Chas Laughlin bio

Charles "Chas" Edward Laughlin, 60, was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the second-youngest of Rufus and Elsie Laughlin's eight children.

Elsie ran an unlicensed childcare center out of the family's battered double-wide trailer on the outskirts of Hattiesburg's low-end blue-collar section.

Rufus felt unappreciated every day of the 40 years he drove a Hattiesburg city bus. When he came home, first he drowned his resentment with cheap bourbon, then vented it on his wife or children—whoever was closest.

From a young age, Chas demonstrated an interest in cars, a desire to break free from poverty, and a willingness to take shortcuts to get ahead. As a boy, he often ditched school to do odd jobs at the garage near his home, which introduced him to auto maintenance and, according to his juvenile record, petty fraud. Working part-time at the station, he developed a knack for repairing cars and taking advantage of the unwary.

By the time Chas dropped out of school in the eighth grade, he was small-town street smart and well-versed in how to make a fast and dishonest buck. The only things holding him back were an explosive temper and a fondness for alcohol, both inherited from his father.

Teenaged Chas had numerous run-ins with the law, culminating on his 18th birthday, when he was arrested for beating one of the garage's employees who threatened to tell the owner that Chas was dipping into the till.

He spent 18 months in minimum security at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. He enrolled in the prison's automobile maintenance and repair program, where the other inmates gave him an advanced education in chop shops, "cooking the books," and more.

He also learned how to deal with squealers. When an inmate threatened to expose a booze-smuggling scheme, Chas allegedly helped six other prisoners beat the man unconscious and pack his body into a trash compactor. Chas was never charged in the incident.

Chas got out of Parchman with a GED, several mechanic's certificates, and a comprehensive list of criminal contacts. For the next decade, he worked at repair shops and garages across Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, always leaving town just before his scams were discovered.

In Tyler, Texas, he met JoAnna Deckard, a 24-year-old barmaid with three children by three previous boyfriends. They married two months after their child was born. Seven years later, while Chas was working at the TruService Auto Repair Shop in Oxford, JoAnna demanded that they settle down.

When the shop's aging owner became ill, Chas used his bookkeeping skills to persuade him that the shop was worth much less than it actually was, and he bought it for a fraction of its true value. Chas changed the name to Laughlin Automotive & Body Shop, and for the last twenty-odd years, he has put all he learned to work.

According to confidential informants, Chas maintains two sets of books to conceal profits from black market repair parts that his most trusted employees collect from chop shops across the South. If any of those employees try to cheat him, Chas has a zero-tolerance policy. Two of his mechanics were hospitalized after reportedly "falling off the lift," but insiders claim that Chas caught them stealing and punished them.

Although law enforcement has occasionally visited Chas over the years, he has avoided any return to Parchman.