If He Only Had a Brain: Crime Boss Russell Means Says He Promised Not to Tell Who Ordered the Anna Mae Aquash Murder

"Even in the Rapid City courtroom where Pictou Maloney has attended the trials of two men charged in her mother's murder, she said none of her mother's fellow American Indian Movement members have come over to say hello.

'My mother was abandoned in her life by those people," Pictou Maloney said, 'so why would that change in death?'"---"Aquash daughter speaks out, says trial confirms AIM members killed her mother," by Heidi Bell Gease, Rapid City Journal (4-22-10)

News from Indian Country has posted an amazing video (4-21-2010). [See their twitters and newspaper.]

Denise Pictou Maloney, one of the two adult daughters of murder victim Anna Mae Aquash, was interviewed by reporters about the trial of Richard Marshall, who is accused of providing the gun that was used in the 1975 murder of Anna Mae.

In the News from Indian Country video (4-21-10), Denise Pictou Maloney revealed that she had recently spoken with Dick Marshall's former crime boss Russell Means and that Means told her that he knew who ordered her mother's murder but that he had promised not to tell until that person was dead.

According to News from Indian Country, however, in 1999 Russell Means and former University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill called a press conference in Denver to make a statement about the involvement of Clyde and Vernon Bellecourt in ordering the execution of Aquash. Russell Means claimed that Clyde Bellecourt took a phone call from his brother, the late Vernon Bellecourt, and then issued an order for her murder.

Russell Means said:

The reason I called for this press conference for my participation is to tell the world, about the leadership of the American Indian Movement at that time, was well aware of what happened to Anna Mae, and two of the leaders ordered her death. Vernon Bellecourt made the phone call to the house on Rosebud, which.....[Means gets emotional]...is my brother’s house...and Clyde Bellecourt took the call from Vernon and then issued the order for her death, for her murder...

...[I]t was Vernon Bellecourt who ordered her death.

One of the three that took Anna Mae to her death has told me that it was Vernon Bellecourt and that’s why I’m coming forth, now up until April of this year, I was out of that loop about what went down with Anna Mae and I do not know why, except the fact, they knew I would do something to clear AIM’s name. [See The Denver Press Conference: Russell Means fingers Bellecourts - November 3, 1999]

Isn't it a little disingenuous of Russell Means to say he “promised not to tell” who ordered Anna Mae's execution if he already told in the 1999 press conference?

The former FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph Trimbach and his son John Trimbach describe the 1999 press conference in front of the Denver federal court building in their book Amerian Indian Mafia:

Means stood next to Ward Churchill, while the former professor of Indian Studies accused the FBI of conspiring to murder Anna Mae Aquash. They also accused their former ally, Vernon Bellecourt, of being a government spy. As Churchill spewed his usual hate-inspiring venom, Means nodded approvingly, and at the key moment provided the wayward teacher with another appropriately misleading proclamation. "They know who the murderers are," Means whispered in his friend's ear. Churchill immediately barked the words out loud for the cameras, hoping the crowd of onlookers would be fooled by the word "they," as if to suggest, one more time, that the FBI had engaged in a murder cover up.

The plain truth is that Russell Means has known for a long time the identities of the guilty...(American Indian Mafia, p. 469).

Denise Pictou Maloney, a very articulate, dignified woman, sums up what we have learned from Dick Marshall's trial and says that some people need to step up and take responsibility for her mother's murder. I think that Denise must take after her mother Anna Mae. Certainly her moving, dignified, and bitter-sweet perspective is a beautiful tribute to her mother's memory.

Today, Heidi Bell Gease of the Rapid City Journal (4-22-10) also captured Denise Pictou Maloney's perspective on the trial in a very poignant and beautifully-written article. This account is based on an interview with Bell Gease:

Aquash daughter speaks out, says trial confirms AIM members killed her mother

In a way, Denise Pictou Maloney said, she isn't surprised that people who claim to have been friends of her late mother, Annie Mae Aquash, have never contacted her family.

Even in the Rapid City courtroom where Pictou Maloney has attended the trials of two men charged in her mother's murder, she said none of her mother's fellow American Indian Movement members have come over to say hello.

"My mother was abandoned in her life by those people," Pictou Maloney said, so why would that change in death?

It's ironic that the only person Pictou Maloney said has ever contacted Aquash's family is also the only person convicted of her murder.

"(Arlo Looking Cloud) was the only one in 28 years that ever bothered to contact Annie Mae Aquash's family," Pictou Maloney said, noting that she has spoken to his relatives in court.

As for AIM leaders and members, "their silence speaks volumes to our family and our (Mi'kmaq) Territory."

Pictou Maloney said her mother believed strongly in AIM and its ideals at the movement's inception -- so strongly that she left two young daughters she loved with family and traveled from her native Nova Scotia, Canada, to South Dakota to take part in the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation.

"It was always about the truth for her," she said. "She stood up for them. She protested."

Pictou Maloney said it is painful to find that some in AIM have been more concerned about protecting the organization than about finding justice for Aquash.

"What became very apparent to me was the fear factor" involved, she said. "We are so grateful to those that have had the courage to stand up and come forward and speak the truth."

Regardless of the verdict in this week's trial of Vine Richard "Dickie" Marshall, Pictou Maloney said her family feels that the trial has been a step toward justice for her mother. For one thing, she said it has reaffirmed evidence that AIM members -- not federal authorities -- were the ones that killed her mother. "That negates all the conspiracy theorists," she said.

Meanwhile, Pictou Maloney said she clings fiercely to memories of the mother she lost when she was just 11 years old. Aquash was a good mother who instilled her daughters with strong morals and values, Pictou Maloney said.

She vividly remembers her mother telling her, "Don't ever lie. She said to always tell the truth."

Pictou Maloney said she also remembers her mother's last visit home to Canada. At that time, Pictou Maloney said, Aquash had already been interrogated by AIM members who suspected her of being a government informant. Federal officials said she was not an informant.

"I think she knew things weren't going to go well," Pictou Maloney said. "She asked me to look after my younger sister."

More than 35 years have passed since then. But Pictou Maloney said she still holds out hope that the truth about her mother -- who in life put so much emphasis on truth -- will eventually catch up with those responsible for Aquash's death.

"I guess they underestimated my mother's abilities ... and her spirit," she said.

"Because it will come full circle, as so it should."

Contact Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com