Prosecutor Says Witness Will Link Gun To Ratigan Opening Statements Given In Bombing Trial
A North Idaho man, who later helped the FBI, cut up an assault rifle used during domestic terrorism crimes in the Spokane Valley, a jury was told Friday.
Warren Day of Sandpoint was given an AK-47 assault rifle by Brian Ratigan and hid it for a time in a woodpile before cutting the weapon into pieces, said assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice.
Rice revealed those details during opening statements in the trial of Ratigan, a 38-year-old former Army sniper accused of taking part in the July 12, 1996, robbery of a U.S. Bank and bombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic.
When first interviewed, Day didn’t tell FBI agents about hiding and destroying Ratigan’s gun, Rice told the jury.
Later, after getting immunity from prosecution, Day told agents the details and helped FBI agents recover eight pieces of the assault rifle.
Ratigan is accused of conspiracy, bombing, bank robbery and two counts of using a firearm during a violent crime.
Authorities say he joined the conspiracy begun earlier with an April 1 bombing and bank robbery carried out by co-conspirators Charles Barbee, Robert Berry and Verne Jay Merrell.
The prosecutor said two government witnesses, Loren Berry and Day, are expected to testify that Ratigan admitted his involvement in the crimes to them.
But court-appointed defense attorney Terry Ryan told jurors that those government informers are lying.
Ratigan will take the stand, Ryan said, and testify that he wasn’t in Spokane on July 12 and will deny any involvement in the crimes.
Ratigan was arrested March 13, midway through the first trial, which ended with a hung jury.
Barbee, 45, Berry, 43, and Merrell, 52, all of Sandpoint, were convicted July 23 after the second trial. The three men, who face mandatory life sentences, are listed as possible defense witnesses for Ratigan.
“You will see that there’s substantial evidence against those three men, but you shouldn’t conclude that Brian Ratigan is the fourth individual the FBI is looking for,” Ryan told the jury.
The defendant’s wife, Tina, and two sons, Josh and Taylor, were in the courtroom as the defense attorney told jurors how the Ratigan family moved to North Idaho, built their own home and home-schooled their children.
The prosecutor said they fled their rural home immediately after Berry, Barbee and Merrell were arrested last Oct. 8 near Yakima.
Ratigan went to Day’s home and gave him the AK-47, Rice said, and was on the run for several weeks.
In February, Ratigan and his family moved to Colville where he rented a house using the name Lee Phelan, Rice told the jury.
That’s true, Ryan later told the jury. Ratigan used a false name because he “wanted to protect his privacy” and had no idea the FBI was after him.
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