Criminal - Get Out of My House

Episode Date: November 16, 2018

On a hot summer day in 1978, a group of friends started renovating an old house in a neighborhood in Atlanta called Little Five Points. The home belonged to Carmela Aliffi and her then-husband, Bear. Carmela and her friends were steaming wallpaper off of the walls when two strangers just walked in. One of them had a gun. Thanks to listener Jenna Alstad for writing in with her mother’s story. For a transcript of this episode, send an email to [e-mail] with the episode name and number. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Criminal is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Please review us on Apple Podcasts! It’s an important way to help new listeners discover the show: iTunes.com/CriminalShow. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for Criminal comes from Apple Podcasts. Each month, Apple Podcasts highlights one series worth your attention, and they call these series essentials. This month, they recommend Wondery's Ghost Story, a seven-part series that follows journalist Tristan Redman as he tries to get to the bottom of a ghostly presence in his childhood home. His investigation takes him on a journey involving homicide detectives, ghost hunters, and even psychic mediums,

and leads him to a dark secret about his own family. Check out Ghost Story, a series essential pick, completely ad-free on Apple Podcasts. Botox Cosmetic, Adabotulinum Toxin A, FDA approved for over 20 years. So, talk to your specialist to see if Botox Cosmetic is right for you. For full prescribing information, including boxed warning, visit BotoxCosmetic.com or call 877-351-0300. Remember to ask for Botox Cosmetic by name. To see for yourself and learn more, visit BotoxCosmetic.com. That's BotoxCosmetic.com. Had you ever thought of yourself before as a brave person, a great someone who took control

of situations? Or was this what you did, did that surprise you? Well, I'm a New Year's baby, which means I'm a Capricorn. And you know, Capricorns are those goats that climb the hill. And they don't look to take charge. But if the situation needs someone to take charge, they do it. They're not looking for it, but if nobody else is doing it, they just do it. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. In 1977, Carmela Alifi and her then-husband, bought a big old house in Atlanta, Georgia. Carmela describes it as a Charleston dog walk house. And in a Charleston house, every room opens into a long

central hallway. You can open the front door and see all the way into the backyard. She and Bear paid just over $32,000 for it, and the plan was that they'd live on one side and rent out the other side. This was in a part of Atlanta known as Little Five Points. Little Five Points was a really artsy area. And this is like 78. There was like organic restaurants, which, you know, back then, there just weren't many of those kinds of places.

There was the shoe store that had Birkenstocks. Like that was their main thing, the Birkenstocks store. And there was a little Five Points pub where the Indigo Girls would play. I was about 21 years old and had just moved to Atlanta, had probably been there maybe about six months. Kathleen Rabinovitz was renting the other side of Carmela's house. And we were working in the house, in the apartment, and we were actually, it was in July, actually, it was really hot, and we were steaming wallpaper off the walls. And we were actually, it was in July, actually, it was really hot. And we were steaming wallpaper off the walls. It was just layers and layers of wallpaper that we were

scraping off. And there was about six of us there. We'd been at it all day, just steaming wallpaper off of the walls. They decided to take a break. Carmela was watering her plants in the front yard. Her friend Steve was keeping her company. And we noticed that a couple of police cars go by. And then a police van goes by. And we're kind of eyeing each other like, what the heck is going on here? And then motorcycle cops go by, more police cars. And I said, Steve, this is weird. Maybe something's going on.

I was actually sitting in the living room by myself, listening to some music I had on a headset, and I just saw this stranger walk into the living room, and I kind of thought, where did he come from? He turned around and looked at me, and he held a gun up to his mouth as to say, shh. And I just kind of went numb at that point and he turned around and walked out of the living room back towards the other rooms in the back of the house and all I could think of was if I can just get out of here because I'm so close to the front door, I'll just, you know, take off running.

Kathleen tiptoed toward the front door and she was almost there when at the last minute she glanced over her shoulder. The man with the gun was standing at the other end of the hallway, staring at her. And there was a second man standing beside him. They didn't say a word, just stared, and motioned for her to come back inside the house. And, of course, I did. At that point, I just was, you know, if my knees could have made a sound, they were just like knocking.

I was just so frightened. She walked toward the men, and when she got to the back of the house into the kitchen, she found her friends sitting silently around the kitchen table. Except for Carmela and Steve, they were still in the front yard. Steve and I, not knowing what's going on, start to go in. And, you know, Steve didn't come in for a few minutes. I walked in first without him. And there is Bear standing with these two guys that I don't know.

And Bear says, Carmela, these two guys are running from the police. They're going to stay here until dark, and then I'm going to take them away. Was he calm? Well, he said it very calmly. Now, you've got to get a little glimpse into who Bear is. He was an Army Ranger. He had done tours in Vietnam. You know, if there was going to be a fight, you want him on your side.

So this is who is sitting there saying, Carmela, very calmly, this is what's happening. They're going to be here until dark, and I'm going to take them away. What did the men look like? One of them was really tall. The other one, you may not know who I'm going to reference here, but did you ever see Young Frankenstein, the movie? Well, there's a character in it that is played by the actor Marty Feldman, who is a short guy with bug eyes. And the shorter guy looked a lot like Marty Feldman. Both of them looked kind of wired, like they'd been going for a while. They looked kind of tense and wired. But when I saw them, I, I like, I, I just, you never know what your reaction's going to be, okay?

My reaction was, I look at them and I go, oh, hell no. You are not staying in my house. Get the hell out of my house right this minute. And I start pushing them. I remember Carmela's husband saying he was trying to tell her, you know, to be quiet and that they had a gun, but he couldn't get a word in edgewise. It was like she didn't want any part of it. She wanted him out of her house and that was it. I am yelling the whole time. You get out of my house right this minute. Do you know that there are police cars, motorcycle cops and vans?

They're right outside. And if you don't get out right now, I'm going to tell them that you're in here. And there's an undercurrent of other voices saying things while I'm doing this. And I'm not really paying them much mind, but the other voices are like bear going, Carmela, shut up. They have guns. Carmela, shut up. Carmela, get calm. Get calm. Be calm. Carmela, quit talking. But I'm not listening to any of that. I'm just yelling for them to get the hell out of my house right this minute. She had one of them almost out the back door. He kind of freaked, and that's when he put the gun in her face and said that if, you know, they're going to die,

we're all going to die at that point. You know, I just kind of lost it. And myself and another young lady just started, you know, crying. I was like, that's it. And, of course, Carmela's eyes got big as quarters, and she just stopped and backed off and was like, oh, crying. I was like, that's it. And of course, Carmela's eyes got big as quarters, and she just stopped and backed off and was like, oh, okay. I just didn't notice the guns before. I was so set on, I felt like such an intrusion. It was such a invasion for someone to be in my house. I mean, this is the first house I ever owned.

And what were they doing in there? I didn't invite them into my house. It was really, really, you would think I'd be scared, I'd be vulnerable, all these other things. But I was just really mad. I was so mad. And I couldn't see straight until he actually pulled the gun to my head.

So I take a breath, and then I look around. Kathy is crying at the kitchen table. And I think, what am I going to do? And I look up, and I said, this is really weird that I said this, but, you know, just trying to make things better. I said, would you like some iced tea or Baby Ruth? I mean, I just— Do people still buy Baby Ruth? I've never heard anyone say that candy bar name for a long time. It was like I just wanted to make it better.

And so I just offered him something to drink and eat. And did they take you up on it? Not at that moment, no. And at that time, Steve has finally walked in from outside, walks to the back of the house, walks into the kitchen, and sees these two guys. Now, whether he saw the gun or not, I don't really know, but the gun was definitely out at that time. He looks up, and he said, it just kind of evaluates the situation, and he later said he thought that we must know these guys and that it did not look safe. And he was going to leave. So he says, come on, Susie, we're going home. And we're all looking at him like, what?

And he said, we're going home right now. And the guy said, the big guy, he says, pulls the gun on him. You're not going anywhere. Support for Criminal comes from Apple Podcasts. Each month, Apple Podcasts highlights one series worth your attention, and they call these series essentials. This month, they recommend Wondery's Ghost Story, a seven-part series that follows journalist Tristan Redman as he tries to get to the bottom of a ghostly presence in his childhood home.

His investigation takes him on a journey involving homicide detectives, ghost hunters, and even psychic mediums, and leads him to a dark secret about his own family. Check out Ghost Story, a series essential pick, completely ad-free on Apple Podcasts. Hey, it's Scott Galloway, and on our podcast, Pivot, we are bringing you a special series about the basics of artificial intelligence. We're answering all your questions. What should you use it for? What tools are right for you? And what privacy issues should you ultimately watch out for. And to help us out, we are joined by Kylie Robeson, the senior

AI reporter for The Verge, to give you a primer on how to integrate AI into your life. So, tune into AI Basics, How and When to Use AI, a special series from Pivot sponsored by AWS, wherever you get your podcasts. You realized you were stuck with these guys now for a while. What did you all do? Well, Steve and Bear kind of went into the living room with the two guys, which we could see them, but we weren't with them. And Bear said, well, come in here and let's drink a beer. How about let's have a beer?

I think somebody up there might have even had a joint. And Bear said, let's just, you know, let's drink a beer and just calm down for a minute and relax. Bear is always very quiet. He's very what I called southern, doesn't really talk that much. And, you know, he's just a good old guy. But I really realize that he has a way about him, that he can get along with anyone. But I would have never, ever would have guessed that he would have been able to sit there and actually got them to trust him. One at a time, the guys went into the bathroom and took a shower and changed clothes, which was really weird.

There they are taking Bear's clothes and putting them and he's just looking for a little understanding. And he says, so don't you guys know any outlaws? And Steve, who did have a good sense of humor, although I don't know how he found it at that moment. He said, the only outlaws I know are Willie Nelson and Wheeling Jennings. Well, you know, you may not know or you may know that Willie Nelson and Wheeling Jennings had a band called The Outlaws. And so that was the best they could do to relate to these outlaws. Were you in the kitchen or were you in other rooms thinking to yourself, how are we going to escape? How are we going to get out of here?

Well, we're sitting there. Me and the girls are sitting in the kitchen. I was just so mortified and so scared. I just sat there, and we were just very quiet. We did what Steve told us to do, just to be calm and not make any noise or give them any ideas to get excited, or the fact that we were trying to leave or getting up, trying to get water or anything. We just kind of just sat there, and we're totally silent. And we could hear Carmela's husband in the living room talking to them, and they seemed to be having a calm conversation. So we just kind of sat there and just waited.

Did anyone have to go to the bathroom? No. I don't think so. We were just all, like, shocked. So would the two men kind of peek their head in the kitchen every once in a while and just make sure that you were still sitting there at the table and then return to the living room with Bayer? Well, where we were situated, you could actually,

where they were sitting in the living room, they could see straight back to the kitchen where we were at the table. So they could see us at all times. And I'm thinking, we could totally go out the back door and run out the back door. But then that might really make them angry. And maybe they would kill Bear and Steve if we did that. And so that kind of kept us in line. How long were they there? Hours.

They were there for hours. They were waiting for it to get dark because, I mean, obviously all those policemen were looking for them. They were who they were after. They were in the neighborhood. And later on, I will tell you that we found out that they had beaten up a policeman. They had taken his gun. And, you know, when it's that situation, the police really, really want to capture them. I mean, so.

How did they end up leaving? What did they say? Well, Bear said, I think it's time for us to go. And it's dark enough. And I think we should go ahead and go. And the guy said, if you call the police, we'll kill him. We'll kill Bear. So don't make any phone calls until he's back.

So they take off. They get in the Ford van, and they leave. So I call my brother in Claxton. And so I'm, it's Don. Yeah. It's Don. We've been held hostage by escaped convicts for the last several hours. And they've taken Bear and he's going to drop them off somewhere.

And they told me if I call the police, they'll kill him, and I don't really know what to do. What do you think I should do? And Don says, Don't call Mom and Dad. They are at a dance at the Elks Club, and there's nothing that they could do, and you'd hate to ruin their night. I said, Okay, I won't call them. And I said, Well, what about Uncle John?

He goes, yeah, call Uncle John. Well, my Uncle John, I don't know if you've noticed, but the name Carmela Alifi is very Italian. In fact, it's Sicilian. And we always kind of teased about Uncle John. Because, I mean, he was involved in so many different businesses. We always kind of wondered exactly what all he did. He definitely had that tough guy, Sicilian look. Like he could kill you with a glance. You always felt like he could take care of anything. So I call Uncle John and I tell him what's going on. He said, I'll come

over. So Uncle John is coming. And I'm sitting there sketching because I felt like the police are going to want to know what this guy looked like. And, you know, sketching, because I felt like the police are going to want to know what this guy looked like, and this, you know, sketching without looking at someone was not really my forte, but I was trying to capture some little look of the two men, and I'm drawing, and the phone rings. It's my parents. My dad says, Don just called us and told us what happened. And I'm just thinking, Don, of course he did. And after I talked to them, I decided I was going to call the police anyway. An officer came immediately, and everyone explained what had happened. And then, with the officers still there, they saw Bear's car pull up. Kathleen remembers

that they were so terrified the men might have come back with Bear that they made the police officer hide behind a door. But Bear walked back in northern Atlanta, and he had dropped them off at a Dairy Queen, and he left. But the two men, we later find out, had gone into the Dairy Queen. They held up the Dairy Queen. They held up the Dairy Queen. They took the manager and his girlfriend, and they took them somewhere in South Georgia, where they robbed a bank. Their names were James Edwin Wilkes Jr. and Murphy Staffans, and they'd escaped from prison in Wayne County. They'd been escorted to a dentist outside of the prison facility.

As the dentist told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he had one of the inmates in the chair and had pulled his tooth halfway out when another inmate came in and put a gun in his face. The one I was working on, the dentist said, will be in some pain. They were eventually caught after bloodhounds found their trail in North Florida. They'd been running and holding people hostage for six days. By the time they were caught, according to the sheriff, they'd been pretty well worked over by mosquitoes and yellow flies. Luckily, they weren't killers.

And we had heard that they were on a path of badness, and they had also been up all night. And so they were sleep-deprived, and they were carrying guns. you one thing that really unnerved me in a weird way. It unnerved me almost as much as the day that this happened. It was about three weeks later. I was changing the linen on the bed, and I felt something a little odd, and I slipped my hand between the mattress and the box springs, and I pull out a gun. I had been sleeping on top of this gun, this loaded gun. And so I call the police, and I tell them that this gun is there. Oh my God, like 20 cops pull up in front of the house, and they're all running in to get this gun. And that was really, really crazy.

Does it feel like the world is more dangerous now than it was then? You know, yes, yes. It does. And it does feel like a less safe world. But there's so much more communication we hear about, so much more. Don't you think? Yeah, I mean, it sounds, even though these men had guns, it sounds like a story that you wouldn't hear about today. Yeah. All sharing a joint and just waiting till the sun goes down. You know, you've got someone who, you know, had dealt with danger. And I think had been in the military, had really, you know, been in situations where people tell tall tales,

you know, around a pit that they could jump into when the next bomb goes off. I think he was well-suited for the task of dealing with people in a dangerous situation. Baer, whose name was actually Frederick Howard, passed away in 2011. How often have you told this story? I have told this story many times and sat around with friends on the beach in a circle. And this is one of my favorite things. You just say, all right, let's everybody tell their best story. And isn't that the most entertaining thing?

To sit around with friends around a table or on the beach and to tell stories, real stories that have happened and to hear people's stories. I think that it just doesn't get any better than that. Whenever I go, I'm called for jury duty. They never want me because they always ask, is there anyone here that has been victim to a crime? And I always have to say, well, you know, the only thing I can think of is I was held hostage by escaped convicts,

and they never want me. So... Criminal is created by Lauren Spohr and me. Nadia Wilson is our senior producer. Teresa Katsourilis is our assistant producer. Audio mix by Rob Byers. Special thanks to Carmela's daughter, Jenna Alstead, who convinced her mother to speak with us.

Julie and Alexander makes original illustrations for each episode of Criminal. You can see them at thisiscriminal.com and find us on Facebook and Twitter at Criminal Show. Criminal is recorded in the studios of North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC. We're a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collection of the best podcasts around. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. Radiotopia from PRX. Botoxin A is a prescription medicine used to temporarily make moderate to severe frown lines, crow's feet, and forehead lines look better in adults.

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