Tribal Activist Tied to Slaying

A woman who was killed in 1975 was afraid of American Indian Movement leaders immediately before her death, a witness testified Wednesday.

The testimony came at the trial of Arlo Looking Cloud, 50, a former AIM member accused of murder in Anna Mae Aquash’s death.

Looking Cloud is one of two former AIM members charged in Aquash’s kidnapping and death. The other man, John Graham, pleaded innocent and remains free on bond in Canada. He plans to fight extradition.

Prosecutors say that Aquash, who was part of the 1973 Indian takeover of Wounded Knee, was killed because AIM members thought she was a government spy.

AIM leaders have denied any involvement in her death.

But Darlene Nichols, the former wife of AIM leader Dennis Banks, testified that another AIM member, Leonard Peltier, said “he believed [Aquash] was a fed and that he was going to get some truth serum and give it to her so she would tell the truth.”

Nichols testified that she also heard that Peltier had “put a gun to her [Aquash’s] head and wanted to know if she was an informant.”

“She told him that if he believed that, he could go ahead and shoot,” Nichols said.

Nichols said she and Aquash shared a jail cell in the fall of 1975 when Aquash started talking about her fears. It was the last time she saw Aquash alive, Nichols said.

“She was upset, she was crying, she was afraid,” said Nichols. “I knew she was scared of Leonard and Dennis at that point.”

Nichols also told jurors that she was with Aquash when Peltier bragged about killing two FBI agents in 1975.

Peltier was found guilty of killing the agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is serving back-to-back life sentences. He has maintained his innocence, but appeals have failed to overturn the conviction.

Nichols cried when she told jurors that she was with Banks, Aquash and others when Peltier said one of the agents begged for his life but that he shot them anyway.

“He started talking about June 26 [1975] and he put his hand like this and started talking about the two FBI agents,” said Nichols, gesturing as though she was holding a gun.

In an interview Wednesday, Barry Bachrach, Peltier’s attorney, denied Nichols’ accusations.

“I’m not sure why she’s saying this. I’m not sure who put her up to it, but it is unequivocally false,” Bachrach told Associated Press. “This whole trial is about smearing ... AIM people and covering up history.”

Banks could not be reached for comment.

Federal agents have investigated Aquash’s death for years but did not make an arrest in the case until Looking Cloud was picked up March 27 in Denver.

Nichols, who had four children with Banks and separated from him in 1989, said she eventually decided to call the FBI and cooperate in the investigation into Aquash’s death.

“I started believing the American Indian Movement had something to do with it,” she said.

Looking Cloud’s lawyer, Tim Rensch, asked Nichols whether she stood to gain anything from her testimony through a book or movie deal. Nichols works in the movie industry.

He also asked her about how much the government had paid her to help with the case. Nichols testified that she had received $42,000 for her expenses of tape recording witnesses and moving around for her safety.