Notes:
He didn't look like I had expected him to look. Yes, I know he has a passing resemblance to Jackie Earle Haley, and that the actor has already been approached for a biopic loosely based on the killings committed by Arthur James Choake, and I had also reviewed all the recordings of the trial, seen every picture taken of him online, and still, he was a surprise.
He is, in his own way, I suppose you would say, charming. Not the sort of thing you'd expect from a man who is on Oklahoma's Death Row for the brutal murder of 13 people ... and possibly 34 others. He had a smile that didn't seem one meant to impress or disarm, but one that genuinely seemed to be happy to have someone to talk to.
I have talked with others who have interviewed serial killers and other murderers, who tell me that often these people want to talk, but always want to control the conversation. Even though they have been rightfully convicted of their crimes, they always know details that no one else knows, and they hold on to that knowledge because it gives them a sense of power. At the same time, they want you to know that they have this, because they know that the public (you/me/all of us) want to know their hidden secrets, however mundane.
While Choake, who also goes by the nickname Artichokie, definitely has that (I mean, he has only hinted at the additional 34 but has not given any concrete evidence) but he also seemed to genuinely want to talk to me. He said he'd heard my podcast "Deacon" (I don't know how he'd heard it, being on Oklahoma's Death Row, and I don't want to ask any deeper because frankly I don't want him to have that access stopped). Apparently that's why he wanted to do an interview with me.
...
Of course, I'm not going to jump right in to the murders (although I probably could have, because he's already well-known for liking to talk about the ones he's already been found guilty of). Having that as the first round of questions just seemed kind of vulgar, and part of my reason for being here is because we are told by God to visit those in prison, and that's what I was doing here. So, was visiting Artichokie in a way, selfish of me? I suppose it might be. But then, aren't we all selfish in a way? Such as the way that he won't talk about the 34 plus murders that we know he's probably committed?
But I started off with, of all things, current events. The big one for March of 2025.
"So, what do you think of Trump and Musk and Making America Great Again?"
To be honest, the instant it left my lips, I thought it sounded stupid. But it was too late. It was out there.
He said, "Revelation 13 seems like a good possibility."
I quickly thought over that. I didn't have my phone with me. That had been left at the front desk. All I had was a paper and pen. He wouldn't even see me with a recorder, he said, on this meeting.
So I fought back through memory. "The woman and the dragon?"
"Close," he said. "That's Chapter 12. I'm talking about the Beast and the Dragon. They are both now in control of America."
"That's weird. For some reason I wouldn't have thought you'd call Trump the Beast."
"Why wouldn't you think that?"
"Well, I mean ... you're a Christian."
"I don't follow false prophets. And being a true Christian means you know how to spot the AntiChrist."
"So," I said, because I honestly hadn't thought of this before, "are you a Democrat or a Republican?"
"Son," he said, "that's like asking me if I'm a Moabite or an Ammonite. Both are enemies of the People of God and both were born of the sin of incest."
