Skateboarding is filled with cautionary tales. Josh Swindell’s is one of its most infamous. His story has been told elsewhere from multiple angles, but this is the first time that it’s been packaged as a podcast. How the events transpired on that summer night in ’93, which landed Swindell in jail for 20 years for murder, is still a matter of perspective. But the lessons remain the same: Drinking can be dangerous, and choose your friends wisely.
I was a full-blown alcoholic. I was 20 years old, and the local liquor store was running a tab for us. I wasn’t even old enough to buy beer…Everyday, I woke up drunk. Not hungover, drunk still. And I’d need to drink again. And that’s what I did. I tried to skate, and get a clip here and there, no contests at that time. I continued that disfunction right up until July 7, 1993. That was the night we ended up at a private party at a bar, and my life changed…
Listen to Swindell recount exactly what happened as he remembers it starting at the 11:42 mark above.