I was in the witness protection from 1973 to 1981 AMA
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Anonymous
| Was it a big adjustment financially? Were you parents loaded and then they had to be frugal? |
Anonymous
Op here. Yes we stayed in the same area that whole time. To my knowledge there was no threats. We all had slip ups but nothing tragic or something that gave anyone away. We just practiced a lot and got better. We didn't change appearances at all. |
Anonymous
Op here. It was hard at first because we couldn't take anything but our clothes. No furniture, no sports equipment, no decor, nothing. They gave us a furnished apartment at first and a flat lump sum for towels and sheets and hair dryers and household things like that. My mom was so much happier bc whatever dad and her earned was clean and safe. She didn't mind any downsizing and welcomed the fresh start. My dad missed his cars and his golf clubs and all of that stuff. |
Anonymous
| What did people in your old town think happened to your family? Or did they know about the crime and that your family was in hiding? |
Anonymous
Yes, for sure! Thanks OP. |
Anonymous
+1 Fascinating! |
Anonymous
I assume they put the pieces together. One hard thing is there are no goodbyes (outside of grandparents) so you know you are leaving and can't say anything. However the DA was dragging out this process and there were a few months where basically the whole community knew a deal was in the works. Dad left first and we followed. |
Anonymous
| Did you realize as a kid (before WP) that your Dad had a non-traditional job and do you now find times when you realize some of the things that happened (before WP) were not normal? |
Anonymous
Absolutely! I never read these AMAs, OP. Excellent thread! |
Anonymous
| Do you think your experiences have given you any trust issues? Or read about politics and deals in the paper with more skepticism than the average person? |
Anonymous
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I missed something. Did your dad have to serve any time for his crimes? Or was he free and clear (and into WP) once he provided info on his colleagues?
Did his colleagues all go to jail? Have any of their families contacted you? Not in a “I’m going to kill you way” but more of “your dad turned on my dad and ruined my life”? When you left WP, did you have to start your lives all over? Or did your parents careers continue, just in a different location? But for you and your siblings, it would be your third version of your childhood, right? Did WP provide any therapy during that period? |
Anonymous
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Anyone interested in this should listen to the two recent episodes about this in the Criminal podcast. I’d lean towards not a troll because most of her answers are very consistent with that.
I am curious about what sort of crime “family” this was that literally and figuratively died out and didn’t go after women and children. A non-Italian criminal organization?Like Armenian or Russian? |
Anonymous
| Why did they think there was a threat to your family? Lots of people testify against coconspirators obviously and few qualify for witness protection. Organized crime? What type? Why did the threat go away? |
Anonymous
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Do you know all the details of what your Dad did, or is there an unspoken silence about it in your family? As a daughter, do you think or wonder if you’ve been shielded (not told about) from some information about your Dads activities?
Have you ever told anyone you know now about your Dad or your past experiences in WP? |
Anonymous
| In the other post you mentioned religion. Can you elaborate? What were you before and during? What about now? How did that work out? |