked about David? Joseph the Joseph and how somebody wanted that good Hebrew stuff.

Speaker 1: 17:28

I mean, that's what happened. I mean, if you read, if you read that story, the lady was coming at him. She's older lady.

Speaker 2: 17:34

When you say she was coming at him, she was coming on to him as what he means.

Speaker 1: 17:38

She was coming on to him. She was coming at him and she would not let up and she was just gonna. She wanted some of that good Hebrew stuff. She decided to have it and he didn't give it to her. So good kudos for him. But uh, I I'm down with that. I mean, maybe we could do, I would love to do that.

Speaker 2: 17:55

I'd love telling like I love telling my kids the Bible stories in my words, because I felt they get it well, I've actually told you for several years now, like when we've been talking and I'm like, oh, what was that story? And I ask his story and you tell me what the story is. And I'm like you tell that story like nobody else. I mean sometimes you might even interject a couple cuss words. Well, you do.

Speaker 2: 18:18

I mean not that you have to, but it's just very funny how you tell the story, because it is the real story, but in your own words, and kind of helps with you know, understanding it in context of today, yeah, and making it relevant.

Speaker 1: 18:33

I agree. So maybe who knows where we're going with this. I know I'm I want to do a companion podcast, the straight out prison podcast, where we kind of dig deeper on like how I learned things. And you know one of the last episode I think it was Episode 11, season 2 about falling apart and dealing with issues. You know I was one of our patrons, jonathan he I got a message from him. He said he I really enjoyed every episode. I love the podcast, but something about that one really touched me and you know I hopefully you know telling stories like that. You get help people you know deal with their own. You know want to like oh wait, I can be free too, because this is not like.

Speaker 1: 19:19

There ain't nothing special about James K Jones. There's something special about human beings because we're all creating the image of God. So there's nothing. I mean, I remember my, my dad's wife. She used to annoy me when I first started my my Jesus journey. She would tell me I believe in all that, but now not everybody gets it like you, and so I'm like.

Speaker 1: 19:40

But Everybody like you yeah like I had some kind of special like Thing with Jesus and I was like maybe not, but everybody can. I mean he's, you know. You know he's no respect to a person's, that's the scripture. Like he wants us all, he wants all of us the same. I mean he's got a plan for all of us. Like our plans are not gonna look the same, but I disagree that. Uh, you know there's no special in To get God's best, you just have to surrender to him and listen to him. You know, like, at the miracle that Jesus did where he turned water into wine, his mom looked at servants, was like just Whatever he says to do it, and they were like, okay, what would do? He's like to dip it in, dip it out? Okay, he's one Well like.

Speaker 2: 20:30

It's that simple. Yeah, that's that simple, yeah.

Speaker 1: 20:32

Jesus is that simple. You just, whatever he says to you, do it.

Speaker 2: 20:35

It's simple, but it's hard.

Speaker 1: 20:37

Oh, it can be so hard but it can also be so simple. That was one of the things for me before. Like before, I had like a heart change. I won't even say heart change until I came like a life spiritually, I thought that, like religion, or doing the right thing was just like this hard, like labor thing that you had to do. But I realized, like you don't do, it makes he helps you. Like you, he can help you do something he don't want you to do, right, but like, if it's part of the plan for you that he has for you, then he's got the grace to help you. And I remember when my the first death that I experienced close to me was my memo in 2003, and I dreaded her you know, I Just dreaded because I didn't have a lot of deaths when I was growing up and it was just amazing, just like the grace and the peace that I got and it was like, oh, I can even get through this and be okay, you know. So let's move on from that.

Speaker 2: 21:33

Yeah, I mean I have more to say, but we can talk about later. Let's get to another question.

Speaker 1: 21:36

Okay, this question has come across the board. Is Alabama like? Am I exaggerating about the violence and the way the Alabama Department of Correction is ran? Like is it really that bad? And Answer to that is yes. But since I was there I left there in 1999 it's worse down than it's ever been because they keep they keep packing them in. It's just it's bad didn't recently.

Speaker 2: 22:04

I remember we talked about this like a few weeks ago or a month ago or something a YouTube video got leaked from.

Speaker 1: 22:10

There's a lot of see, that's something we didn't when I was in prison. I don't think we knew what cell phones were because I Don't know until we disagree over when they came out. I know, when I got locked up in 1993, my aunt Denise, her husband Kenny he's like a businessman, entrepreneur he's got all the money and he bought her a car that had like one of those big cases.

Speaker 1: 22:36

Yes, my dad got one of those in the car and that was the only thing that I'd never seen anything like that. But then when I got in prison in 1999, everybody's running around these little phones, right, and they're in the grocery store. I mean, what kind of tomatoes? Like? I'm like, these people are crazy.

Speaker 2: 22:51

That is crazy to think that, like from the time you went in, I didn't know.

Speaker 1: 22:54

I never saw end up computers, internet, all that stuff, you know, like we would see it would. I remember they would do a Yahoo commercials or a well America online and we're like what does that mean? And then we'd read the news and it would say if you're invested in Yahoo stock, You're a millionaire.

Speaker 2: 23:11

And we'd be like what it?

Speaker 1: 23:12

what it? We don't even know what it is Like. We didn't know it was yeah, we didn't understand the concept of like cell phones and internet stuff like that, so there was none of that. But I think I volunteered in Alabama prisons from like. I think like 2013, 2013, 2012 was when I mean I still go and do like special stuff.

Speaker 1: 23:37

Yeah but I don't, I don't go like regular. They all got cell phones now and I had guys that I was working with when I was doing prison mission that would want to call me and I'd be like Are you crazy? Don't, don't get me. But now they got smart phones, now they got iPhones but they're really not supposed to have them in there.

Speaker 2: 23:56

But they have many way no okay, but let's go back to the question. Was so really that violent? And you said yes, even more, so it's more than it was when I was there.

Speaker 1: 24:04

But now these guys are having these smartphones and they just mash, record and do a video like we would and then they send it to YouTube so that video that came out, basically what was it? It was a guy that's Like a activist kind of guy, like he's trying to tell the world what's happening there. We don't.

Speaker 2: 24:25

I don't know what happened to him but the video it was a beating or something in the video.

Speaker 1: 24:31

It showed them dragging him out In a trail of blood and then the guy that was doing the video went in his cell and it was just full of blood and it was. I believe it was by the, wasn't by the inmates, was by the police.

Speaker 2: 24:44

But let's don't get stuck on that right, but I was just making the point that it Was that bad and it is still, if not worse. No, it's worse thing, it yeah it's definitely.

Speaker 1: 24:52

That's why I stopped going in there. The last time we went get where it and I went to Dawson to try to do a life after prison class and when we toured through there it's like whatever change it happened there when I was there, it's not like that anymore and now it's even worse and I was just like I ain't doing this to myself. Like you know, if y'all can get it under control, get it. You know where it needs to be. I'll do that. Now I do go in some of the other prisons with our church. You know, when we have freedom conferences and stuff like that.

Speaker 1: 25:18

I've done St Clair, I've done bibb, but it's crazy and they just keep packing them in there. You know, I was at the bibb Correctional facility with a friend of mine doing classes, gills, somebody I met when I was in prison. I did 12 weeks for him and his little program that he's got down there and there was a guy that was a prison fellowship guy and, you know, sincere, but just don't know what he's talking about and he's like I just don't understand the violence and I'm like would you look at what you're looking at? This is this room here is Designed for probably 50 people. There are 200 people packed in here. What do you think's gonna happen? Right, what can, what can happen. It's just, it's a recipe for disaster. But now, now they have cell phones and they have heroin, so and the heroin is just coming in, coming in, coming in these guys, and now people are just dying.

Speaker 2: 26:10

So my question is I know you say who bring? How do they get the heroin in?

Speaker 1: 26:14

Well, they've always said that drugs come in the prison through visitation, and the interesting thing about this past year in the COVID is that it's been on lockdown. There's been no volunteers like churches, nobody can go in prison except the police and there's been no visitation. And Heroin overdoses are worse now in the river band.

Speaker 2: 26:35

So who's bringing it in? Who do you think the?

Speaker 1: 26:37

police officers who, I mean, that's always been the case. I mean I'm not saying some of that stuff didn't come in like that, but it's just it's a corrupt right gosh. And I mean, you know, I'm from Alabama, I love Alabama, this is my home, but they don't do prison. Well, they do not do prison. Well, nothing, you know, and I was in prison in Florida and it was hard and it was prison and it was. You know, they were trying to rebuild that, rehabilitate us. They didn't run the prisons like that. They ran like the military, like they're. Their officers were like like the military, but Alabama's under investigation. And then Governor Ivey just signed a bill to build four new prisons and just basically knocked down all the other ones and you got people out there protesting that. So you know, I know people mean well with these young people don't know what they're talking about. But I don't comment on people's like social media stuff, because I don't get involved.

Speaker 1: 27:32

But they were doing that, where they were protesting that, because it was some amount of private prisons and I was like I don't even know what you're saying, like we would have given anything to have a private prison, because when it's a private prison is ran by, it's ran different, so it's just a mess. It needs to be told you. The whole thing needs to be overhauled. Yeah and I hope they do, but it's it's pretty bad.

Speaker 1: 27:54

And people are dying Every day and if you want more information about that, there's a. There's a lady that used to work for Fox six when I was doing cooking Cooking spots there yeah, our names best Shelburne. She has a Facebook page. She's an investigative journalist and she is really dug deep and she was. She's just not letting it go like she's every day pushing, pushing, pushing and she's doing good work and I really appreciate what she's doing to shine a lot on that, because you know you get back to that thing.

Speaker 1: 28:22

Well, you're supposed to be in prison, you are, but it's supposed to be like that, right, you're supposed to have to deal with that. Another question is how's the honor dorm now? So I try to do the math on that. That would have been 20, maybe 22 years in now. Wow, from what I understand, there is still honor dorm every Facility in the state of Alabama, but from what I've saw from most of them, even the one at Donaldson is it's not the same, because they're not hold, they don't have the standards that they had. So, like some of them try to, but it takes a mix of the inmates that are already on the inside, like they have to be brought into it, and then the administration and the chapel. Like you have to have, you know, you have to have the inmates, you have to have the administration and the police and you have to have, like free will, volunteers that want to see that.

Speaker 2: 29:13

And so if one of those kind of Goes in your is not good, then it kind of breaks down.

Speaker 1: 29:19

I can see that and it becomes like symbolic, like kind of like religious denominations. You know, like one time I was doing all stuff and so we're doing all this, and then now we're still doing the same thing, but it just ain't saying yeah, it's kind of like that. I mean, I have a dream like I.

Speaker 2: 29:34

Have a dream.

Speaker 1: 29:35

I do. I would love to like figure out a way to like redo the honor dorm, or you know.

Speaker 2: 29:40

What about redo the whole prison system?

Speaker 1: 29:42

Oh, that's for James K Jones.

Speaker 2: 29:47

That's for the electric go home, baby, that's for the, that's for the elected officials. I.

Speaker 1: 29:53

Mean no, I would love to help, but I mean ain't nobody asking me for help. So I mean I would like what we said. I mean mean cover house said that when we were like in the middle of the thick of when we're gaining momentum and everything was changing, and the guy came in and said we want one of these everywhere. Cover house was like I Bet if we keep going they give us a whole prison, like if we could keep running it like this. And I was like Wouldn't that be amazing? Like you just have, you know you have a prison where people want to do something different.

Speaker 1: 30:21

You can go here, right and then actually Produce like Good stuff, just reform PTSD and reform pain and more, but it's sad the people, you know, a lot of people are dying yeah okay, so, which brings me to my next question.

Speaker 2: 30:40

You just brought up Colerhouse, jason Colverhouse your. Roommate, cellmate For a couple years, who helped started the honor dorm, was one of the key players with you and you mentioned briefly in a couple of the episodes, part of his story. Yeah and I have had personally loads of people. I have to give me. Had asked me questions about him.

Speaker 1: 31:03

Okay, I don't want to. I don't want to say a whole lot about him. He has given me permission to write because I started a book and I Mean I'm still in contact with him. I called him and run him. I was like, look, I'm working on a book but like your story bumped into my story and I really want to tell it. But I want your permission and so I wrote it. I wanted to write it and then I I sent it to him and he said I just one thing I'd say that he killed his younger brother. He's like it's actually, if my older brother, I was the baby family and I was like, oh my bad, you know, let's remind people.

Speaker 2: 31:39

Can you remind people a little bit of a story the white, what you breezed over for people that are like, oh, I missed that it was a.

Speaker 1: 31:47

It was a famous Case in Alabama and there's actually a movie made out of it about it. The cover house murders was down to Arrington, alabama, down below Dell County I believe, down below Dothan out rural area. Whole family got slaughtered and it was unsolved murder thing and Jason was at his girlfriend's house and that you know had a pretty tight alibi, you know.

Speaker 2: 32:16

Jason was a son of a family.

Speaker 1: 32:18

Yeah, and then he had an older brother who had been written out of the wheel by his dad, so he became the top suspect. But then they proved that he didn't do it. Then they they couldn't figure out a motive for Jason and anyways it was an unsolved murder mystery for I think, three or four years and it was around the time of the Psychological profiling of criminals and forensics like psychological forensics. Where they couldn't, they wrote off as a cold case and actually had floated an idea that maybe this guy Was in the drugs because he owned a trucking company and he was, like slaughtered by a Mexican cartel or something you know.

Speaker 2: 33:01

The dad of the truck.

Speaker 1: 33:02

Yeah, yeah I mean they're a very prominent family. I mean they were.

Speaker 2: 33:06

I mean, isn't there a school named after a building or something? I can't.

Speaker 1: 33:10

I don't know if it's grandfather, great grandfather is in his, you know In the line yeah. Yeah the Covah school of law at the University of Alabama.

Speaker 2: 33:18

Okay was his family, that family Okay.

Speaker 1: 33:20

Yeah, um, and it's still there. But, uh, they sent the, the cold case to the University of Colorado some college students that were studying this criminal Psychology stuff and they cracked the case. And I don't want to say how they cracked the case, but they uh, because I want to tell a story later. Yeah but they went to his older brother and said your, your baby brother, slaughtered your family. And he was like no, he didn't his baby brother's, jason Culverhouse.

Speaker 2: 33:46

Yeah, and his brother was like no, no, he didn't.

Speaker 1: 33:50

And uh, they said, no, he will show you. So they prepped him and gave him some questions, asked to like break him down. And he did and confessed to it. And then he uh Quickly made a plea deal because he didn't want to get the electric chair that if he would confess and that by that time he was marrying, had a baby, that if he would uh make a confession and you know do all the stuff that they wouldn't give him the death penalty and that they wouldn't bother his wife and kid. So he ended up with a life without parole Senate, so he'll die in prison. And then he went to prison and turned into, like you know, a gangster, because you know he was gonna be there.

Speaker 2: 34:31

The rest was well, any person that's killed their mom, their dad and their brother. Oh, there's a lot going on there.

Speaker 1: 34:37

Yeah Well, see, I didn't know him then. I didn't. I only knew him After he had an experience with Jesus. He went on the car this weekend I had an experience with Jesus and then just his life flipped and that was when I met him. And but I was, he was my cell partner the last year and a half that I was in prison.

Speaker 2: 34:53

Okay, year and a half.

Speaker 1: 34:54

Yeah, and he became like a brother to me. He's somebody like an older brother to me, somebody I love to this day.

Speaker 2: 35:01

I mean it's hard for someone like me to imagine being that close. I mean even just like physically living with someone in the same cell that I knew Committed that kind of crime, like murdering the people closest his mom and dad and brother.

Speaker 1: 35:17

Oh, it was worse than that he had. When he got to prison, he got a back tattoo. You know what a back tattoo is? Well, a tattoo on your back, well, a back tattoo is where it covers your whole back. Okay, so it's like a huge painting. So he had a tattoo put on his back With three it's like three tombstones. It says mom, dad, bro, and then a picture of the devil like holding a pitchfork. Oh, my gosh and then on the bottom it says the devil made me do it.

Speaker 2: 35:42

And that's permanently on his back.

Speaker 1: 35:44

Yeah, I mean now you saw that's crazy, that's insane. But I don't want to get too deep into his story because, like I said, he gave me permission to tell parts of his story. We're gonna make it a couple episodes after we get done their story or maybe even do our own podcasts, because people are still interested in that story and I know a part of the story that's never been told because it's from his side. There was a movie made. It was a usa movie called the morrison murders. You can still find it.

Speaker 1: 36:15

It was called the morrison murders.

Speaker 2: 36:17

You know how they renamed stuff. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 36:19

Yeah, and I watched it when I got out of prison and and it's that story, it's his story. It is, but it's not totally accurate. Okay, but when I watched that story, I didn't speak to him for almost a year because I was just like Like hold up, and you were out of prison at this time. Yeah, and he was one of my best friends, you were just like kind of I wasn't shocked, I mean I knew this.

Speaker 1: 36:43

He told me everything. He didn't tell me all at one time, but I would get curious, you know ask you know, yeah, if you're sleeping above or below, whatever you were, well the weird thing was after he had an like his family disowned him when he came to prison.

Speaker 1: 36:58

I mean he killed their, you know yeah um, but he started after he had an experience with Jesus. He started like reconnecting to parts of his family. He tried to reconcile his older brother and his older brother took a call from him like one call, and said that's good and I love you and I always love you, but you took my mama for me, so I can't, I just can't, I just and I get that you know his brother actually went was. I read an article recently where his brother was like please don't kill my brother to the because the judge that sentenced him was A family friend of his dad's. Like you know, my mom's dad, my mom's dad, my, my dad's dad, my, please don't kill my brother. And so just seeing their pain, like that side of it it's a lot, it's a lot but it is a story of amazing grace and redemption and what happened with Jason?

Speaker 1: 37:56

Jason was real and is real and it it's just amazing grace and that's all I mean. There's no other way to explain it. But he reconciled with his mom's sister, his aunt, and this was her sister that he killed. It'd be like somebody kill him, happy. And then she forgave him and started coming to see him and doing stuff. So she started seeing him Bible studies Written in his mom's handwriting where she used to have a women's. She did a women's group a couple times a week but she led them holy cow and she would write out the outlines and she used them for her Bible studies.

Speaker 1: 38:34

But she saved them one hour. Sister had all that every week as a new believer. She was sending him those Bible studies written by his mother he killed. I mean it's crazy, but one night that will wreck you Well.

Speaker 1: 38:48

I um, I didn't ask a lot of questions because it's like you know, you find out some parts of it and then you know.

Speaker 1: 38:56

But there was one night I just said I was asking him questions and it was, uh, just how can you do that? So I came, I found out, like he kid, he killed his brother in his sleep, shot him in his sleep, so he didn't know it hit him, but his dad heard the gun go off, ran down the hall, he hid in the hall and shot his dad in the back and kill his dad. So his brother or his dad didn't know that it was him. And then he went in to where his mom was in, the doors locked, and he took a shotgun and blew the door knob off, went in and when he shot in, shot at her, but it didn't kill her and she was trying to make a phone call, like she was trying to call the police. But he, he was smart, though, like he came, like he's just smart, like he. He came up with this thing, like if you use a gun in your house, they can't take your fingerprints off of it because it's already your gun.

Speaker 1: 39:52

So, he used his own gun and then put it back. And then, um, when he came in the house, he, he took the phone off the hook so that no calls could go out, and then, but he had to go and then he killed her and I was like how could? Like she gave you, like your mom, like your mom, you know how real quick.

Speaker 2: 40:09

So he shot her and he it didn't kill her, and then she tried to make a call.

Speaker 1: 40:13

She had the phone in her hand, um, but I said, well, did she know that it was you, did she? And he said, yeah, and I said, well, what was she doing? Like? What was she saying? And he said and this is the part that always gets me, especially now I'm a daddy he said she was praying for me, and praying that god would Would say something else saved me. And he did.

Speaker 2: 40:40

Eventually he did.

Speaker 1: 40:42

It's a crazy story but I mean I feel like that could be a whole, that could be a podcast. I mean we got the S-Town. Yeah Thing is only seven episodes. I could get 10 episodes out of this because he told he's over time, he's told me, he told me and the story that you hear like the, because he don't ever talk. He don't talk in court. I mean he's never like got a story out there, but there's, he has a side to it and it's awful and it's evil. But I think his story needs to be told.

Speaker 2: 41:15

But the redemptive side, which was after you met him, is also kind of just. I mean, the whole thing is kind of mind blowing. It's amazing yeah.

Speaker 1: 41:25

But if you Google that coverhouse murders like you can read all and people are always asking where's he at. And you know, I mean I'll have a comment. It's not my, they can keep trying to figure that out, but that let's just say there's more to that story. You don't just kill your family for nothing.

Speaker 2: 41:41

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 41:43

So, oh, that's heavy, let's move on from that.

Speaker 2: 41:46

I know let's take a move.

Speaker 1: 41:47

Another question Wayne asked me. He said have you thought about having a reunion where you take the original 12 guys back in and do like a thing with the guys they're in the honor door? Now I was like, yeah, that sounds like an amazing idea. But the only problem with that is like one of those original 12 was coverhouse. He'll never got a prison. So he's already there. He would come. I think there was some kind of robbery going wrong. He was a young, young man. Somebody ended up shot or something and he's got a life up for all. He'll never got a prison, chris. I have no idea what Chris is. Terry Bush, he was one of those guys. He actually lives in Kalera, I believe. Hopefully he's listening to us Like podcast. Hey, terry and me and the other guys I don't even know where they are.

Speaker 2: 42:38

It's crazy, though, like kind of you make the assumption when you're hearing this and I do too like oh, you did your prison sentence and now you're out, whereas the reality of it is that this was a life up role. But also the recidivism. Recidivism, how do you say that?

Speaker 1: 42:54

recidivism.

Speaker 2: 42:55

Yeah right, it's like we've talked about before of that. It's more common. I don't remember the exact stat.

Speaker 1: 43:03

It is now, but when you get out?

Speaker 2: 43:04

you come back within a year or something.

Speaker 1: 43:06

None of the guys that have got out and point back.

Speaker 2: 43:09

From the honor door no.

Speaker 1: 43:11

Now of the of the 12.

Speaker 2: 43:13

Okay.

Speaker 1: 43:14

Now there was a guy when we started on our dorm. His name was Mike Brown and he was just a big, silly goofy, would never take anything seriously, threatened to kick him out, so he would always do just enough to stay in and I remember like he just wouldn't. He wasn't going to do anything different. He was young and stupid. He was about six feet tall, big white guy. He was annoying. But somebody was teaching a class where he talked about. The guy was telling him my daughters have a curfew and he started laughing and he was like what's, what are you laughing at? And Mike Brown was like curfew, I never had no curfew. And the guy that was teaching class was like well, that's funny, you got one now because when they locked down at 1030, that's your curfew. You got a curfew now and Mike Brown just like shut up, but he would never take anything that we're doing serious and he got out like maybe the beginning of 99.

Speaker 1: 44:11

And I got invited in 2005 to go into Donson and hand out Christmas bags and I've always usually declined the offer because they want you to go in like four o'clock in the morning, because you go around everybody's asleep. You just give a bag, you know, everybody gets the same thing. You say Merry Christmas, Jesus loves you. And they had needed people to go on death row and nobody wanted to go on death row and I'd never been to death row. So I was like I'll go, and me and Jeremy that used to work for me, we went to death row and the first sale that I went up to and I put it in and I said Merry Christmas, Jesus loves you. I called his voice, he said thank you, and I called his voice and I went back and I was like Mike Brown, is that you? And he was like James Jones, you know what I'm saying. And then I just I started crying, Like what are you doing on death row? Oh, you know, man, I got out, I got framed, I got a case. It's framed me on a case and I'm like you don't get the death row, forgetting, I mean you have to have like a capital crime to get a death sentence, bro, Like. But so that's it. I mean I don't know where he is now. I need to look him up.

Speaker 1: 45:18

And there was another guy that we had in our dorm. His name was Kenny. I won't say his last name because it's low. This was local. He was one of those guys. It was always like a hard, you know, like a one's hard right guy.

Speaker 1: 45:32

We got to do everything, just right Kind of guy. He got out of prison in 2007,. I believe he went through the rentry program at the foundry, so I'm one time. But he was just real, hearty, real. You know, I got Jesus and me and Jesus, we got a thing. And I was like, well, good luck with that. I mean I'm, I'm gonna do all that. I mean I got Jesus and we got our thing, but I ain't all that like, probably like six months later, steve this was when I had Cairo Steve came in Cairo's and he said, have you watched the news today? And I said no, I've been at work. And he said Kenny said his last name killed his grandmother today, beat her to death.

Speaker 2: 46:13

And cause he was strung out on.

Speaker 1: 46:14

He was strung out on crack or meth or something and I just like just that I started crying. He was like don't cry. I was like I don't know, I'm not trying to cry. I mean I gotta go, I'm working, but I mean I don't like how do you get? I mean how do you get?

Speaker 2: 46:31

there, and that's one of the guys that helped start the honor dorm.

Speaker 1: 46:34

He didn't help start, but he was in it. He was in it, okay yeah.

Speaker 2: 46:36

Gosh, that's hope, so sad.

Speaker 1: 46:39

Yeah, but then there were several other guys I got him Arthur Marvin, people that had like life without parole sentences, mr Johnny, people that got out and are doing great, and you know I've kind of lost touch with a lot of them. I think I'd love to see Chris, but he's like out West somewhere doing something. I don't know what he's up to now, but he got mad at me one time because I confronted him some of his behaviors, cause he like takes his kids around from state to state. I'm like you know it's not, it's not good to do that with kids and he got upset with me. But I mean I still love him. I got one from a uh, one of our people named Jessica. She's curious about why I never talked about visits at Donaldson.

Speaker 2: 47:23

Like visits from family, yeah.

Speaker 1: 47:26

Cause. She said I talked about a lot when I was in prison for her. But she noted that when I was, when I was at Donaldson, I didn't talk about my granny or my mom or any visits. I got one visit at Donaldson from my mom and they treat them like criminals. Like they like take their pants, they do all kinds of nasty stuff they made her take their pants off.

Speaker 1: 47:44

They made her like strip down or something. And so I know I told I like well, just write letters and talk on the phone. I'm not putting y'all, especially my grandma, like no. So I only had one visit that three years I was there.

Speaker 2: 48:00

Wow.

Speaker 1: 48:00

I didn't want to visit. I was like I don't, I'm not as bad this bad enough as it is. I'm not putting my family through that.

Speaker 1: 48:08

So that's why that we got a message from Elizabeth. She is a probation officer and she says she's came across the podcast. She started listening to it. She listens to it every week and it is her weekly encouragement to keep doing what she's doing because by listening to it she sees that change is possible and she really. Probation officers really have a thankless job. I mean I salute them. You know the good ones, the bad ones. I don't salute y'all. Y'all need to go do something else, go work at Walmart, amazon's hiring. But that she is encouraging to her because it's like it makes her want to work with the people that, like you know, you can do something different.

Speaker 1: 48:53

Then I got one of the most touching messages I got. I just got this message today. Her name is Vanessa. She's from Indiana. She had a son that was sentenced when he was 19 to a maximum security prison in Indiana. He had heroin addiction and he died. He OD'd in a cell by himself at 25 and she's been wrecked behind that. But she said she was trying to find ways to understand and you know, and she came across the podcast. She's been listening to it, she found it. She says it's helping her to heal and that she can hear her son's voice through my voice, like it's helping her to understand and heal. And I know I just like I want to say thank you for that. But I mean I'm so sad, I'm sorry about your son, I mean because that could easy be me and that honestly these days that's the story of a lot of people I know.

Speaker 1: 49:50

I got a lot of questions about the Cairo's ministry, the Cairo's weekend, like the thing they do in prison, asking me if I've been a part of that. The thing with the Cairo's weekend is a three day weekend. They prepare for that for six months, sometimes eight months, and you go to two or three meetings a week and you go off as a group for the weekend. And I've just never been able to put the time together to do it and honestly I've never wanted to do that. I got this seems like it's too much for me. It's good for them, but so I've never done a Cairo's weekend where I was there the whole time. But they have a thing called a fourth day speaker. That always brings somebody in at the last that's been through Cairo's, that just kind of tells their journey. And I've been a fourth day speaker for Cairo's dozens of times, and I love doing that because I get to see the guys on the other side Brandy, who is one of our top fans.

Speaker 2: 50:51

Yes.

Speaker 1: 50:52

We love Brandy. She encourages us so much. Oh, yes, she's great. I feel like there's something about her and I, maybe our backgrounds, I don't know this.

Speaker 1: 51:02

I just feel it Like maybe we're similar in some way, like maybe like family, said I don't know that, but I just feel a connection with her. But she's been trying to get her brother to listen to podcasts because his story is kind of similar to mine and he finally started listening. I got a message from him, kevin. He says I found the podcast through my sister because she kept on about it. He said I've been listening to the whole thing and he said he could see similarities to from his own story, like how it started through prison. He said I didn't actually come to faith in prison. It was. My story is a little different but he has since then, like on the other side. But he said the one I think it was episode the end of season two, episode one. You know we're having an experience with Jesus. You know that that really touched him.

Speaker 2: 51:52

You've covered a lot of questions right in the road. I'm reading yeah, I put.

Speaker 1: 51:57

I just pasted them on to a notepad, so I can have them. Do you have any?

Speaker 2: 52:00

I'm sorry, Gosh, I think you've covered a lot of the ones. There was a lot about Covehouse and I did get some about the visitors, and I've gotten also a lot of questions about what's next and is there going to be actually a season three?

Speaker 1: 52:19

I've had people stop me and say please don't stop.

Speaker 2: 52:22

So, but I have to say the name, and I always say this the name of the podcast is straight out of prison. So we're, of course, we're going to say what happened when you got straight out of prison. I mean, because that is a story. I mean I guess a little teaser and don't worry, I won't say too much. But the fact that, like you came to Birmingham when you got out of prison with literally a paper sack with everything you owned, yeah, I mean. And to look at your life today and really all that's happened in between, then that you got out of prison, came to a new city with, I mean, y'all know what I'm talking about the old time grocery bags that are paper, the brown paper bags.

Speaker 2: 53:00

That's what I'm talking about. One of those is what you had, and that's everything you owned coming into Birmingham. So you know there's a story there of from that to this.

Speaker 1: 53:14

That was that's. That's exciting, that part.

Speaker 2: 53:17

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 53:17

The first, actually the first first about eight months out of prison. It was just like a just crazy. Don't give it away, I won't talk about it. It's free to last, free to last. Thank God, almighty, I'm free to last, but you know what I mean. But God kept his word to me. Like you'll be my man of Birmingham, I got a plan, just trust me. Just trust me, and it was. You know it's hard coming out. You know I want to get married. I want to get you know I need to buy a house, I need to start business, all the things that had in mind.

Speaker 2: 53:46

Little did you know you had quite a while to wait for that.

Speaker 1: 53:49

Yeah, 13 years. That's insane and a lot of pain, a lot of pain for relationships.

Speaker 1: 53:58

But, let's don't, let's don't give all that away. So, yes, there will be a. There really will be a season three. I promise we're not going to stop. Also, if you're sharing this with people, I did note this when we were having that group. We had a couple of weeks ago where the guy was saying I can't find this podcast on my phone and he was typing in straight out of prison oh okay. And I was like, oh, we did it after. Like out of the straight out of Compton thing. We just straight out of prison, oh you, tta.

Speaker 2: 54:26

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 54:26

So if you're sharing it with somebody and they're trying to type it in I mean, if you send the link, they got it, but they have to type in to find it straight oh, you TTA prison.

Speaker 2: 54:35

Out of prison, straight out of prison, out of prison.

Speaker 1: 54:37

Straight out of prison. Yeah, and then there is one more. I want to thank and just recognize, dalton Moore.

Speaker 2: 54:43

Yes.

Speaker 1: 54:44

He's our sound editor.

Speaker 2: 54:46

He has been amazing and content. So the coughs and the ums and the. Does that make sense when there's a dozen in one minute?

Speaker 1: 54:52

Yeah, and he did all the music, he did the artwork. I mean this has been and this is his first podcast and I honestly I don't even know how he found him. Like it was your. You said I can't give this guy's name off my mind and I was like, does he do podcasts? And she said I don't know, I don't know. I said, well, you can ask him and see. But he has been such a gift to us and just appreciate him so much. If you ever want to know, think about Dalton, look up Cornerstone Ranch in Alabama. He's the director. You know. Tell us a little bit about Cornerstone.

Speaker 2: 55:25

Ranch. Well, he has a lot of things going on. He's very gifted and he is the director of Cornerstone Ranch and that is a kids camp site here in Gardendale I believe it's in Gardendale.

Speaker 1: 55:37

Or if it's nice, right outside of Gardendale.

Speaker 2: 55:39

And and they do camps and work with kids and really their mission is to serve kids and bring them Jesus through outdoor activities and all that. So Cornerstone Ranch he's a director of that. He does an awesome job. There's a camp in the summer that fill up fast. So they're probably already filled up by the time you hear this.

Speaker 1: 55:58

Imagine if there was something like that when I was a kid, instead of going to the free will Baptist camp, like maybe I would not be recording this particular podcast. We are like throwing the free will Baptist under the bus. If you are free will Baptist. No, I can, because.

Speaker 2: 56:14

I don't judge me, no, but that's like people that, like you, can talk.

Speaker 1: 56:19

I can talk about my mom, that's my mom, but you better not talk about my mom.

Speaker 2: 56:24

I can talk about free of.

Speaker 1: 56:25

Baptist, because they're my people.

Speaker 2: 56:28

Thank you, dalton, you've been awesome, but I do want to say, as we wrap up, I do. We just want to say thank you again for all the support and feedback. It really has been overwhelming. It has been just such a gift and surprise for us coming down here to our basement and James telling his story while I'm asking him questions. Just, I feel like you're so good at that and I've enjoyed asking questions. It's what I like to do and so, yeah, does that wrap it up Anything more?

Speaker 1: 57:00

The wrap set up for me. We're looking forward to season three. Free, last, free last. Thank God, almighty, we're free at last. Stay tuned, we'll see you soon, guys. Bye, hey guys. Thanks so much for tuning in to the Straight Out of Prison podcast. For more exclusive content, head over to our website, tinjonesco.

Speaker 2: 57:20

Yes, you can subscribe by clicking on the become a patron button and that's going to get you access to our for real reel, which is very different than the highlight reel Some very juicy content there.

Speaker 1: 57:33

Good stuff, or you can look us up on Facebook and Instagram straight out of prison podcast.

Speaker 2: 57:38

Yes, that takes the story to a whole new level where you can see some of the people that James talks about in his story and see some of the places that he's been. I've been loving it, and you know prison recipes yeah, good stuff.

Speaker 1: 57:53

We'll see you soon guys.

Speaker 2: 57:54

Thanks, bye, bye.