00:00:00
John Giedraitis: So it's about 50 feet tall, so
it's not a giant tree according to tree standards,
00:00:04
but down here in the South, it's a pretty
good-sized tree. So about 50 feet tall,
00:00:09
100, 120 feet or so in diameter. So it's
a very sort of low and spreading tree,
00:00:16
big branches coming out and swooping down,
and touching the ground, and going back up
00:00:21
to the sky again. Just a beautiful tree.
Phoebe Judge: This is John Giedraitis,
00:00:25
former city forester for the city of Austin.
He's describing a famous tree in downtown
00:00:30
Austin known as the Treaty Oak.
John Giedraitis: Quercus virginiana, southern live oak. Very, very common all the
way from Florida all the way to Texas along
00:00:40
the Gulf Coast. So you'll see them, they're the
big trees of the South. That's the live oak,
00:00:44
they're the ones with the Spanish moss
hanging off them. Very, very common in the
00:00:49
South. In fact, it's the tree of the South.
Phoebe Judge: The live oak is common across
00:00:53
the South, but the Treaty Oak is an unusually
good-looking tree. In 1922 the American Forestry
00:01:00
Association named it, "The most perfect specimen
of any living tree in the country." Not only was
00:01:07
it perfect, but it was the only surviving
live oak in a group of 14 known as the Council
00:01:13
Oaks that were revered by Native Americans long
before Texas was Texas. According to legend,
00:01:19
it's also where the so-called "Father of Texas,"
Stephen Austin, signed a treaty with Native
00:01:25
Americans agreeing to divide the land.
John Giedraitis: Texas doesn't have a lot
00:01:28
of history in terms of since
the white man came. It's only been a state since the middle of
the 1800s. So there are actually
00:01:39
remnants of the original Texas history, and some
of them are even alive, like the Treaty Oak. And
00:01:46
now, of course, it's pretty much downtown Austin,
big skyscrapers all around it, cars and traffic
00:01:53
and buses and all of that stuff, and there's
this little park with this big tree in it. And
00:01:57
my own personal history is I proposed to my wife
underneath the tree, because it's a big, strong,
00:02:04
important tree that symbolizes timelessness and
endurance and strength and that sort of stuff.
00:02:11
Phoebe Judge: Were there other contenders, or
did you always know this was going to be the
00:02:16
spot where you'd get down on one knee?
John Giedraitis: If you're in Austin and
00:02:19
you're the city forester, Treaty Oak is the tree.
[Phoebe laughs.] There are other historic trees,
00:02:24
there's other bigger trees, but a tree that
has its own park is a pretty important tree.
00:02:29
And its role in Texas history, and it's
just a wonderful place to do something that you hope is going to last a long time.
Phoebe Judge: On March 2nd, 1989, two years after
00:02:39
John proposed to his wife, he was giving a tour,
showing some fellow tree people the highlights of
00:02:44
Austin. And he took them to the Treaty Oak.
John Giedraitis: We stopped there and we saw
00:02:48
that there was a circle of dead grass around the
bottom of the tree, and I thought that was pretty
00:02:54
strange, but we use a common ... edging chemicals
in the Parks Department. So we have these kind of
00:03:02
chemicals, I assumed one of our Parks workers had
just gotten a little bit sloppy and spilled some
00:03:07
on the ground, or he let his tank sort of drip.
Phoebe Judge: John says he didn't think much about
00:03:12
it until a couple months later, when he got a
call from a resident who said she thought the
00:03:17
tree looked like it had oak wilt, a common tree
disease in Texas. He went down to take a look,
00:03:23
and he knew right away that the tree was
sick. But it wasn't oak wilt. He had no idea what
00:03:29
was going on, and he collected soil samples and
sent them off to the Department of Agriculture.
00:03:34
John Giedraitis: So when we went out there,
we assumed that everything was accidental.
00:03:39
There was some sort of accident that happened
to the tree. But once we got the samples back
00:03:43
from the Department of Agriculture, we realize
right away that the compound was a ... It's a
00:03:49
compound that is used in forestry operations
in pine plantations. They'll fly over the
00:03:54
pine plantations a couple years after they're
planted, and they'll kill everything, oaks,
00:04:00
poison ivy, blackberries, everything that's not
a pine tree basically gets knocked back. Once we
00:04:08
knew it was that kind of compound, a compound
called Velpar made by DuPont, we know it was
00:04:13
no accident. There was absolutely no reason to put
this stuff at the bottom of this tree unless you
00:04:17
wanted to kill the tree. There's just
no other reason for it to be there. So we knew right away that something was up.
Phoebe Judge: Just a few ounces of Velpar could
00:04:28
kill a large tree, and John estimated that at
least a gallon had been poured on the Treaty Oak.
00:04:34
He had no doubt that someone, for some reason,
wanted the tree dead. And whoever it was had used
00:04:40
more than enough poison to finish the job.
I'm Phoebe Judge, this is Criminal. [Intense, driving piano music.]
John Giedraitis:
00:04:54
I immediately called the DuPont people and
they have a facility in La Porte which is
00:05:00
around Houston, on the bay. And I called them
up, I said, "What's the deal? What is this stuff
00:05:06
and how do you cure ... How do you get rid of
this stuff?" And all that stuff. They said,
00:05:11
"Well, we've really done a lot of research on
it, and we know this stuff works really good,
00:05:15
but we've never tried to undo one before."
So they offered a $10,000 reward. And that
00:05:21
was quickly followed by the Texas
Forestry Association also offered a $1,000 reward. So we had a $11,000 reward
for information leading to the arrest of the
00:05:31
person or persons that was responsible for this.
Phoebe Judge: The Austin Police Department had a
00:05:36
very strange problem on their hands, and no leads.
And city forester John Giedraitis, who was only 26
00:05:43
years old, was trying to figure out how in the
world he was supposed to save the famous tree.
00:05:48
John Giedraitis: It was a big, huge tree. Think
three or four people all with their arms all
00:05:52
together to reach around it, holding hands
all the way around it. So we really didn't
00:05:59
think there was much chance. Frankly, the experts
didn't think there was much chance, either. This
00:06:03
stuff works really good in pine plantations
and on mesquite out in the rangeland and
00:06:08
things like that. So we didn't hold much hope.
Phoebe Judge: When word got out to the people of
00:06:13
Austin that the tree had been poisoned on purpose
and would likely not survive, they were furious.
00:06:19
But it wasn't just a local story. John was
interviewed live by Barbara Walters for a story
00:06:25
called, "Who's Trying to Murder Austin's Treaty
Oak?" The Washington Post and New York Times ran
00:06:31
the headlines: "Texas Mourns Imminent Death," and
"Poisoned Tree Stirring Fear of Copycat Killer."
00:06:37
Dan Rather: This is the CBS Evening News, Dan
Rather reporting. Good evening. With saw or ax,
00:06:45
we routinely kill trees every day of the year.
Then why are people in the Texas state capital
00:06:50
so upset over efforts by person or persons unknown
to kill just one tree? Scott Pelley explains.
00:06:57
Scott Pelley: An unknown assailant attacked
the oak with a herbicide. Since then the tree
00:07:02
has struggled to sprout new leaves. Thousands of
people have visited the tree as if it were a sick
00:07:07
friend, their sadness edged with anger.
Adult Interviewee: It had to be an idiot
00:07:11
or a maniac who would kill a child, to kill
a tree like that. Child Interviewee: I don't
00:07:16
think it's very nice to poison a tree.
Scott Pelley: Caretaker Bruce O'Neil seeks Texas justice.
Bruce O'Neil: I think he
00:07:22
should swing from one of these limbs.
Scott Pelley: The tree doctors hope the oak can hang on until the herbicide breaks down.
00:07:28
It will be a few weeks... [Fades out.]
John Giedraitis: When the news of the tree's
00:07:32
poisoning got out and the fact that it wasn't
accidental, it was intentional, and rewards
00:07:38
were going out and all that stuff, I got a call
in my little house in South Austin from H. Ross
00:07:43
Perot. Of course, he was an industrialist,
and billionaire, and a Texas patriot.
00:07:49
So he called me up and said, "You know, no
matter what it takes, however long it takes,
00:07:53
you just send me the bill and don't let those
bureaucrats get in your way." And I said, "Yes,
00:07:58
sir." And that's what we say in the South when
people give you a blank check, "Yes, sir."
00:08:03
We decided to form a little task force, and we
had 22 Ph.D.s come in from all over the nation.
00:08:09
And these are the best of the best, they know
about live oaks, they knew about the herbicides,
00:08:14
roots, that sort of thing. We got them all
together for a couple of days around the tree,
00:08:17
and the plan was to make the tree as comfortable
as we could. So reduce the stress on it,
00:08:23
whether it was drought or heat or whatever. And I
don't know if you've ever had 22 Ph.D.s in a room,
00:08:29
but generally you get at least 20 or so
different opinions about what to do. [Laughs.]
00:08:34
Phoebe Judge: And Ross Perot
was paying these guys? John Giedraitis: Yeah, yeah. He paid all the
bills. I never even saw them. Receptionist:
00:08:47
Mr. Perot's office.
Phoebe Judge: Yes, this is Phoebe Judge. I just spoke with Mr.
Perot, and I was hoping to speak with him for
00:08:53
one more moment about the Treaty Oak?
Receptionist: OK. He has stepped away. We might have to call you right
back, maybe five minutes?
00:09:00
Phoebe Judge: Sure.
Receptionist: What's your best number? Phoebe Judge: I'm in the studio right now, and
it's hard to call in, but I'm happy to hold,
00:09:08
if that's more convenient.
Receptionist: OK. Hold on, please. I'm going to put you on another line, one
moment. Phoebe Judge: Yeah, not at all.
00:09:12
Ross Perot: Ross Perot.
Phoebe Judge: Hello, Mr. Perot. It's Phoebe Judge again. Thank
you so much for speaking with me. Now that I have
00:09:22
you — I'm in a studio — I was just wondering if
you could tell me just once again why you cared to
00:09:28
help save the Treaty Oak there in Austin?
Ross Perot: Well, it had a great history. And they called me, and
they asked me, and I did it. And that's
00:09:39
all I can tell you.
Phoebe Judge: Do you remember seeing the tree yourself?
Ross Perot: Yes, way back when. Just drove out,
00:09:45
been by it. I knew about it. Phoebe Judge: It's
supposed to be a very beautiful tree, isn't it?
00:09:50
Ross Perot: Well, there's not as much
there as there was though, right? Phoebe Judge: No, no. You're right. They lost so
much of it. But at one time it was just supposed
00:09:58
to be such a beautiful tree.
Ross Perot: Yes. Phoebe Judge: So you just thought
it was an important thing to do for
00:10:05
Texas? Ross Perot: It has a rich history, yeah.
Phoebe Judge: Great, well thank you very much.
00:10:08
Ross Perot: You're welcome.
Phoebe Judge: OK. Bye. Ross Perot is 85 now, and we were surprised
he took our call. John says that most of
00:10:13
the money that Ross Perot donated was spent
testing the soil, $100,000 of soil samples.
00:10:19
John Giedraitis: Because the way this poison
works is it's activated by water in the soil,
00:10:25
and what happens is the chemical goes through the
roots, up the trunk, out the twigs, and into the
00:10:30
leaves, and there it concentrates. And
it blocks a key step in photosynthesis, so the tree leaf can't make any energy. The tree
realizes that and sheds the leaf. And as soon as
00:10:42
the leaf is shed there is a bud right behind it,
and it puts on a new leaf. The new leaf comes out,
00:10:47
the water is transported up the... [fades out.]
Phoebe Judge: Imagine a time lapse video of the
00:10:52
tree growing new leaves, losing them,
and then immediately growing new ones, over and over until it can't go on.
John Giedraitis: The leaves fill up with
00:11:00
chemical, fall off, until the tree just runs
out of energy. It can't make any more leaves,
00:11:05
so that's how the tree is killed. The tree
just runs out of gas, literally just runs
00:11:10
out of stored carbohydrates, out of stored
energy, and it dies. So we saw this in June,
00:11:17
we saw the first set of leaves, the second
set of leaves, and by the fall we were on
00:11:23
our fourth or fifth set of leaves. And all
the experts who were familiar with live oaks
00:11:27
and this particular kind of compound, this
herbicide, said, "This tree is smoked. It's a
00:11:33
goner. They don't live past this sort of thing."
News Reporter: Susan Lampey is doing what parents
00:11:38
have done for generations in Texas: taking
her children to see the 500-year-old Treaty
00:11:43
Oak come alive in the spring.
Child Interviewee: I think it's amazing that it's lived for so long.
News Reporter: But this spring the legendary
00:11:52
landmark near downtown Austin is dying. Only
about a third of the tree is producing leaves,
00:11:56
the rest of it is dead.
Child Interviewee: I'm not very happy that it might die, but I'm happy
that it's living right now. Phoebe Judge:
00:12:07
The residents of Austin were coming
by the busload to try to help. John Giedraitis: People would come down
to the Treaty Oak and they would leave
00:12:14
cans of chicken soup, they would leave
bottles of Maalox, and Tums, and — Phoebe Judge: Really? [Laughs.]
John Giedraitis: [Laughing.] ... I'm not sure
00:12:22
exactly what that was for, yeah. We set up a
little fence around it, just to keep people
00:12:28
from compacting the soil around it. And people
would leave things there. They would leave cards
00:12:34
and letters. Every day or two, I would go there,
and I would put them all in a box and take them
00:12:39
over to the History Center, and they still have
them all over there. But there would be letters
00:12:44
from ... We got one from Germany, there were
letters from all over the United States. They
00:12:48
would just address it to the Treaty Oak, Austin,
Texas. And it would be, "Get well soon," that sort
00:12:54
of thing. A lot of them from kids, they would draw
pictures and say, "We're sorry that this happened
00:12:59
to you. Get well soon." That sort of thing.
Phoebe Judge: A local rock station brought in
00:13:03
a Dallas psychic named Sharon Capehart to
perform a healing ceremony. She said that
00:13:08
she sensed the tree was a woman named
Alexandria. One man asked if he could bring in some sort of healing pyramids to
place inside the water tanker that kept the
00:13:17
tree hydrated. And John said, "As long as
they aren't too big, I guess it's OK."
00:13:26
By June, the Austin Police Department had become
interested in a man named Paul Stedman Cullen who
00:13:32
worked at a farm supply store and had easy access
to Velpar. They learned about Cullen after a woman
00:13:38
named Cindy Blanco came forward and said she'd
seen two containers of Velpar in the back of
00:13:44
Cullen's truck. They went to the same methadone
clinic and sometimes he would give her a ride.
00:13:50
She also told police that Cullen was
infatuated with their methadone counselor,
00:13:54
a woman who was not interested in Cullen.
John Giedraitis: She was in love with someone
00:14:01
else. She had her own life and all of
that business. So he went to the library,
00:14:05
took out a book on the black arts, and cast a
spell under the tree, creating a magic circle.
00:14:13
That circle, of course, was with the herbicide,
not with ... I'm sure the book didn't have that
00:14:19
in it [Phoebe laughs], but that was his
interpretation. And then put something in
00:14:23
the circle, so that as the tree would die,
so would his love die for this woman.
00:14:27
Phoebe Judge: The police needed evidence and
asked Cindy Blanco to wear a wire. She agreed,
00:14:33
and when Cullen picked her up, she got him to
speak about the poisoned tree. He told her that
00:14:40
if he had to do it all over again he probably
wouldn't because, he said, he likes trees.
00:14:45
He was arrested on June 29th, on a felony
criminal mischief charge. Because he had
00:14:52
a previous felony conviction for burglary,
he was facing a possible life sentence.
00:14:57
Did you go to Cullen's trial? Did you testify?
John Giedraitis: Well, I was in the trial. They
00:15:03
had me on the stand as an expert witness on
the value of the tree. And when you're called
00:15:11
to witness, you can't sit in the trial and watch,
because I really wanted to sit in there and watch
00:15:14
it. I wanted to see why did this guy do this,
what's this all about, and how do you get justice
00:15:21
for a crime like this? But they wouldn't let me
sit in there. They said, "No, you're a witness,
00:15:26
you can't hear anything. You can't sit in here."
Phoebe Judge: You just showed your true colors,
00:15:31
because you said, "How do you get justice
for something like this?" Which is really
00:15:36
something a tree guy would say, because
a non-tree person would say, "Well, I guess maybe you'd give him a fine and maybe put
him in jail." But you're a real tree guy, "How
00:15:43
do you get justice for something like this?"
John Giedraitis: Well, it's a little different
00:15:47
down here than it is in other areas of
the country. What it is down here is if somebody ... You can shoot somebody dead in
the street, OK? I mean, literally, it's the
00:16:01
Wild West. If you go out there and you have a
gunfight, and you shoot him dead in the street,
00:16:04
well, that's OK. You're having a gunfight. But
if you steal somebody's horse, what happens?
00:16:10
They hang you. So property crimes are very, very
serious in Texas law, going back all the way to
00:16:18
the beginning of Texas.
Bob Perkins: There were people in Austin
that said, "This is not worth
00:16:24
it. This is just a tree."
Phoebe Judge: Bob Perkins was the judge for Paul Cullen's trial.
Bob Perkins: You know, "We have people
00:16:32
getting killed and stuff, that's the kind of thing
we ought to be spending time on in the courts. We
00:16:37
shouldn't be worried about someone killing
a tree." But this is the thing, the deal is,
00:16:45
if we were not going to protect that tree,
then you could just declare open season on
00:16:53
all trees, because you wouldn't defend any.
Phoebe Judge: The prosecution argued that Cullen
00:17:00
had poisoned the tree in a ritual to try to kill
his love for the methadone counselor, like Cindy
00:17:05
Blanco said. But also, to try to get back at the
state of Texas for putting him in prison before.
00:17:12
Defense attorneys argued that Cullen had, "low
self-esteem and that everything that he told
00:17:18
Cindy Blanco was a lie. He was just
bragging to try to impress her." Bob Perkins: First of all, it's not likely
that a woman's going to be impressed by a guy
00:17:27
that poisons a good-looking tree. That's not
very logical. But the second thing is if you
00:17:34
did poison it, you'd pretty much try to remain
anonymous anyway, so how are you going to get
00:17:39
credit for something if you do it anonymously?
So there's a lot of problems with that theory.
00:17:46
In my mind, he was getting back for the time
that he had to do in the penitentiary before.
00:17:51
That's what I always believed.
Phoebe Judge: I'm sure the answer to this is ... I'm sure this will
not elicit a response from you,
00:18:01
but as a judge, you have to kind
of be impartial and sit up there, but it seems like this is the type of case where
you might just want to look at this guy and say,
00:18:10
"You know what? You're an idiot."
Bob Perkins: [Laughs.] Yeah. Well, I think, according to my theory, he's not so much
idiotic. He was actually very ... He actually
00:18:26
did exact a big amount of revenge against
the state of Texas by doing what he did,
00:18:31
but it was a very strange case and a very unique
case. I mean, this concept about somebody killing
00:18:41
a tree and then getting prosecuted for it is
just not, I mean ... that just doesn't happen
00:18:46
at all. I mean, you never hear about that.
Phoebe Judge: Cullen was found guilty of second
00:18:51
degree criminal mischief and sentenced to nine
years in prison and a thousand-dollar fine.
00:18:57
Right after the conviction, he told
reporters that when he got out, he'd open a nightclub and call it the Velpar
Spot. As for the Treaty Oak, a third of it was
00:19:07
dead. After many months of work, a lot of Ross
Perot's money, plus the Maalox and chicken soup,
00:19:14
John and his team decided to try a hail Mary.
John Giedraitis: We said, "Well, if the tree is
00:19:20
using up its energy, what would happen if we just
put more energy into the tree?" So we did that. We
00:19:26
injected the tree with a giant IV full of sugar.
I mean, it wasn't research, we don't know if it
00:19:34
worked or not, so it didn't hurt it, we hope.
Phoebe Judge: They also started collecting
00:19:40
hundreds of cuttings from the tree's twigs and
roots, and sending them all across Texas with the
00:19:46
hope that someone could make one of them
sprout into what would become a new tree.
00:19:51
And one of the cuttings took. It started growing
like wild, and John saw an opportunity.
00:19:57
John Giedraitis: When the tree roots from live
oaks grow together after a couple of years,
00:20:02
they actually fuse together and become a single
root system. So we put that tree next to it,
00:20:09
to act as a nurse tree, literally a nurse
tree. So as it would grow good and healthy,
00:20:14
it was in good, clean, fresh soil, it
would graft to the old, to the mother tree,
00:20:18
and that's what actually happened. It's grafted
together and it's supplied nutrients to the tree,
00:20:25
so the mother tree looks great, and the baby
tree looks great. So they're both surviving,
00:20:30
they're both are doing great, and I'd say we
got another couple hundred years out of them.
00:20:36
Phoebe Judge: Paul Cullen only served three years of his sentence.
He died in California in 2001. He was 57.
00:20:49
So in the long life of the 500-year-old tree, Paul Cullen was actually just a dot.
[Upbeat, optimistic piano music.]
00:21:06
Criminal is produced by Lauren Spohrer and
me. Audio mix by Rob Byers. Julienne Alexander
00:21:12
makes original illustrations for each episode of
Criminal. You can see them at thisiscriminal.com.
00:21:19
Special thanks to Alice Wilder and Chelsea
Korynta, and also to Colby Ricks. Criminal is recorded in the studios of North
Carolina Public Radio, WUNC. We are a proud member
00:21:31
of Radiotopia from PRX. And as we begin 2016, we
want to say thank you to everyone who donated to
00:21:37
the Radiotopia fall campaign, especially designer
and illustrator Jez Burrows whose most recent
00:21:43
project, Dictionary Stories, is a collection
of very short stories entirely composed from
00:21:48
example sentences from the dictionary. Find it
at dictionarystories.com. Radiotopia from PRX is
00:21:55
supported by the Knight Foundation and Mailchimp,
celebrating creativity, chaos, and teamwork.
00:22:00
I'm Phoebe Judge, this is Criminal.
Jingle: Radiotopia. From PRX.