(2 of 2)
But Brother Jim didn't surrender that day at the RV. He watched his freedom unraveling from the shadows of the Pace Arrow motor home. A fugitive who had just surrendered--Randy Halprin--suggested to the surrounding police that Brother Jim would like to call his father. A cell phone was offered, via police bullhorn. There was no response from the man in the Pace Arrow. Then gunshots were heard. When authorities entered the motor home, they found Brother Jim dead, a suicide note placed on the pages of an open Bible.
A day later, up in the RV-park owner's office, Gina Holder watched from a window. She and her husband will probably snag a part of the $500,000 reward. But she isn't thinking about that now. Sister Gina is doing a five-minute interview--"just five minutes, that's all, five minutes"--and thinking about Brother Jim. "He was sweet, soft-spoken. They talked about how all seven of them traveled around, stopping at motels to take showers. They stayed in our premium site." And how would she gauge Brother Jim's sincerity, the man who left the open Bible as his last testament? "I'm sorry," she says, "I really haven't thought about that yet."
One wonders what passage Brother Jim marked at the end. When Elijah laid himself down and prepared to die, an angel of the Lord came visiting with freshly baked cake and gave Elijah the strength to carry on. When Brother Jim prepared to die, the angel of death apparently gave him the strength to pull the trigger twice. Both bullets pierced his heart.