Violent Associations

Jerry was associated with violence beyond most of our comprehension, especially when he was younger. One of the violent men he knew was Jackie Layman. Layman stayed with Jerry for a time after escaping from Brushy Mountain State Prison, the prison where James Earl Ray was incarcerated. Layman then was involved in a robbery where his two accomplices tried to kill him to gain his share of the money. On Christmas Eve of 1975, Layman learned that these men would be at the Red Lantern Tavern in Newport, Tennessee, so he arrived with a shotgun and began shooting. When the battle ended, two were dead , including Layman, another was dragged outside and run over him a few times with a car. The event was called the Red Tavern Massacre and a song was later written about the battle. After all these years, rumors abound about what actually happened. I have the words to the song and will post them at a later date.

Another violent episode was when Jerry was the driver for a robbery of another crook. Two men were brought in from Detroit, told the robbery would be easy, but it turned out anything but, so they ran from the place without any money, jumped in the car and stuck a gun to Jerry’s head, ordering him to drive to the airport in Lexington, Ky. By the time they reached Kentucky, Jerry had talked them out of killing him since he knew nothing about the arrangement  and had just been hired to drive. When he returned home, he told the “arranger” what had happened, and the “arranger” called Detroit and had the men murdered. This was when Jerry understood the man’s serious connections with organized crime.