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Part 3 of 4
Day 3 - Morning
PRELIMINARY NOTES
The day began at 9:00 PM sharp. Judge Piersoll (curly gray hair and glasses,
thin, very quiet and hard to hear — also hard to read him) without the Jury
present, did a lengthy ruling on what "hearsay" is, quoting AMAHI vs. US as
a precedent, saying, "The truth of the matter asserted is not hearsay."
Then the Jury came in, looking nervous and very serious.
DENISE MALONEY, Annie's oldest daughter, was called in by the Prosecution
first — very impressive I thought, with black long hair and a strong intelligent
voice. She was there with her sister and the chief of
their Nation. She mostly related an April 2002 phone call to her and Debbie
from Paul DeMain and Richard Two Elk, saying that Arlo wanted to talk to
them. After discussing it because they "didn't like to talk to anybody
publicly," they decided to talk to Arlo because Two Elk was Arlo's "brother"
(a false representation which Rensch exposed later in the Trial when Two
Elk took the stand), and because DeMain vouched for them. Arlo got on the
phone
and said, "He felt sad he hadn't called. Angie, Theda, and John Boy
were calling her — my mother — a federal agent," relating what Arlo
said. "He
said John Boy did it, but he wasn't present. He felt bad, he said." That
was about it. Short but powerful, a very impressive and prestigious witness.
Although it does raise the contradiction that Arlo claimed to not be
present.
CANDY HAMILTON was called next, far less impressive. She's often quoted as a
good friend of Anna Mae's, and yet she didn't seem to know much or add much.
She had only come in to the WKLDOC office in Rapid City on Thursday,
December 11, 1975, on her way to Russell Means' trial in Sioux Falls (even
though Rapid City is hardly on the way to Sioux Falls). She said, "We stayed
at Thelma Rios' and her mother's apartment around Maple Street, in North
Rapid, the Alphabelle Apartments. It was Thelma's mother's apartment, I
think. Thelma was in the process of moving in. She had been in a house on
Milwaukee... Thelma and Kathy's... then Dave Hill came in where we were
visiting in the kitchen, he just walked in and sat down. Soon after that I
went to bed, and in the morning I heard Bruce Ellison's voice downstairs.
Back at the WKLDOC House [712 Allen St.] we saw Bruce, Anna Mae, Lorelei and
Ted Means, Clyde Bellecourt, Madonna, and Thelma... I ran into Annie in the
kitchen where she was getting a cup of coffee. She had tears in her eyes and
was very unhappy."
Mandel interrupted her and was very interested in Thelma's apartment and
house, showing photos of them and spending a lot of time going over the
front and back doors, where the kitchen was, etc., circling a front window
of the Allen St. house (which is still there, looking very much like it did
then).
Candy continued, "By then, the next evening of the 11th, I didn't see
Annie." She said she then went to Sioux Falls via the Rosebud Reservation
with Ted and Clyde and somebody else she didn't know, emphasizing again that
she was going to Russell's Trial. When she talked to people about Anna Mae
over the following years, she quoted Madonna Gilbert as saying, "We just
told her (Annie) to get out of there." Candy started to say, "I heard Bruce
at Thelma's say ..." (but then Rensch objected and stopped the comment, he
and the State approached the bench for a long talk, as they did 3 or 4 times
during the day).
Rensch then brought up, "John Stewart, an FBI Informant, said Annie was an
informant, correct?"
Candy, "In October or November of '75, I heard that, yes, at Oglala."
Rensch, "You heard she was an informant? But still you were her friend and
talked to her casually in the Allen St. house in the kitchen that night?
Miss Hamilton, you never dreamed she'd be killed?"
"No."
"She didn't ask for help or to call the police?"
"No."
Rensch did a good job of showing how Anna Mae could have run out of these
places anytime, but she didn't. He also demonstrated Hamilton's limited
knowledge of the matter.
JEANNETTE EAGLE HAWK was called next. McMahon asked her briefly about
December 10 at the WKLDOC House. She said, "I saw Thelma, Bruce, Clyde,
Lorelei and Ted, and several legal workers in there." That was all. She was
not allowed to go anywhere but the kitchen.
CLEO BATES was called next. She was married to Richard Marshall for 6 years
then, in Allen. She said Anna Mae came to her house. "Theda, Arlo, and John
brought the girl in. Anna was real quiet. Dick went with them in the bedroom
and then came out and said they wanted us to keep her there. I said no.
People were saying Annie Mae was an informer. And so they left."
Rensch, "You never dreamed something bad would happen to her?"
"No. Dick was on his release from his trial."
It can be assumed that perhaps they were trying to protect her, as she
wasn't tied up, and Cleo did not believe Anna Mae to be at risk. This would
be in keeping with John's assertion that he was with Anna Mae while she
looked for a safe place to stay on the Pine Ridge Reservation. And again,
she could have run out the front door if she wanted to flee. It also seems
very significant that this is connected to Richard Marshall who, as you
probably know, is closely connected with Russell Means and the murder trial
a few months later in which Myrtle Poor Bear signed affidavits damning
Marshall for murder (just like she did against Peltier) at the exact same
time in February 1976 that the body, allegedly of Anna Mae, was found.
RICHARD TWO ELK was called next. He came in, almost bald, waving eagle
feather fans to swear to, and immediately argued with Rensch and insulted
him. He said he was an educational consultant. It got very heated and ugly,
and the audience was laughing outright at his absurdities by the end of a
long hassle of a testimony.
An AIM member from 1970 - 1975, he said he lived in Denver and Iowa. He is
not a blood relation of Arlo. "Graham was a friend of me and Arlo in 74 to
76 in AIM. 75 and 76 for certain. In 1994, from Federal Holding, we (Arlo)
talked. He got out of jail. Mid to late 80s we talked. At his aunt's house
in Denver. He told me in South Dakota they went out looking for somewhere to
go, to kill Anna Mae. Arlo told me they were trying to find somewhere to go.
To stop. They got out of the vehicle, John Boy and Annie Mae." His story
would change often, whether they went to Rosebud or not, for example."
Rensch: "What school did you teach at?"
Two Elk: "I can't divulge that."
Rensch: "When did you live in Iowa?"
Two Elk: "70, 73, 74."
Rensch: " Did you ever live in the same place with Arlo?"
Two Elk: "At Troy Lynn's, 73, 71."
Then they had an incredible argument raising their voices because Rensch
said his statements were inconsistent, and Two Elk asked, "What's
consistent?" It was ridiculous. He made little sense, which was obvious to
everyone present — surprising considering he was a major witness for the
State. Rensch said, "Your answers are often inconsistent." Two Elk fired
back sarcastically, "All answers are different."
Rensch: "You don't like AIM do you?"
Two Elk: " I couldn't say that."
Rensch: " Who are your blood brothers. Directly related brothers with the
same mother and father?"
Two Elk: "Umm...what is the value of that to this case?" He finally said,
Aaron Two Elk.
Rensch: "The truth of the matter, sir, you'll do anything to hurt AIM." He
then quoted some of Two Elk's Grand Jury testimony, "You asked him 'Did you
commit murder, Arlo,' and he said no."
Two Elk: "I can't tell you that."
Rensch: "You said it in the Grand Jury, it's right here in the transcript."
Two Elk: " You say. I wouldn't say that."
Rensch: "You're making this up as you go, aren't you?"
Two Elk: No answer.
Rensch: "DeMain's given you money. You love this man, he's your brother?" he
asked, pointing to Arlo.
Two Elk: "Yes."
Rensch: "Did Arlo tell you it was a .38 pistol?"
Two Elk: "Yes."
Rensch: "It was a .32. What he really told you at Troy Lynn's was that he
went to Rapid city and stayed in an abandoned apartment with his old friend
Tony Red Cloud. Did Arlo tell you that?"
Two Elk: "No."
They had another long heated argument about how many times Arlo talked to
Two Elk about Anna Mae. Two Elk changed his story as fast as they talked.
People were laughing by then. Two Elk said, "Depends on which time the
conversation changed. We talked many many times over a lot of years. 30 to
40 percent of the time Arlo said, 6 times, possibly a dozen."
Rensch: "Huh?"
Then Two Elk started laughing.
Rensch: "Is this funny to you, sir?"
Two Elk: " No, you're funny to me."
No more questions, and the Judge abruptly told him he was dismissed. Some of
the jurors had smiles on their faces.
JOHN TRUDELL was called next. He primarily related only one conversation
with Arlo and Troy Lynn on the street in Denver in 1988, in which Arlo
confessed to him the same story.
He said he last saw Anna Mae in Los Angeles in September. "She was
concerned, mostly angry, at the accusations. Three of us stayed with her for
security, to protect her. But somebody called — I don't know who — and she
flew back to Denver. That was the last time I saw her or heard from her,
except for the ring she sent White Bear a month or so later."
The most important thing he said, I think, which he said several times
emphatically, was that "it all hinges at that house (in Rapid City).
Somebody was telling them what to do. When they came out of that house they
were under instructions to kill her. They were not decision-makers. They
wouldn't have done it on their own. It's not something they thought up on
their own."
Day 3 - Afternoon
Robert Ecoffey was the only witness on the Stand this afternoon.
Ecoffey: "Gladys Bisonette gave me the name of Al Gates, which led me to
Arlo Looking Cloud in '93. Ligature marks on Anna Mae's wrists clearly
indicated to me she was tied up, and they weren't from a bracelet. Detective
Abe Alonzo called me from Denver on September 6, 1994, and said he had Arlo
in custody on local charges. I went to Denver and interviewed Arlo, where he
said he didn't know anything. He wasn't even in Denver," he said, in
December 1975.
But Denver Police said they had records Arlo was stopped on December 15,
1975 for a violation. They'd drop local charges if he'd cooperate in the
homicide investigation of Anna Mae. Arlo was then taken to South Dakota on
July 24, 1995, in custody again on local charges — he did not come
voluntarily. Ecoffey said Anna Mae had been taken to Knollwood Apartments in
Rapid City, tied up, to the abandoned apartment on a hill. No one was living
there at the time.
Arlo: "No, I didn't take her to the WKLDOC office (after Ecoffey prodded him
to say so, after Mandel prodded Ecoffey to prod Arlo)."
Ecoffey: "Alonzo, Ianucci, and I took Arlo to Wanblee, in custody in a US
Marshal's vehicle, and he agreed to a re-enactment, 3 miles north of the
Junction of 79 and 44. 'I fired the gun,' Arlo said."
Ecoffey: "We located the weapon. It was buried under a bridge between
Interior and Wanblee. We stopped and looked for it but couldn't find it."
Then they showed the VIDEOTAPE of Arlo's "confession" in the Denver Police
Department last March 27, 2003, which Judge Piersoll told the Jury "is
evidence, but the transcript of it is not." It was, frankly, sickening to
watch, how Abe Alonzo was obviously leading Arlo to make statements,
coercing him, etc. Arlo stated that he was still unclear and under the
influence of alcohol, and yet there they are, getting his signed and
videotaped narrative of everything.
Cop: "Do you have a home address?"
Arlo: "No."
Cop: "Will you voluntarily talk?"
Arlo: "Yes. [He then signs 2 documents]
Cop: "Let's start back at Troy Lynn's."
Arlo: "I don't know the date or anything, we were friends. I went to see Joe
Morgan. Theda was there, Troy Lynn, I never met John before. They said go to
the basement."
Cop: "Have we made any threats or promises to you here today?"
Arlo: "No."
Cop: "Are you under the influence of drugs or alcohol?"
Arlo: "A little bit of alcohol."
Cop: "Did you meet John Boy Graham or Patton in the basement?"
Arlo: "Yes, I guess. I never met him before. We stayed down there and the
girl woke up on the couch."
Cop: "Was that Anna Mae?"
Arlo: "I don't know. I never met her."
Cop: "When you went to Rapid City, did Theda know where to take her?"
Arlo: "I guess. She was driving."
Cop: "John tied her up then?"
Arlo: "I guess so." [He's barely coherent and muttering, very unsure of
himself.]
Cop: "Where was Theda?"
Arlo: "She went and got the keys for the house."
Cop: "Tell us what you know and I'll fill in the blanks."
Arlo: "We went somewhere on Rosebud, at some house."
Cop: "Was that at Kills place?"
Arlo: "I don't know. I was never there."
Cop: "So you kept her tied up?"
Arlo: "I don't think she was tied up."
Cop: "When was she tied up?"
Arlo: "I don't know."
Cop: "Theda said, 'Go with John Boy," when you stopped the car?"
Arlo: "It was getting toward morning on the road from Wanblee back to Rapid.
It was getting kind of blue outside."
Cop: "John Boy and Annie got out?"
Arlo: "Yeah. John Boy pulled out a pistol. He put it at her head. He shot
her in the head. She was praying. He gave me the gun. I thought he was going
to kill me."
Cop: "She got shot and fell over the cliff?"
Arlo: "Yeah."
Cop: "Was it a revolver?"
Arlo: "Yeah, I think so."
Cop: "Who untied her?"
Arlo: "I don't know."
Cop: "Why was she shot?"
Arlo: "I don't know."
Cop: "Did Theda say she was an informant?"
Arlo: "I don't know."
Cop: "On the way to Rapid City from Denver you had stopped at Allen at
Richard Marshall's."
Arlo: "No."
Cop: "I know for a fact you did."
Arlo: "No, I don't remember that."
Cop: "You remember that?"
Arlo: "No."
Cop: "I want you to think about, that Cleo said you and John Boy and Theda
and Dick went in the bedroom. They asked if you could leave Anna Mae there,
but Cleo said no. I need you to be truthful."
Arlo: "No."
Cop: "Do you remember seeing Thelma Rios at the house in Rapid City?"
Arlo: "No."
Cop: "Do you remember seeing David Hill there? Do you know David Hill?"
Arlo: "No."
Cop: "I know you know these people."
Arlo: "No."
Cop: "She was tied up?"
Arlo: "I don't think she was."
Cop: "You said John Boy untied her."
Arlo: "I don't know."
The Prosecution rested its case. Rensch moved for an acquittal because he
said the Prosecution had prejudiced the jury against AIM. Judge Piersoll
denied.
AGENT PRICE was called, but was only asked a few brief questions as to
whether he had developed informants in AIM, and whether Ann a Mae was an
informant. He said they did in fact develop undercover informants, but that
Anna Mae was not one of them.
Rensch rested his case.
An impression of the whole day is that Arlo's so-called "confession" is the
State's case, while using prestigious and impressive witnesses like Anna
Mae's daughter and Trudell who are being presented as saying these things
themselves, but are actually just repeating what Arlo told them much later,
in 1988 and 2002, replete with significant contradictions. As National
Director of AIM, it is surprising that this was all Trudell could say. He
actually said at one point, "No one really knew what happened." He also said
he had Sundanced with John Graham in the Spring of 1976, which would be only
a month or two after John had allegedly killed Anna Mae. It doesn't make
sense. But John Trudell and Denise seem to be buying into it, without really
knowing very much about the case.