The IQ of the average person is usually 100 points. Anything above is a sign of an outstanding mind, and a score of 140 indicates genius. The titans of thought - Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking - had 160 IQs. Today only the lazy does not know the names of these people. It would seem that a person with an IQ of 163 should also expect results. For most of us, however, the name of Stephen Jay Russell doesn't mean anything. But this is only because we are far from the forensic world, where he is known as Houdini.
Will it be correct?
All the fault, whatever one may say, is a childhood trauma. As soon as Stephen was born, his mother realized that she was in a hurry both with marriage and with the birth of a child. She divorced her husband, and gave the baby for adoption to Brenda and Thomas Russell. Being conservatives in everything, they decided: it would be right to reveal the truth about his birth to the adopted son.
Alas, 9-year-old Stephen was clearly not ready to find out that his own mother had abandoned him. From that day on, the idea of finding her by all means took possession of him. Everything else went to pieces, and the school in the first place. In a couple of years, from a successful student, he turned into an arson hooligan. And at the age of 12 he went to a correctional institution.
In the course of occupational therapy, it turned out that, firstly, the adolescent is attracted to people of his own sex, and secondly, that he is unusually smart. On May 13, 1971, Stephen had the opportunity to demonstrate this intelligence: he escaped from the correctional facility.
New life
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He got away with the first escape. Stephen graduated from high school, and since he still wanted to find his own mother, he went to work for the police, where he had databases of all US citizens at his service. In the end, he found her - Georgia Basham. And what? It turned out that the lady, barely shaking off the baby from her hands, changed her mind again and remarried to his father David. They gave birth to three more offspring and did not have any interest in Stephen.
Out of despair, the young man made an offer to the secretary of the head of the police station in which he served. Debbie, unaware of Stephen's homosexual inclinations, became his wife and even gave birth to a daughter. Alas, this did not make Stephen happy: he got married in search of love, but in the end he got a double life - with secret dates and random lovers.
It all ended in 1978: Stephen's adoptive father died, and the 28-year-old fell into severe depression. He confessed his orientation to his wife, filed for divorce, moved to Houston, and then to Los Angeles. In a word, he began a new life …
About qualifications and orientation
Stephen stopped hiding his inclinations, holding back and hiding. And he discovered that, in addition to an outstanding mind, he also possesses incredible artistry, as well as the gift of reincarnation and persuasion. He began to use his new talents to the fullest. And he began by concocting a resume for himself and, having neither education nor qualifications, got a job as a sales manager in a large company that sold products.
No one even noticed that Stephen was a rookie. He got burned not at all because of a lack of skills, but because of his orientation: the leadership, having learned that Stephen was gay, found a way to get rid of him. Russell was upset. And then he made himself new documents and got a job in another company, and then in a third one. But from everywhere, Stephen was exhibited when they realized that he preferred men. In fact, Stephen received his first term for indecent behavior: he was arrested at a gay gathering and sent to prison, where it was the turn to open up to his new talent.
Love at first sight
On May 21, 1993, Stephen Russell made his first adult escape. He just waited until the guards left for a smoke break, took their civilian clothes, changed - and he was. Nobody even thought to stop him. Once free, Russell quickly composed himself a new biography and documents and went to find a job. This time he was not trifling: he became the financial director of one of the insurance companies.
For 5 months of his activity, Russed stole 800 thousand dollars from her accounts. After which he was arrested again and placed in the Harris County Jail in Houston, which he recently left. But Stephen was not discouraged. Firstly, he understood that he would not stay here for long. And secondly, it was in this prison that he met the love of his life - Philippe Maurice. He ended up behind bars because he could not pay off on time for the car he had rented. As a result, he was convicted of "stealing service."
At first, he was re-educated with group psychotherapy at the Center for Offenders with Minimal Risk. Once, pouring out his soul in a harsh male team, Maurice blurted out that he was gay. One of the "colleagues in misfortune" immediately promised that Philip would not live until morning. Maurice got scared and ran away. But he was quickly caught and this time he was put in a real prison - now also for escaping …
Drawing circle
Prison bars greatly complicated the development of the novel by Stephen and Philip. So Russell decided that it was time for them to be released. Using his right to make phone calls, Stephen called the court office and in the voice of the city judge, who remembered very well and therefore skillfully reproduced, ordered: "Reduce Stephen Russell's bail from 900 thousand dollars to 45 thousand."
Then he happily forked out and left the Houston prison on supposedly legal grounds. Alas, the deception was quickly revealed: after 10 days, Russell was again behind bars and portrayed the deepest remorse. He even enrolled in a prison art circle, which he attended diligently. The secret of diligence was revealed later: it turned out that from each lesson Russell took away a green felt-tip pen. When there were enough of them, he took off his white prison uniform and painted it green.
Then he simply changed his clothes and left the "gloomy dungeons" again under the guise of a doctor. The dogs, launched on his trail, returned with nothing: the prudent Stephen wrapped himself in cellophane from head to toe under his clothes.
The benefits of knowledge
Once at liberty, Russell launched a stormy activity to free Philip and soon pulled him out of prison, playing the role of … a lawyer. He would like to channel his talents in some peaceful direction, but no. Wanting to give Philip all the best, Russell stole another $ 800,000 from a Houston company that manages doctors' affairs. And got caught again. He was given 45 years and another 20 - for a previous escape. Maurice also landed behind bars, though this time in Dallas: it turned out that Russell had freed him by deception. This Philip did not forgive his friend …
Stephen suffered, but did not sit idly by. Since he was denied a visit to the art circle, he enrolled in the library, where in the shortest possible time he studied all the books about AIDS. Knowing about his orientation, everyone decided that Stephen was simply afraid of the plague of the 20th century. But Russell pursued other goals.
As you know, with money in prison, you can get anything you want. Stephen took out a typewriter. With her help, he forged his medical record: now it indicated that he was sick with AIDS.
Thanks to this diagnosis, Russell achieved a transfer to a Houston hospital, from where he safely escaped and again tried to start a new life - this time a millionaire. As such, he turned up at the Bank of Dallas, where he tried to borrow 75 thousand dollars. But the employees called the police. At the time of his arrest, Stephen pretended to be having a heart attack.
He was sent to the hospital, assigned to the ward of the FBI officers. But Russell also dealt with them once: right from the ward, he called the guards and, posing as a high-ranking FBI officer, convinced them to leave their post.
This trick finally pissed off the police and the FBI: the capture of Houdini, as Stephen was called, became a matter of honor for them.
On April 7, 1998, Russell was arrested again. The court took into account his "previous merits": Russell was given 144 years. In theory, he should serve his sentence until July 12, 2140. But everyone who knows Stephen does not believe that he will be stuck there for so long. The head of the prison knows this and, probably, for 20 years now, he does not know what it means to sleep well …