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Carruth trial reveals dark side of sport
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 23, 2000 If you haven't been following the Rae Carruth murder trial, consider yourself lucky. It's scary stuff. Can you imagine being acquainted with a character like Van Brett Watkins? For those who don't know (and believe me, you don't want to know this dude), Watkins is the admitted shooter in the case, a handyman who claims Carruth hired him to kill Carruth's pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams. The deal was $3,000 if Watkins caused a miscarriage and another $3,000 if he killed her. Watkins testified this week that he pumped five slugs into Adams. The thoughtful and compassionate fellow that he is, he said he purposely aimed high to avoid hitting the unborn baby. "I fired one shot, then four more shots -- Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!," he said on the stand. "She was screaming. She was drowning in her own blood. I could hear gurgling sounds." A real charmer, huh? This is a bad dude. He's the kind of guy you hope you never cut off in traffic. He's the reason you lock your doors and windows at night, the reason we have the death penalty, whether you believe in it or not. He has a sordid criminal record, a history of evil behavior that includes stabbing his brother, setting a fellow inmate on fire, threatening his wife with a meat cleaver and some stuff that's just not fit to print in a family newspaper. He's such a feared and dangerous man that there were eight armed deputies in the courtroom during his testimony, including one positioned between him and the judge. At one point, he told Carruth's defense attorney: "I could kill you with my bare hands. I'm 286 pounds. I'll rip you up like a rag doll." And to think, all this time we thought the epitome of evil wore horns and dressed in red. Turns out, he wears a suit and tie. But here's the really scary part: Do you think former Carolina Panther Rae Carruth is the only NFL player capable of possibly plotting murder? And if Carruth associates with monsters like Watkins, do other NFL players? There probably aren't a lot, but isn't one too many? We can live with athletes like Brian Cox and Kevin Greene and Bill Romanowski. But murderers? I know what you're thinking, and you're right. There are probably lawyers and doctors and even journalists who are just as deplorable as Carruth. But the difference is, they aren't idolized by our children. They don't star in Gatorade commercials that implore us to be like them. Nobody is asking Santa for their jerseys this Christmas. Athletes are different. If any of us was naive about the element that is seeping into the NFL these days, we can't be anymore. Not after this trial. The problem has a face now. And it ain't a pretty one. We've always known there were some bad people in professional sports (Mike Tyson, Darryl Henley, etc.) and we've known they run with a pretty rough crowd. But Carruth is taking it to a new level. Hiring a thug to gun down your girlfriend and your unborn child? Devising a plan to try to make the whole thing look like a robbery gone bad? Watching life slowly trickle out of someone you supposedly cared for, and being so callous and cold-hearted that you did nothing to help her? None of this has been proven (Carruth maintains Watkins shot Adams on his own), but there's been enough testimony by enough key witnesses to believe it may not be too far from the truth, if at all. "If you swing in the jungle," Watkins said with a cold stare, "you're going to get hurt." Fine, but who knew part of the jungle included the NFL? If Carruth, 26, is found guilty and gets the death penalty, he will have gotten off lightly. If he orchestrated this whole thing and watched that poor woman suffer from his rearview mirror, death would be too good for him. He should have to live with what he did for the rest of his life. To face the shame of having his child know he had his mother murdered. The Panthers ought to get slapped on the wrists for not paying more attention to their players' off-the-field activities. They ought to have to play next season using a bunch of semi-pro players. Or worse, the Chargers. As for Watkins, he has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is facing more than 50 years in prison. Toward the end of his testimony Thursday, he glared at Carruth and shouted: "Are you happy now?" Well, I will be when all of these low-lifes are locked away in a hole far, far away. But right now, I'm just scared.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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