This is the transcript of the interview mentioned in the previous post;Transcript: Prison interview with Jason Getsy
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:18 PM
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The interview took place at 10 a.m. in the family activity room at the Ohio State Penitentiary. Jason Getsy entered with his attorney, Michael Benza. Jason's hands and feet were shackled.
The interviewer is Jo Ingles of Ohio Public Radio, representing the Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association.
Ingles: Jason, I want to tell you first of all that I might ask you questions that make you think "Gee, I wish she wouldn't have asked that but I'm asking it because these are things that came up after I looked through all of the evidence and court documents.
Getsy: OK
Ingles: I think anyone who looked at those might have the same questions.
Getsy: Ok, Yes
Ingles: From looking at your history, it appears you were a troubled kid. A high school dropout, you used drugs when you were young, you seemed to be interested, if not fascinated, with guns and you were convicted of negligent homicide when you were 17. Tell me more about your childhood and those years of your life. Was it a tumultuous time for you?
Getsy: Uh, yeah. You talking about that specific, uh
Ingles: Your years as a teenager.
Getsy: Teenage years?
Ingles: Yes
Getsy: Uh, yeah, (pause with sigh), it was rough. Iuh.as a kid, I carried around you know, a lot of anger from.you know from.earlier in my childhood.you know it was
Ingles: Why were you angry?
Getsy: Uh, (long pause with sigh), you know a lot of things.you knowyou know with my childhood. Uhnever any stability, you know I never met my biological father.the, the menyou know.that my Mom did bring in to the house were violent, you know, drug abusers and you knowthere was.I was around a lot of violence. It was, it was
Ingles: Did or do you have a fascination with firearms because it appeared that way?
Getsy: It uh, it appeared that way. I mean, uh, my step father was very much into firearms. And you know there was a lot of guns around the house all of the time and I was around that..you know.and that's where that stems from.but
Ingles: You went to gun shows and that kind of thing?
Getsy: Yeah, yeah, he would take me shooting and stuff. It was one of the things, you know, his way of bonding and what not, you know
Ingles: You said in court documents that you were trying to get your life together at the time of the Serafino murder. Tell me about that. What were you doing to get your life back on track?
Getsy: Uh (long sigh) well, I had quit taking drugs. I was still drinking but I had quit taking drugs. Uh (sigh) my stepfather was working at a machine shop where for a long period of time he would .I would want him to get me a job there but you know.he said he didn't trust me enough.and uh, you know, cuz, you know, I was, at that age, I wasn't acting right and so that was understandable but finally he was going to get me in there with what would have been a good job with you know, uh, benefits, you know, uh, the kind of place where you get a bonus at the end of the year, and it was, you know, stable. And I was, you know, planning on getting my G.E.D. and everything and I was trying to pull it togetheryou know.
Ingles: And things didn't work out?
Getsy: (nods)
Ingles: Did you think it was the crowd of people that you hung around with that kind of led you into this?
Getsy: Uh (sighs) you know, it was , it was, just uh, a number of circumstances that really brought it all together to unfold the way it did. It was really, you know, uhyou know, uh, they, it was just the people that were involvedit just happened that wayand it's hard to explainyou know
Ingles: Your friendships at the time of the Serafino murder, it appears you were good friends with Ben Hudach (I pronounced it Hoo-dack)
Getsy: Yes
Ingles: Did I say that right?
Getsy: It's actually Hudach (Hew-dach)
Ingles: Hudach (Hew-dach)?
Getsy: Yeah,
Ingles: You had been friends with him for a while, right?
Getsy: Yes
Ingles: Tell me about that friendship.how far did it go?
Getsy: (Sigh) uh, we met in school. And uh, we hit it off right away. (sort of chuckles a little at that point).You know, as kids, we were both a little nutty but uh, uh, when I was about 18, uh, I got kicked out of the home. I was living with my parents and for a while, I was pretty much living on the streets.you know, and uh, I was doing odd jobs like working for a friend's business doing landscaping and I uh, even sold a little marijuana and stuff like that.just to get by.and uh, and where I would sleep was uh, a friend's pop up camper and uh, it was horrible. And uh, Ben came by one day and seeing how I was living he said "I, I can't let you live like this", you know, and he uh, God bless him and his parentsthey took me in. They ran a nursery, you know, we did landscaping and horticulture and they took me in and let me work there and it was, you know, uh.After that, I had reconciled with my parents and moved back into with them.and after that, I had gotten a job at uh, uh, uh, a hardware store.excuse me (he apologized for stammering while trying to think of the word "hardware" to describe the store)and uh, that's where I was working at the time.and uhand then it came around Ben Hudach and a number of my other friends were working for the lawn care business that you know, where you know, John Santine had taken over from (reporter note here: He's referring to Chuck Serafino's business. Records show Santine took a hand in the business while Serafino was serving some jail time) Charles Serafino
Ingles: And that's how you met Rick McNulty as wellat the lawn care business?
Getsy: Well, I, I met himhe was inI went to school with him too. I wasn't.I didn't know him very well but I met him more through Ben you know
Ingles: I'm a little confused about how you met John Santine and how long you had known him at the time of the murders. Can you go through when you met him and tell me about your relationship with him?
Getsy: Ok, uh, (pause), at first, uh, Ben, uh, Rick McNulty, uh, another friend of our's, Mike Dripps whohe's passed on now.uh, they were all working at the lawn care business and they were telling me about John. And I had a, uh, I knew he was bad news from what they were telling me. Now, I was worried about Ben.and I pulled Ben off to the side one day and I expressed that to him and my concern about his involvement with, you know, hanging around this guy, told him you know, that he sounded like trouble and stuff.And uh, by that time, uh, Mr. Santine had been giving John.uh excuse me.Mr Santine had been giving Ben drugs and his mind was really clouded and I don't know, uh, I, I don't know if I was really getting through to him and I, so I figured if I, you know, at the time, he, I don't think he really realized the severity of this person he was hanging around with at that time. And things escalated later, uh, but I felt like if, if I can't get him out of there, I would start going to try to look out for him cuz part of that, Santine had been asking to meet me.and I hadn't met him yet. I was trying, staying on the outskirts so after that, I started going and meeting with him and
Ingles: What made you think he was a bad guy?
Getsy: You know, thing that they would say, he unloaded a gun into his own brother. you know that he, he ran drugs in Youngstown, he, I mean he just had a long history of, you know, of, of you know, criminal activity and other things that go way back. You know.
Ingles: Ben and Rick were telling you all of this stuff?
Getsy: Yeah, and plus, you know, uh, Santine constantly bragged you know, that's, that'sas much as his lips moved, you know .that's, that's what he was bragging about this, his connections with that and what not.
Ingles: What kind of connections?
Getsy: Hehe.well, he would claim to have you know, an organized crime connection, he would claim to have uh, police in his pocket, uh, he'd claim to have government officials, judges that you know, had thrown, all of those things he was uh, you know, he would, he would, you know, talk about uh, people that he could have do things, you know, acts of violence.
Ingles: And you believed that?
Getsy: Absolutely
Ingles: Why?
Getsy: Well, you know, things that that came about later. There was uh, well you know the first time I met him, we were in Rick McNulty's apartment and uh, our friend, uh, Elliot Barwinski was there. And John, out of nowhere, just erupted on, on Elliot, and said that he had information that there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest, and, and, he didn't want him bringing heat on his boys.that's the first thing hefrom then on, he started referring to us as that, as his boys.and uh, that's the first time he used it though, and uh, he told him, he basically told him, if he didn't get out of there, he was going to shoot him and he carried around a duffel bag with a gun in it all of the time and everybody knew that, you know, said he was going to shoot him, and we were in the second story, he was going to throw him out the window and there was an altercation and finally, you know, Elliot left before things got too.that was my first meeting with John Santini and you know, and then um, and later on, you know, he, he even held that, held that grudge, you know, he, he spoke of killing Elliot..just because of that little altercationyou know he, um, and then there was uh, uh, there was an incident where where I told you uh, he ran drugs in Youngstown through his brother, Inglesmmy Santine, who is also dead now, um, there was a boy in that group, uh, named Avi Shivey, who wanted out of the group. And John, whenever something like that, or any kind of suspicion, he would, being the drugs that he took, and were probably part of his nature, naturally he was hyper paranoid about anything, anything like that would happen, first thing he would think is Oh.he's uh, he's a snitch, he's a narc or something, and he gave the order to the boys under his brother to go and kill this kid and they tortured him, you know they sodomized him with broomsticks, they burned him (Getsy becomes somewhat emotional at this point and his voice shakes) you know, and uh, they burned his privates with uh, an iron, and uh, you know, I wasn't there uh, one of our, one of my friends was there and they told us about it and.
Ingles: Which friend was that?
Getsy: It was either Rick or Mike. And you know.all of this came on out and the message was that, you know, this is what happens.you know.
Ingles: You weren't beholden to him in any way were you? I mean you weren't depending on him for money, or a job,
Getsy: No
Ingles: drugs or anything..Did you feel like you just couldn't(I change the question somewhat here). If I met someone that I thought was dangerous, I think I'd
Getsy: right
Ingles: try to get away from them.
Getsy: right.
Ingles: Why didn't you get away from him?
Getsy: At first, you know, I told you I was there to help Ben. I was staying there. After you know, he would call us down to the shop there to sit with him pretty much everyday and when he considered you in that circle, you know, there was no getting out, you know, and he would often say things like that "once you're in, there's only one way out" and then you know, in the course of conversation, you know, he would say things like this. And um, there was one time where, for a while, uh, uh, Rick McNulty was kind of backing off a little bit and John suspected that he was an informant which later we found out he actually was, you know, uh, a drug informant, but he was talking about killing him. And he was, you know, he was part of our circle. He was, so we, there was a lot of factors that uh, went into us feeling like we just had to give into him, uh, two weeks before this crime happened, Richard McNulty, on our behalf, went to the police to get help, you know, to try to get us you know, away and uh, uh, and you know John had already been talking about how he wanted to kill Chuckie, uh Charles Serafino and we figured, you know we were afraid that that John had, you know the police, we believed that he did have the police in his pocket, and uh, and Rick told us that he there were two police that he believed he could have trusted, you know, so he went to talk to them, they didn't do anything. You know, they, I mean, they later testified at my trial that well, "we just didn't believe him." (chuckles in an exasperated way) They told him that John said that he, you know, he, he, I believe his exact words to them were "Chuckie was bought and paid for." Now, at this time, uh, we didn't know that John would make us do this cuz he had never made us do anything like this before. It was all talk up to then and you know, he had others that would, we knew that he would have do these things, and we thought when he was saying these things about Chuckie that he would, um, defer to them.
Ingles: Yet some people in the circle didn't seem to be afraid of himFor example, in the transcripts, Josh Koch (kawsh), am I saying his name right?
Getsy: Cook, Josh Cook (spelled Koch as above but pronounced cook like in a kitchen)
Ingles: Ok he said he wasn't afraid of Santine because he thought Santine was slow and possibly even had downs syndrome or something and he thought that this was a lot of you know, hogwash.
Getsy: Well, yeah, you know it sounds good to say after the fact (nervous sounding chuckle here) you know but everyone was afraid of John Santine.
Ingles: So you think he was afraid too
Getsy: Absolutely.
Ingles: He just didn't want people to know he was?
Getsy: Absolutely, yeah, yeah.
Ingles: Just before the shooting, you and McNulty stood outside and you were talking about what you were going to do and what, for about 45 minutes, something like that?
Getsy: It, it felt very long but I, as I understand it, wasn't. It actually wasn't that long but it felt a lot longer.
Ingles: Well, what was going through your mind at that point?
Getsy: Uh, well, we had already tried once to you know, futiley, pathetically, to get out of it when we said you know we didn't have anywhere to park but uh you know we, we, and you know, as Rick kept telling me over and over again, you know he says you know we can't run, there's nothing we can do, you know, anywhere we go, John's going to find us and we have to.we just have to.we just have to..do it, you know we have to , we, the conversation was that we just really didn't have any choice. You know, we were trying to force ourselves.
Ingles: Did the thought ever cross your mind of calling the police and saying "come get us, we need protection and we need to report a problem"?
Getsy: We were afraid of the police. You know, uh,
Ingles: What about police in a different county?
Getsy: Yea, we, we, you know, all of these things.I've talked about so many things afterwards but under those conditions, you know, under that time, we were just terrified, we were just, just, just couldn't think of these things. They just.its hard to explain but these things just didn't come to us. You Know.I just.
Ingles: None of you thought(realizing that he was going on with that thought, I shut up)
Getsy: It just felt so trapped in that we had to do what we were told and you know, to protect ourselves, to protect our loved ones, you know and uh, still even since then, I thought you know the easiest thing to do would have been to knock on the door and say "Hey, uh, Charles, you know this is what happened. Can you help us because we don't want to do this?" and it would have been solved probably you know, and I, you know , it's, but at that time, you know and you know just that mindset that we were just couldn't think of those things and it was, it's just hard to explain.yeah.
Ingles: Why, why couldn't you think of this then?
Getsy: It just
Ingles: It just didn't come or maybe
Getsy: The, the, between the fear and the feeling of being hopelessly trapped, we didn't feel that we had, had any help out there. You know, cuz, uh, Rick had gone to the police and you know, we, we were afraid to go to our families cuz we didn't want to get them involved. We didn't feel like we had anywhere to go.you know
Ingles: You were the one that, before you went in, after thinking about it, you were the last one to say "C'mon let's do it." Is that what you said?
Getsy: No, there was, there was really nothing like that, we was, you know, there was, there was no one had said anything like that. It was
Ingles: So when did that moment come in your mind? You are standing there, talking about should we do it, should we not do it, is there a way to get out of this, when did the moment come to your mind that, ok, let's do it?
Getsy: Uh (sighs), I don't know. I think it was just, there came a point in the conversation where we just looked at each other and uh, I don't know just, you know, and uh, uh, I really don't want to, prefer not to get into any more details of you know, but.
Ingles: The court documents describe a very gruesome scene inside the Serafino home that night. I don't want to go into all of that but one of the things that the coroner said is that Ann Serafino had a very large gash in the back of her head. Uh, did you hit her?
Getsy: I do not believe that I hit her. I can't explain that cuz, you know, I think naturally some of the things are, in that situation, you are kind of muddled but I can't explain it but I do not believe.what I do remember, I don't know how that happened. I do not believe that I, that I struck her that way, no. But I don't know where it came from though.
Ingles: Did you uh, you admit you shot her, correct?
Getsy: Yes
Ingles: Where did you shoot her because her body was found in the bedroom but my understanding from the transcript is that you said you shot her in the hallway.
Getsy: Yes.
Ingles: So was it the bedroom or the hallway. Can you remember?
Getsy: What I remember firing (long pause), I remember that.you know, that's the part that I do remember. And I know it doesn't match up with you know what was said but I do remember that.
Ingles: remember what?
Getsy: That I was standing at the other end of the hallway.
Ingles: So you know it was in the hallway then?
Getsy: Yeah. And uh, and uh, you know I, I, I didn't intend to shoot down the hallway but (takes a deep staccato breath in here) I was not aware, at the time, that it was her. I was, I was under the belief that Mr. Serafino was the only one that, you know,
Ingles: Did you.what was going through your mind at that point? I mean, when you walked back through that hallway firing and then you realized I hit someone?
Getsy: I, uh, even as it was unfolding, you know, I, I couldn't believe that it was happening. You know, and it was uh, (sniffles and long pause here wipes tears from his eyes), you know it's just not something I want to do (voices wavers a bit as he says this). You know, it's almost uh, like I was standing on the outside watching it happen but I knew that uh, I knew that uh, I believed at the time that you know, I didn't have a choice. You know
(There's a loud crash of cell doors or something here so the last couple of words Getsy said in this answer were unintelligible).
Ingles: Chuck Serafino said he heard a male voice and he thought it might have been yours saying "die, pregnant dog, die" or "kill the pregnant dog" or something like that.
Getsy: No, that uh, Rick was standing behind me yelling certain things but I never said, I never said that.
Ingles: So you think maybe Rick was saying that?
Getsy: Well, he was saying, telling me "shoot", he was telling me "shoot, shoot" you know "shoot the yeah" but I never, no I never said that.
Ingles: Did you step on her face or head with your boot?
Getsy: No, mam, that never happened
Ingles: The coroners report said it looked like someone had stepped on her face with their boot. Did you do that?
Getsy: No, no that didn't happen.
Ingles: It almost looks, if you read the report, that there is a sense of overkill..that it wasn't a simple "let's do away with her" kind of thing but more of an overkill situation where there was emotion attached. Did you have any emotion you never knew her, right?
Getsy: No
Ingles: prior to this?
Getsy: No, no mam.
Ingles: Tell me about your relationship with the Serafino's. Did you know Chuckie?
Getsy: No, I didn't know him.
Ingles: So there's two people you don't know and yet the carnage at that scene was pretty bad. It was looking like a sense of overkill. Do you think that there were things that were happening that you didn't necessarily realize that you did or how do you explain that?
Getsy: Uh, I, I don't know. It's just, it's just the way things unfolded. There was no (short pause), there wasn't a, something I wanted to do, it's not something that.I certainly didn't take pleasure in, you know, it uh, yeah, I mean it's, any crime scene like that is going to be awful. I mean (exasperated grunt)that.
Ingles: Were there times during the time that you didn't feel like you knew what you were doing? That you were kind of out of your head? That you weren't there?
Getsy: Sort of, I, I, I guess sort of. I just mean (he gets a little choked here), I don't know if that's the way to explain it but maybe, I
Ingles: What's the best way to explain it?
Getsy: I, I, I, I don't know. (exasperated exhale sound). It's just.(another short sigh here) like, like when we first entered the home, I, I just uh, and Rick followed Charles Serafino down the hallway, I didn't, I didn't see him when we first went in but all of the lights were out and it was dark and it was just the t.v. and smoke hanging in the air from, from, from the gunfire (reporter note: Both men shot their way into the home through the sliding glass door in the rear of the home. McNulty with a 12 gauge police shotgun and Getsy had a Chinese assault type weapon) I stood there for, I don't know how long and just kind of spaced out , just I don't know how long I stood there but and the next time you know when I came back around was when Rick was hollering at me "he's down the hall, he's down the hall" so there's yeah, I was.
Ingles: What about the bed and bathroom area. What do you remember in there?
Getsy: No, I don't, I don't (long silent pause here) I just, you know felt like I was pushing myself
Ingles: Pushing yourself to do what?
Getsy: (long pause here, his lip quivered here) Uh, I don't know, just, just to uh, keep going, just to go through with it, you know
Ingles: Were you afraid that you hadn't killed them?
Getsy: I don't know. I don't know.
Ingles: Is there some sense that you needed to go further? You said you were pushing yourself what were you pushing yourself to do?
Getsy: Just, just to, I mean it was, it was really kind of a panicked feeling is what I can explain it. I mean, you just force yourself just to fire a weapon. You know, it was just more like a panicked feeling. It was, it really, really is hard to explain.
Ingles: You have since said that on that night, you really didn't want to kill Ann and wound Chuck but the witnesses that were interviewed in the court documents paint a different picture. They said that after the incident, you bragged about it, joked about it, did you?
Getsy: No, um, When we returned to the, to the apartment, as I explained to the board (parole board), John was elated.you know, uh, and that is and there's where the first mention of money to me was made but it wasn't never about money or anything like that. Uh, and I was, I was, I was sick. I mean, even after leaving, as we were running back to the apartment, you know, I vomited, you know, I was, I was heaving, but uh, out of the shock of what happened and uh, when we were, when we got back to the apartment, I, I , I didn't want John to be suspicious of me so I was trying to act like it wasn't bothering me, you know but
Ingles: But John (Santine) was talking about it, joking about it?
Getsy: nodding
Ingles: And what did he say to you about the money?
Getsy: Uh, well, he said something like uh, uh, he said "you guys are great" says "if you want money, I'll give you money, I'll give you ten, five" he says "five, ten, you know I'll give you guys whatever you want" you know but nobody was really thinking about that. You know, I know all of us were, I believe all of us were in shock. And I know
Ingles: And so you.. (I start to ask question here but Getsy jumps back in so I shut up.)
Getsy: I know Rick said he felt sick. I know I, we were all in shock.
Ingles: You were in shock over what you had done or the magnitude of what you had done, knowing you might get caught?
Getsy: No, of what we had done cuz this was so out of our character that you know we wouldn't, we wouldn't have done it, anything like this and in any other circumstanceit just isn't something that we would do, I mean, you know, it's just that we were about hanging out, having a good time, you know, with friends. You know, it was not this stuff, this stuff was not who we were.you know.(inhales a ragged breath here).
Ingles: You know, to the average person, it's hard to understand.
Getsy: Yea, of course
Ingles: Why..
Getsy: Oh of course.
Ingles: you could do anything
Getsy: Oh, absolutely,
Ingles: didn't understand what you were talking about.
Getsy: Oh, really, I don't expect anyone to understand it unless they've gone through it. And, and, you know, other people may have reacted differently but I think that a lot has to do with why John was able to influence this way was because all of us had had trouble in our youth and stuff, we were all kind of immature for our age, and we were a little more easy for someone like that to take advantage of. Now, I'm not, I'm not downplaying what I did, I'm not trying to, I don't want to say that, shift the blame to anyone else or anything like that cuz I know what I did and I know it was my own actions you know, to put me where I'm at. But I believe that how these things happen are also important..how it came about.you know what's behind all of these(inhales a ragged breath)..
Ingles: And yet, after this happened, and you said you were sick and it really bothered you, you were able to go on for at least the next 24 hours with some degree of normalcy.
Getsy: No, I was out of my.I thoughtthe thoughts going through my mind.well, I'm thinking, thinking Santine's probably going to kill us to cover his tracks, or if the cops come and pick us up, then maybe they are dirty and they would kill us, or the good guys finally show up (nervous laugh) and arrest me, I'm thinking, well my life's going to end here real soon, how is it going to end? So that whole next day I was, I felt like my insides were ripping apart, you know and what am I, of course, I'm going to try to act like nothing's wrong. Like I seen someone the next day, and uh, they had made a comment well "he acted like nothing's wrong, he must not have any emotions", well, I cared about that person. Of course I didn't want to get them involved. You Know, of course I'm going to try to act like nothing's wrong. You know, what am I going to do, go out and say "hey, guess what happened." (incredulous chuckle here) I mean, my goodness.
Ingles: You went to the hardware store to work that day too, didn't you?
Getsy: Right, and I was trying to hide out in the back of the aisles too, act like I was stocking shelves and stuff. I was terrified, always looking over my shoulder, I didn'tI thought something was coming but I didn't know where it was coming from, I was terrified.
Ingles: You know, you were telling me that when you were considering what to do, did it ever occur to you to think that "if I'm going to die anyway, why am I taking out these people with me?"
Getsy: You're right. Yeah.
Ingles: Did that ever go through your mind?
Getsy: At the time, you know these things just don't, just don't come to you. Of course, looking back over the years, I would have gladly let whatever happened to me in order to save you know, Mrs. Serafino. Of course, but you know
Ingles: You said that this crime really wouldn't have happened had it not been for John Santine. He was given 20 years to life, and you received the death penalty. You've argued that it's unfair to put you to death when John Santine is given a lighter sentence. Explain this to me.
Getsy: Uh, well, the legalities of all of that, I don't know (turns to lawyer at his side) and says "my attorney could explain it more than I could" but
Ingles: No, I want to hear it from you.
Getsy: But I think
Ingles: .your sense of fairness. I want you to explain that sense of fairness in your mind.
Getsy: Well, you know, you could remove me or like Rick McNulty or Ben Hudach from the crime and it still happens. But the only figure that you can't remove from it is Santine. If you remove him from the crime, it doesn't happen. And every court I've been through has said that he is if not equally, a more culpable offender, in this crime.
Ingles: The parole board sort of agreed with you on that point earlier this month and the majority of its members are recommending commuting your death sentence to life in prison at this point. But there are people who have been, just ordinary citizens, who say "you know, it is a travesty that Santine isn't facing the death penalty but just because he's not, it doesn't mean that Getsy should get off." That's what some people who hear this story are saying.
Getsy: Right.
Ingles: How do you respond to that?
Getsy: Uh (ragged sigh) I don't know. Maybe they are right but I feel that the only reason the board voted the way they was that was by the grace of God. You know, really.
Ingles: What do you mean by that?
Getsy: Well, uh, he was there. I mean, I believe he has sovereignty, he has influence in everything you know and uh, you know I didn't know what I was going to say when I went in there but you know he, and I prayed, I said "Lord, give me the words to speak to these people and when I went in there, I felt like he.like there was a direct line from my heart to my lips.and they were receptive, they were civil to me the whole time, and he was there. You know. Absolutely.
Ingles: You have a strong desire to live at this point and no offense to this institution but why? Even if your sentence is commuted, you are going to spend the rest of your time behind prison walls.
Getsy: Yeah, well,
Ingles: Is there some deep sense of commitment as to why you want to live?
Getsy: Oh, yeah, even before the board's recommendation, you know I was going into this with the idea that, that if I'm not granted clemency, and even still if the Governor doesn't grant clemency, then I feel that the Lord wants me home. And I am at peace with that because all of my trust is with him. You know, all of my faith and trust is in him. And uh, if I were to get clemency, I'd feel like I have work to do, like maybe I have more work to do for him.
Ingles: Like what?
Getsy: Well, um, maybe I can share my testimony of what he's done for me in my life, what he's done for me in my heart, you know with others, whether I'm in prison or wherever I'm at. Butif I were granted clemency, the first thing that I would want to do is get somewhere and check the chaplain service and maybe see what I can do there. Maybe I can talk to some people. Maybe some of the kids who are coming into the system with some of the same anger that I had in my heart when I was a kid, I can show them how carrying the love of Christ in your heart is a lot better than carrying around that anger. You know.
Ingles: You think there's a lot of kids out there that would be receptive to that message from you?
Getsy: Well, the Lord gives them ears to hear so I just want to stay within his will. And if there's someone who's going to hear it, I'd like to be there to tell them.
Ingles: What about nightmares, dreams, do you ever dream about your past, either the crime or what could have been? What kind of things do you dream about? Do you dream?
Getsy: Yeah,sometimes.
Ingles: What kind of things do you dream about?
Getsy: I don't know, what does anybody dream about? Uh, there's some things that I probably wouldn't want to get into. I've woken up in you know, a sweat and you know, of course, the things that I've been through and seen, it you know, that, you know, as you can imagine, that would have an effect on anyone. Of course.
Ingles: Do you see that scene over and over in your head sometimes?
Getsy: Yeah, I don't have to be sleeping. I live with that everyday.
Ingles: How often?
Getsy: Everyday, I live with that.
Ingles: Is there something that triggers that, that makes you think of it?
Getsy: Uh (ragged exhale), it could be a whole number of things. Like I said, it's just something I live with everyday.
Ingles: How hard is it for you to go back and think about those thoughts?
Getsy: It's very hard (voice is quivering here), It's.If it weren't for the redeeming grace of God, it would be impossible. Because before that, I really hated myself. You know
Ingles: Do you ever get the sense, hear voices or things in your mind or see things that make you think that had you taken a different track in life, things would be different. You hear of people who have those kinds of dreams, I just wondered if you have them.
Getsy: You mean, do I think about what could have been?
Ingles: Do you ever go back to your childhood and re-live your life so that it goes a different way?
Getsy: Oh, yeah, I think everybody does that. Well, um, even in the dynamic of my family, you know, everybody has a family where there's someone they will call who, like if they needed to talk to someone or needed something fixed or need someone to come over and do something, well, I'm that guy (chuckle). And I imagine that's right where I would be if you know, things went differently and I was free or whatever. And of course, I never, I was nineteen, I never even got started in life before I was done, so to speak. I never married. I would have loved to have kids. But that's.that isn't uhwhat the Lord had in store for me.
Ingles: Was there one turning point, one thing that keeps coming to you over and over that makes you think if you had just done that one thing differently.
Getsy: No, it's and in terms of this case, I should have just walked away from the start. I should have just stayed away. And maybelike I said, there's a million and one things that I've thought about to try to.oh, I could have done this and I could have done that, you know, to prevent this from happening and I can see clearly now but then it's just like I could have.but it's.I like to deal with reality though..you know.
Ingles: Do you think your life will be spared? Do you think you will be granted clemency?
Getsy: Uh (long pause), I don't know. You know, I don't want to hold any real expectations like that cuz you really don't know, you know.
Ingles: The Serafino family has argued against commuting your sentence to life in prison. They want to see the death penalty. They think it's fair that you are put to death. They are not buying the arguments you are making about John Santine's sentencing compared to yours. Is there any part of you that can see that from their point of view?
Getsy: Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, my goodness, what they went through, and what I've done to them, of course. Uh, you know I want them to someday find peace and healing, you know, and I, of course, I pray that someday, that they will be given that but I can absolutely understand that they are dealing with a lot of pain and anger.so absolutely.
Ingles: I want you to talk for a little bit here and tell me what you think people misunderstand about your situation and about you. Are you the monster that you've been portrayed in the media to be after this crime?
Getsy: No, I don't, like I said, I never, never wanted to do what I did. Uh, (pause), and uh, as far as what's been portrayed in the media and held up, that's, uh, I don't' know. That's just not me.
Ingles: Then what is?
Getsy: I think it comes from people who don't know me.
Ingles: So tell me about you. What are you as a person?
Getsy: I'm a servent of God. I know. And I have been ever since I accepted him into my life. That's who I am now. I've given my life over to him. That's what I do now.
Ingles: Do you feel misunderstood?
Getsy: Absolutely, uh, I feel like there are a lot of uh, possibly lies and half truths, maybe, that are being portrayed out there but I, I don't know.
Ingles: Like what?
Getsy: (5 second long pause here while he thinks) Uh, (more pause), I don't know, just the whole thing, I just don't think they've given an accurate portrayal of who I am. Every person is complex. How do you explain who I am? It's(chuckle)
Ingles: Well, do you consider yourself to be a victim?
Getsy: (5 second pause again) Uh, I don't know. I mean, I suppose I know people who say that but (pause) perhaps to a certain extent.
Ingles: Any message that you would want to send to the Governor as he's trying to weigh this decision as to what to do about your fate? If he was sitting here right now, what would you say to him?
Getsy: Um, (pause), well (shorter pause), I pray that like whatever he decides, you know, I'mI pray that he's well with it. You know, I pray that he's well with it, that he's comforted and uh, strengthened and I just, like I said, I just put it in the hands of the Lord. And I believe that if, if, if the Lord touches him to grant me clemency, then that is what's going to happen.
Ingles: What about the Serafino family? What would you say to them if they were sitting here right now?
Getsy: (he gets choked up and there's a seven second pause here)Well, uh, that's a good question. You know, I would love the opportunity to sit and uh, have that, have that, would love them to be able to heal. I think communication uh, could be a big part of that if that were to happen. What can you say? I mean, there's, there's, of course, I'm sorry. You know, there's.But that seems so little. You know, really, what can you say, you know there's nothing that I can do to undo what was done. I mean, I love them. I 'm very concerned for their well being and like I said, every day, I pray for their healing, for them to find peace somehow that, you know that the Lord would grant that to them. You know and, I don't know, you know.
Ingles: Any last messages you'd like to put in this interview to send to the public or to anyone that you'd like to say something to?
Getsy: Not that I can think of now (nervous chuckle).
Ingles: I want to give you the chance to bare your soul here. If there's something that you feel needs to be said, I want you to be able to say it so, anything out there you want to dispel, anything you want to say?
Getsy: (Long pause) Well, uh, you know, don't always believe that uh people can't change because people can change. With God, anything is possible. You know, look at the evidence in his creation. With God, anything is possible.
Ingles: Ok, that pretty much does it for me.
Getsy: Yeah, I'm pretty exhausted. You know the words are pretty hard to come by right now, you know.
Ingles: Ok, well thank you for the opportunity to talk with you.
Getsy: Yea, thanks. I wish it was a little easier to talk but these past few months have been pretty exhausting, I'm kind of tired. (At this point, he sniffles hard and takes a ragged breath.)
www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/07/29/getsy_transcript.html
