Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - They Stole His Dead Body - The Gram Parsons story

Episode Date: April 15, 2025

The story of Gram Parsons' body being stolen is one of rock 'n' roll’s most bizarre and legendary tales. After the influential country-rock musician died of a drug overdose in 1973 at the Joshua Tree Inn in California, his stepfather arranged to have his body flown to New Orleans for a traditional burial. However, Parsons had once told his friend and road manager, Phil Kaufman, that he wanted to be cremated in Joshua Tree if anything happened to him. To honor that wish, Kaufman stole Parsons' body from LAX in a borrowed hearse, drove it into the desert, and attempted to cremate it by setting it on fire at Cap Rock.

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musician living in California and he's not super famous, but he influenced some very famous bands. He influenced the Rolling Stones, he influenced the Eagles, but Graham has a problem. He really loves drugs, like the hard stuff. Bro is always high on something. And one day in 1973, he and some friends take a little trip out to Joshua Tree. Joshua Tree is a desert in California where hippies like to go and do drugs. So he and some friends end up in this hotel around Joshua Tree. Now, one of his friends is supposed to be in charge of making sure Graham doesn't overdo it with all the drugs he takes. This guy, Michael Martin. And Michael Martin is Graham's friend and his assistant. However, at one point, Michael Martin leaves the hotel to go pick up some Zaza.

and he leaves Graham there alone with two ladies. And so Graham is there and he starts trying to talk his lady friends into drinking tequila with him. And the two ladies are like, nah. And so Graham's like, cool, more tequila for me. And he drinks a ton. Then, once he's all wasted, he decides it'll be a good idea to do some morphine. So then he does a ton of that. Then, as you can imagine, I guess he does too much and suddenly, boom.

Graham becomes unresponsive. And the ladies are like freaking out, like, oh my God, he just OD'd. Then one of the ladies is like, I know what to do, and she gets some ice, because, you know, hotels always have ice. So she gets some ice cubes, pulls down Graham's pants, and shoves the cubes directly up Graham's butt. Like, she actually gives him an ice cube suppository. And surprisingly, this works. It like jolts him awake and he gets up and he's like walking around the room. and now he suddenly seems fine.

However, shortly after he sits down, he falls back asleep, and he eventually stops breathing. And again, the ladies are freaking out, and they don't know what to do, so they call an ambulance. But, unfortunately, it's too late, and Graham has overdosed,

and he doesn't make it. And as crazy as that is, it's not nearly as crazy as the attempt to steal his body. So two months before this, Graham just happened to be attending a funeral. And he's there with this guy, Kaufman. Kaufman is Graham's tour manager. And at some point during this funeral, Graham turns to Kaufman and he says, man, when I die, just spread my ashes out in Joshua Tree. And Kaufman hears this and he's like,

all right. And so fast forward two months. And now Graham has died. And Kaufman, I guess he wants to be a real one and Grant Graham his last wish. Scatter his ashes in Joshua Tree. And so Kaufman calls the local coroner's office and he asks where Graham's body is. And they inform him that Graham's body is actually about to be flown from California all the way back to Louisiana so he can be buried there where some of his family lives. And Kaufman can't let that happen. So he comes up with a plan to steal Graham's body and take it back to Joshua Tree. First, he contacts Michael Martin and gets him involved in this scheme. Then, the two dress up like they work at a funeral home.

Then they decide they need a hearse to pull this off. And by sheer coincidence, one of the women Graham was with in the hotel room when he died just so happens to own a hearse. And it's a piece of shit and it's all run down and it has no license plates, but it's a hearse. So they borrow it. Then they decide that they don't like the way they look at. in their formal funeral home outfits, and they change into new outfits, dressing up like cowboys

for some reason. And then they get really drunk so that they have the confidence to commit the crime that they're about to commit. And so Kaufman and Michael Martin, drunk, dressed like cowboys, they start driving this hearse to the Los Angeles airport to intercept Graham's body and stop it from being shipped to Louisiana. So they get there, and they're at the airport, and they pull. up to the loading dock, which is basically just a big airplane hanger. And there's a lot of cargo there, including the casket with Graham's body in it. And then Kaufman uses his manager charm to convince the dock manager that they're there to pick up Graham's casket and body and transport it over to a different airport.

And I guess the dock manager's like, all right. And Kaufman signed some paperwork and they're all ready to take this body and put it in their hearse. But then a police car pulls up and it's blocking the door of the hangar, which means it's blocking Kaufman and Michael Martin in. And instead of being all afraid, Kaufman is so drunk that he's just like, hey buddy, move your car. And the cop is like, sure, sorry. And then Kaufman's like, and while you're here, can you help us lift this casket into the car? And the cop's like, sure. And so now the police officer is unknowingly helping. them commit this crime. And so they all load the casket into the back of the hearse,

and they go to drive away, and Michael Martin is still really drunk. And kaboon, he crashes into the door of the hangar. And from there, the cop doesn't do anything. He just lets them drive away. And the 70s were a wild time. But anyway, then Kaufman and Michael Martin drive this hearse from the airport all the way out to Joshua Tree. Now, what Graham specifically wants, was to be cremated and have his ashes scattered across the desert. But he's not exactly cremated. So, Kaufman and Michael Martin, they unload the casket and they doosh it with five gallons of gasoline, and they set it on fire.

And there, they watch it burn for a bit, and you know, it's not exactly scattering his ashes across the desert, but, you know, it's the best they can do. Then they flee the area and they start driving back to Los Angeles. But here's the thing. They're both still pretty drunk. And along the way, suddenly, boom, Michael Martin rear ends a car. And this causes a multi-car accident. And so Highway Patrol sees this accident and they pull up and Michael Martin opens the door to the hearse and a bunch of beer cans fall out.

And so the Highway Patrol is like, yep, these guys are drunk. And they arrest them and they put them in handcuffs. And so Kaufman and Michael Martin are standing there waiting in handcuffs while the Highway Patrol. while the Highway Patrol goes to check on other people involved in the accident. And that is when Kaufman and Michael Martin are like, fuck all this, and they jump in the hearse, and they speed away. Here's the thing, though. Remember, the hearse was a rundown piece of shit with no license plates, so the Highway

Patrol didn't get their plates and couldn't identify them. So Kaufman and Michael Martin successfully get away. Until... Five days go by, and Kaufman and Michael Martin still haven't been caught. And the police now know Graham's body was stolen from the airport, and they've been investigating, and they've pretty much figured out it was Kaufman and Michael Martin who did it. Meanwhile, Kaufman, for some reason,

he decides to rent out his house for people or like movie studios to film in, and a studio actually rents out his place, and they're in the middle of filming the movie Night Moves there. And it's a movie starring a young Gene Hackman. And in the middle of that shoot, boom, police bust in the Kaufman's house. And Gene Hackman just happens to be standing there watching, shocked, as bam, they arrest Kaufman. Here's a picture of him in real life.

Then the next day, Michael Martin surrenders himself to police, and I unfortunately couldn't find any pictures of him online. But here's the crazy thing, though. Because it's the 1970s, I guess there are no laws in place regarding Steve. dealing a dead body. So like none of this was technically illegal and police and prosecutors don't exactly know what to charge these guys with. So they get charged with theft of the casket, not of the body because a human body in this time doesn't have any like monetary value. So they get charged with the theft of the casket. And Kaufman and Michael Martin are

each order to pay a fine of a thousand dollars total. So after all of all of all of, of that, they only had to pay like a thousand dollar fine and no jail time and they just got away free. The 70s were insane.