3rd Man Jailed in Attack on Skater Kerrigan

The man suspected of carrying out the attack on Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan surrendered Friday to authorities in Arizona.

Shane Minoaka Stant, 22, of Chandler, Ariz., was charged with conspiracy to commit assault in the second degree and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Authorities allege the attack on Kerrigan was arranged by the bodyguard of figure skating champion Tonya Harding, one of Kerrigan’s rivals.

Stant surrendered in Phoenix and was being held in the Maricopa County Jail. He is the third person arrested so far in the attack, joining Shawn Eric Eckardt, 26, and Derrick Brian Smith, 29, who were arraigned Friday in Portland, Ore., and entered pleas of not guilty.

The pair were arrested in Portland Thursday night and charged with conspiracy to commit assault. Eckardt is Harding’s bodyguard. Bail for Eckardt and Smith was set at $20,000 each. Eckardt posted bail Friday night and was released.

Stant did not enter a plea in an appearance before a U.S. magistrate in Phoenix on Friday. He was appointed a public defender and ordered detained until a Wednesday hearing on extradition to Portland.

Meanwhile on Friday, Harding and her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, who have reconciled since their Aug. 28 divorce, were seen leaving their home outside Portland together, but they did not respond to questions from reporters. Harding later met with two attorneys, Robert Weaver and Chris Kovack.

According to an affidavit filed by the FBI, Stant conspired with others during a meeting in Portland in late December to injure Kerrigan in an attempt to prevent her from competing in last week’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which served as the Olympic trials, then flew to Detroit to commit the assault.

Kerrigan was struck on the right knee by a baton-wielding assailant shortly after a practice session on Jan. 6, the day before the championships, which Harding won.

An FBI spokesman called Stant “a paramilitary sort of guy who is familiar with weapons.”

The 24-year-old Kerrigan, who was waived onto the Olympic team by the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. even though she was forced to withdraw from the national championships, said Friday that she plans to return to practice at her Cape Cod, Mass., training rink within a few days and expects to be fit for the Olympics. The women’s competition begins in Lillehammer, Norway, on Feb. 23.

“I’m assuming I can do the program of my life,” said Kerrigan, a bronze medalist in the 1992 Games. “It’s up to the judges, not me. I’m really just focusing on my skating.”

Despite the swelling in her right knee, even Kerrigan seemed to be having difficulty grasping the reality of the situation after learning that the three men arrested since Thursday have a connection to Harding, her U.S. Olympic teammate.

“I can’t understand any explanation of why something like this would occur,” Kerrigan said at a news conference Friday outside her Stoneham, Mass., home. “I don’t think I could ever understand the answer because I can’t think that viciously.”

Asked how she will react to competing in the Winter Olympics with Harding, Kerrigan said: “I have nothing to say to her.”

Harding, however, has not been charged in the attack, and, although NBC News reported Friday night that she is under “active criminal investigation,” authorities denied that she is a suspect at this point.

“We are investigating everything,” said John Bradley, deputy district attorney for Multnomah County, Ore. “So, I mean, we are going to be as complete as we can. Whatever you make of that.”

The Detroit Free Press also quoted unnamed law enforcement officials as saying Harding was under investigation.

Weaver, Harding’s attorney, said Friday night that Harding was cooperating with the district attorney’s office.

“I do know that there are no charges outstanding,” Weaver said. “That was confirmed to me an hour ago in a meeting I had in the district attorney’s office. This continuous reporting by some people that there are charges outstanding needs to stop.

“She is quite exhausted by all of this. While she will be making a statement, she’s not prepared to do that today.”

Multnomah County Dist. Atty. Michael Schrunk would not disclose the roles believed to have been played by the three men in custody, but Fox News identified Smith as the driver of his nephew Stant’s getaway car.

Schrunk also would not say whether other arrest warrants would be filed.

According to NBC News, Eckardt has accused Harding of being involved in the “planning and cover-up” of the attack on Kerrigan. The Detroit Free Press reported that Eckardt, in an attempt to gather evidence that also would implicate Gillooly, planned to tape-record a meeting between the two earlier this week, but Gillooly did not show.

A Portland private investigator, Gary Crowe, said that he heard a recording of Gillooly and Eckardt planning the attack in an earlier conversation, but that tape has not been located. Also, an unidentified woman told Detroit police that she heard a recording a few months ago of a conversation involving four people who were discussing a possible assault on Kerrigan. The names of the four men were reported to the FBI.

Unless Harding, 23, is implicated in the attack, she will not be asked to relinquish her berth in the Olympics, U.S. Olympic Committee and U.S. Figure Skating Assn. officials said. She earned the berth by winning the national championship last Saturday night.

Times special correspondent Laura Laughlin in Phoenix contributed to this story.