LPDOC: The Case - Facts: Extradition

Mr. Leonard Peltier was arrested in Canada on February 6,1976. He was extradited from Canada in December on the basis of an affidavit signed by Myrtle Poor Bear, a Native American woman known to have serious mental health problems.

False Affidavits

Poor Bear claimed to have been Leonard Peltier’s girlfriend at the time of the shootings, and to have been present during the shoot-out and witnessed the killings.

Poor Bear Affidavits

Affidavit 1, dated

February 19, 1976.

Affidavit 2, dated

February 23, 1976.

Affidavit 3, dated

March 31, 1976.

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Affidavit 1. Here, Special Agents David Price and William Wood have Myrtle Poor Bear recount how it was she who overheard the planning of the Northwest AIM group to lure Special Agents Coler and Williams to their deaths in an ambush. Note that there is no claim Poor Bear witnessed the shoot-out, but that she heard Leonard Peltier order the agents killed beforehand, and that he later "confessed to her."

Affidavit 2. With this affidavit, Price and Wood have Poor Bear present herself as being Peltier's "girl friend," and as overhearing planning for an ambush. However, with this affidavit, Poor Bear is now presented as having witnessed Peltier killing the agents. Details on an escape route apparently were designed to explain away the Bureau's embarrassing inability to apprehend suspects at the scene of the shoot-out. Also note how the method of killing corresponds to the FBI's contrived "execution" scenario.

Affidavit 3. This affidavit was eventually submitted to the Canadian courts. Here, the agents totally abandoned the notion of Poor Bear's having overheard planning for an ambush. Instead they have her provide considerable detail as an "eyewitness." Note also the absence of any alleged confession on the part of Leonard Peltier.

Government Admission

Leonard Peltier was extradited from Canada to the United States.

Today, the government concedes that, in fact, Myrtle Poor Bear did not know Leonard Peltier, nor was she present at the time of the shooting. She later confessed she had given false statements after being pressured and terrorized by FBI agents. Myrtle Poor Bear sought to testify in this regard at Leonard Peltier’s trial. However, the judge barred her testimony on the grounds of mental incompetence.

In addition to being a violation of Leonard Peltier's rights, the United States government committed fraud on the court during the extradition proceedings and violated the sovereignty of Canada. The U.S. government has made no attempt to correct this wrong and, to date, the illegal extradition has not been corrected by the Canadian Court.