EXCERPTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF MYRTLE POOR BEAR
(Note: The court never permitted a jury to hear this testimony)
U.S. vs LEONARD PELTIER – TRIAL TRANSCRIPT
Case Number CR77-3003
VOLUME 21
MR. TAIKEFF: Myrtle Poor Bear.
MYRTLE POOR BEAR, being first duly sworn on the sacred pipe, testified as follows:
MR. TAIKEFF: May I inquire, Your Honor?
THE COURT: You may inquire. …
Q: Last night did you tell me you were frightened?
A: Yes, I did.
Q: What were you frightened of?
A: I don’t know. I am scared of the Government.
THE COURT: What was her answer?
MR. TAIKEFF: I don’t know. I am scared of the Government.
Q (By Mr. Taikeff): Did anyone from the Government ever say anything to you to make you afraid?
A: The agents are always talking about Anna Mae.
Q: What did they say about Anna Mae?
A: Oh, they just would talk about that time she died.
Q: What did they say about it? You can tell the Judge, it is all right. (Counsel confer.)
MR. TAIKEFF: May counsel approach your Honor?
THE COURT: You may. (Whereupon, the following proceedings were had at the bench:)
MR. TAIKEFF: Your Honor, I would ask that your Honor briefly advise her that she is under oath and that you want to hear what she has to say providing it is the truth, and that she has nothing to fear by telling the truth. She is very frightened, your Honor. She told me last night she is afraid that she is going to be killed, and that’s why she is so upset at this particular moment.
MR. CROOKS: Yes, I suspect that she is afraid she is going to be killed. It sure isn’t from the FBI. Your Honor, I would object at the bench to going into anything concerning Anna Mae Aquash for the reasons — even on the offer of proof — it has no relevance or bearing to this matter whatsoever. I have no idea what she is going to say, but I think it is completely immaterial and I don’t see that there is any justification for going into that in any shape or form.
MR. TAIKEFF: Well, it influenced her conduct in the past in connection with this matter. I think it is highly relevant.
MR. LOWE: The FBI used it as a direct threat to her.
MR. CROOKS: I would ask counsel to state, first of all, what they intend to elicit on that. They certainly know what she is going to say.
MR. TAIKEFF: I will tell you what she told me last night. At first she refused to speak to me on the way back from the airport. Mr. Engelstein was a witness to all that went on, and finally she told me that the reason she didn’t want to talk is that she was afraid she was going to be killed; and I asked her, “Who are you afraid of?” and she said, “The agents,” and I said, “Why are you afraid of the agents?” and she said that they told her that they were going to do the same thing to her that happened to Anna Mae Aquash.
MR. CROOKS: This is so preposterous, your Honor, This is the same statement that counsel made in court two or three days ago that was supposed to have been made by the witness, and now he tells us it was said last night.
MR. TAIKEFF: That was based on what her sister told us. Her sister told us she was hiding away and that she was petrified, afraid of the agents.
MR. CROOKS: Your Honor, this is why the United States has been objecting to this matter going before the jury in any manner, shape or form.
MR. CROOKS: As far as I am concerned, the Anna Mae {4605} Aquash matter should not be inquired into in any manner, shape or form, it had nothing to do with this case or even these proceedings; and I think it is grossly prejudicial. I would assume that counsel is speaking for the galleries, not for the Court, because it has no relevance to even these proceedings.
MR. TAIKEFF: You can make that assumption. I am telling you that. According to what she has to say, that is what in part influenced her earlier conduct in connection with this matter. She volunteered that fact to me. …
Q: Did the FBI ever give you any money?
A: Yes, they did.
Q: How much and when?
A: I don’t remember, That time I was going to Iowa.
Q: That was for your travel expenses?
A: Right. …
Q: Did the agents ever talk to you about the possibility of your going to jail?
A: Yes, they did.
Q: What did they say about that?
A: (No response.)
Q: Please tell the judge what they said about that.
A: They said that I could go to jail for court conspiracy.
Q: Did they say what kind of conspiracy?
A: No, they didn’t.
Q: Did they say how long you could go to jail for?
A: About fifteen years.
Q: Anybody from the FBI ever talk to you about AIM or the American Indian Movement?
A: Yes. The agents did.
Q: What did they tell you about the American Indian Movement?
A: They told me that they were going to kill me. …
Q: Did Mr. Wood ever say anything about the subject of getting away with killing people?
A: I think he did.
Q: Do you recall what he said?
A: He said that they could get away with killing because they were agents.
Q: Did this have anything to do with signing the papers?
A: I don’t know.
[1977, Fargo, North Dakota]
“If I Don’t Cooperate”
“I remember Dave Price and Bill Wood, the two FBI agents, telling me about Anna Mae Aquash. Dave described her body to me. He said from what he had heard she had been burnt and her clothes put back on her and that after her clothes were put back on she was shot… he showed me pictures of the body and said that if I don’t cooperate this is what may happen to me… the two FBI agents constantly reminded me of what happened to Anna Mae Aquash. And every so often the FBI agents showed me pictures of Anna Mae Aquash’s body and I was really scared… Bill Wood said that all the way along he knew that the body found on Pine Ridge was Anna Mae’s body but that he had had her hands severed from her body and sent to Washington for identification and to verify his own observations.”
– Myrtle Poor Bear
[Quote from May 11, 1977 affidavit of Myrtle Poor Bear stating that her previous affidavits against Leonard Peltier were false and signed under duress as a result of FBI coercion and intimidation]
See also:
Anna Mae Pictou Aquash: Warrior and Community Organizer
Leonard Peltier’s Trial Statements Regarding Anna Mae Pictou Aquash (1977)
Leonard Peltier Regarding the Anna Mae Pictou Aquash Investigation (1999-2007)