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Edwin... in prison? (I)
We face the hypothesis which gives the biggest sense to the existence of the impostor band. Edwin could also be so and be in prison, after misleading even his own family since 1989, when his trace was lost.
Edwin is alive and in prison? The evidence is leading my suspicions more and more towards this theory. I'm introducing to all of you the account of a journey that led me to interview the man who arrested Edwin Moses and Michael 'Bigfoot' Johnston, the latter being a friend of Edwin since their childhood and who has been given parole after spending nearly 20 years in a Brazilian prison, being condemned for having commited a series of crimes against the public health and a robbery against an office of Banco Central do Brazil in Rio do Janeiro. Would you guess who 'Bigfoot' Johnston was an accesory of?
The Moses family is dismayed
The reactions to those shocking news have been immediate. Margie Moses declares she's devoted to the affair at the moment: "The family has suffered a terrible reverse. When we had finally reached an agreement to share a part of my husband's rights between his siblings and a charitable association, this new shocked us. Now we don't know what to do, and our lawyers are not able to agree a solution". But these are just the consequences of another, much more serious matter; if Edwin is still alive, why hasn't he sent some signs of life, why has he ordered his will to be sent to his family?
Looking for the answers to these questions, and having rather intuition than evidence, I left Sâo Paulo the 23th September 2006 towards Chicago. After meeting three or four Mr. Moses' friends from childhood and finding some trails in my research, I decided to go back to Brazil. My destination was Rio do Janeiro, supposed to be the place where the crimes happened (the robbery to a bank and the traffic of hashish). There I went directly to the district's Police Station, where I found out the name of the person who was the responsible of that station when the supposed crimes were commited. Mr. Anonimous (he wants to keep his identity in secret) speaks with me on the phone; we had the following conversation: (his tone is sarcastic) "Err... yes, that's me. You're right. In 1987 I was involved in a case, I remember a Jamal Nafsum -a crazy guy-, and a so-called Bigfoot, one of them was from Chicago and the other was from Africa; well they were both caught red-handed into an office of Banco Central do Brazil. According to what my officers said, they got into trouble, they had to pay a debt to some big gangster from the mafia round here... No, no..., they were judged and went into prison somewhere in this country... I don't remember, but if I did I wouldn't tell you, man, you know what I mean? ... I don't know where you got that information about the hashish... it is true Bigfoot had a couple of grammes but we did nothing about it... Please don't publish this. -Since he doesn't want to reveal his identity and that I'm a bit tired of the stupid guy, I'm publishing it (Note from reporter)- The other one didn't want to be involved in drugs, he didn't look as a criminal... Don't know what happened with those guys... well, actually, I think Bigfoot has already left the prison, no idea about the other one. A strange man, he looked as a good guy though.
After this short, though intense conversation that was suddenly stopped (the problems with mobile phones, you know), my doubts about some Edwin's years of life are solved, but not the essential question: is he alive or not? And, if he's alive, in what prison? Is there a possibility for him to reach his freedom? Why was Jamal Nafsum involved in this kind of troubles, after proclaiming his conversion, and in Brazil, while he was supposed to be working in Chicago as a stretcher? Well this was the end of my research. No money to continue with the case and I'm going on holidays. Hope we'll be able to solve all those doubts in the next issue.
Vinicius Goikoetxea
Special Reporters
Vinicius Goikoetxea. Rio do Janeiro, Brazil.
Brazilian journalist with a Basque origin. When he was very young, he started working at the Jornal d\xF4 Brasil, from where he soon passed to the agency Global Press, which gave him the opportunity to travel all around the world as a war correspondent (Korea, Vietnam, Syria, the Congo, Afghanistan, the Falkland Islands...). He had contact with Edwin Moses during one of the African armed conflicts, and he kept a long friendship with him. At the moment, he's working as a private detective in an agency located in Sâo Paulo.
Mirinda Jones. Los Angeles, US.
She was one of the most popular grouppies during the 70's and in the tours of the greatest soulmen such as Leroy Hutson, Frederick Knight, Johnny Otis, Teddy Pendergrass and, needless to say, Edwin Moses. This woman knows some of the deepest secrets of our hero, having been his lover for several months. She currently lives in Sacramento (California, US) and is married with 5 children and 16 grandchildren.
Pharoah Randall. Accra, Ghana.
Suleiman Nur el Wadi (aka Pharoah Randall) is a Truth Prospector who has covered most of the spiritual traditions and psychology trends around the world. One believes he's one of the responsible persons of Edwin Moses' conversion to Islam, spreading messages such as "We sufis are in the world but we don't come from this world". It seems clear that Jamal Nafsum was deeply touched by him... Pharoah Randall currently teaches philosophy and theology in the University of Accra.
Ervin 'The Colonel' Hopkins. Chicago, US.
Colonel Hopkins, as he likes to be called, was a guerrilla in Angola, a taxi driver in Addis Abeba, run several whorehouses in Colombia, Mexico and Guatemala, and has also been the bass player in the band who played with Edwin Moses during his USA tour in 1972. He had a serious conflict with Edwin in the 80s, since he claimed he was the author of the song "Glory, glory", originally signed by Moses, but the court gave the reason to the latter. He's currently working in the journal The Miami Times, where he's building a solid carrer and a great reputation as a sport writer.
Michael Landis. Ontario, Canada.
He was one of the most important show promoters of America. Furhermore, he has been the personal manager of Edwin Moses between 1970 and 1975, being the responsible person, among other things, of the contract with the label with the music company Canyon Records, where Moses has released some of his greatest albums, such as Dead Town (1970). He has also been the person who provided Edwin Moses the opportunity to play in the most sacred temples of soul music: from Chicago to NYC, from Memphis to Los Angeles or from Tokyo to Rotterdam. He is established in the island of Gran Canaria (Spain) since 1996.