Posted on 03/07/2008 7:42:56 AM PST by pissant
The mayor of an Arkansas town resigned on Wednesday, claiming he was abducted and brainwashed by Satan worshippers nearly three decades ago.
Centerton Mayor Ken Williams said he has been living under an assumed name for nearly 30 years. He had been mayor since 2001.
Williams told authorities he was born Don LaRose and that in the mid-1970s, he was a preacher in Indiana. He said he was abducted and brainwashed into forgetting all about his life as Don LaRose.
It was a double-life he had never acknowledged, Williams said, because he didn't even realize it existed until he had recently taken a truth-serum injection.
As Williams regained his memory, he said, he realized that he had a wife and two kids but that he had decided to leave and take on a new identity to protect them.
"I had no choice. The choice was to watch my family killed before my eyes or go with these people, and I chose instead to run," Williams said.
He wouldn't explain from who he was running, saying only that he had been brainwashed.
"I had multiple shock treatments," Williams said. "It took five years to get my memory back."
Williams said he took his current identity in 1980 when he moved to Centerton. His full name -- Bruce Kent Williams -- was taken from a man who died in a car crash back in 1958, he said.
"What happened in 1980 -- whether it was right or wrong -- I did it under the threat of my family and for my own survival," he said.
The information went public, Williams said, because he runs a Web site about Don LaRose and his disappearance. LaRose's former family found the Web site and started inquiring about its author. They found the site registered to a Ken Williams and went from there.
Williams said his current wife is standing by him and the two of them want to continue living in Centerton. He said he plans to continue living as Ken Williams.
Also, his resignation was signed with two names, he said.
According to police, Williams is under no investigation for any wrongdoing.
Dontcha just HATE it when that happens?
Seems common, in arkansas anyway.
Doesn’t he play the drums in Mike Huckabee’s band?
“Can you describe these devil worshippers, Mr. LaRose?”
Kinda Valjeanesque, becoming a mayor like that.
Ha!
Kinda “Twin Peaks” too,
Though I’ll have to check with my log.
Was he the mayor of Hope?
“...recently taken a truth-serum injection.”
Hmm.
Only in Arkansas. ....How did it come about that he needed to take a truth serum injection anyway? I thought politicians generally avoided anything with the word “truth” in it.
One more dose of that “truth serum” oughta do it.
Who is Vlajean?
The owls are not what they seem...
Hell yeah, they got me just last week. It caused me to miss my cousin's wedding!
I sure can.
One was the governor of Arkansas, and went on to become the worst president in US history. The other was his wife.
This one time, at band camp...
Hero of Les Miserables. Escaped some godawful French prison and changed his identity, turned over new leaf, became mayor, did much good. :)
I think I would have gone with the dog ate my birth certificate excuse.
“According to police, Williams is under no investigation for any wrongdoing.”
Oh, so there’s nothing wrong with fraud, illegally marrying twice, tax evasion, getting high on truth serum, or running for office under a fake identity?
Only in Arkansas.
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