Cocked and Loaded

Murder While Intoxicated and the Path Back to Humanity

AFTER TEN YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT for fatally shooting a man during an alcoholic blackout, Richard Broom offers the confessions of an alcoholic through his frank, unvarnished, and darkly funny memoir Cocked and Loaded. Paying the ultimate price for his lifetime of addiction—the life of another—this poignant tale takes readers on the ultimate road to redemption; finding recovery and healing inside prison; making peace with the repercussions of his disease and actions; and finding a place and purpose in life after murder.

Broom's ability to expose himself and admit in gross detail his sins and crimes will both haunt and inspire as he shines a sharply focused light on the life and mind-set of an addict.

Murder While Intoxicated and the Path Back to Humanity

AFTER TEN YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT for fatally shooting a man during an alcoholic blackout, Richard Broom offers the confessions of an alcoholic through his frank, unvarnished, and darkly funny memoir Cocked and Loaded. Paying the ultimate price for his lifetime of addiction—the life of another—this poignant tale takes readers on the ultimate road to redemption; finding recovery and healing inside prison; making peace with the repercussions of his disease and actions; and finding a place and purpose in life after murder.

Broom's ability to expose himself and admit in gross detail his sins and crimes will both haunt and inspire as he shines a sharply focused light on the life and mind-set of an addict.

Richard Broom grew up in Albany, New York. He is a recovering alcoholic with more than twenty-three years of sobriety. In 1982, he was arrested for murder. He believes that prison and Alcoholics Anonymous saved his life. In 1997, he began working for Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches, Inc. (FL), where he continues to share his story of horror and delusion under the influence of addiction, and to celebrate the joy of his new life today.