Spokane7
50°
June 23, 2010 in City
Judge denies Edgar Steele bail
Prosecutors play tapes of suspect talking to wife, son
Federal murder-for-hire suspect Edgar Steele will stay in jail pending trial after a judge found he had attempted to intimidate potential witnesses in the case – his wife and son.
In a detention hearing Tuesday, federal prosecutors played two tapes of phone conversations Steele had with his wife, Cyndi, and his son, Rex, while being held at Kootenai County Jail on June 13.
On the tapes, Steele warns his wife that she will be contacted by government officials the following morning and will be asked to authenticate his voice on recordings that he tells her are doctored to sound as if he’s hiring a hit man to kill her. He pleads with her to say that it’s not his voice she hears on the tapes.
Steele tells her she has to say, “No, that is not my husband’s voice,” then he adds: “Like a rhinoceros in the road, you have to stand your ground and refuse to say anything but that.”
If she doesn’t, he says, she will have to explain to their children why her testimony put him in prison for 20 to 25 years. He swears to her the tapes are not real and that they were manufactured by federal officials determined to ensure he goes to jail.
“This is going to be a ‘Mission: Impossible,’ world-class-level production,” he tells his wife. “I love you dearly. I would never be so stupid as to hire somebody else to kill anybody, for Christ sake, least of all you. You’ve gotta do this.”
Steele tells his wife the government plot against him is “coming from the very top level” and says “they are after me.” He then compares his case to that of Matt Hale, who founded a group formerly known as World Church of the Creator and was sentenced in 2005 to 40 years in prison for soliciting an undercover FBI informant to kill a federal judge.
While in jail on June 13, Steele made a call to his 22-year-old son, Rex, around 8:20 p.m., then managed to get through to his wife around 8:31 p.m., FBI agent Michael Sotka testified.
When Steele spoke to his son, he urged him to persuade his mother to say it’s not Steele’s voice on the recordings. “Make sure your mother understands my life is in her hands,” he says, asking Rex Steele to drive to his mother’s house and talk to her. “I’m counting on you, big guy. I love you very much. Right now, it’s up to you.”
His son responds: “I understand, Dad.”
Defense attorney Roger Peven said Steele is 65 (jail records show he’s 64) and has no criminal record. Peven said Steele posed no danger to anyone and should be released pending trial, with conditions imposed to ensure he’d be monitored.
However, U.S. Magistrate Candy Dale said sufficient evidence had been presented to show that Steele posed a serious risk of intimidating witnesses or obstructing justice. To prove he needed to be detained, the government had to show Steele either posed a flight risk or was a danger to the community.
Referring to the tapes, she said, “I don’t know how this court or any person could take that as anything other than an attempt to intimidate.”
Steele’s home was raided June 11 and he was taken into custody after an informant told the FBI that Steele had hired him to kill his wife and mother-in-law. The alleged hit man-turned-informant, Larry Fairfax, was ordered held without bail Monday after auto shop employees on June 15 found a pipe bomb attached to a car brought in by Cyndi Steele.
Steele’s trial has been scheduled for Aug. 9 before federal Judge B. Lynn Winmill. Steele now is being held at Spokane County Jail, in part because of the need to keep him and Fairfax separate, court officials said.
Steele is charged with using interstate commerce in the commission of murder for hire. Fairfax, who had apparently known Steele for several years, said he was to be paid $25,000 to make the murder appear to be a car accident. If Steele collected on an insurance policy, Fairfax would have received an additional $100,000, court documents show.
Steele is best known for his unsuccessful defense of the Aryan Nations in the landmark 2000 case that bankrupted the white supremacist group.
Two Fernwood residents dead after Monday accident 
west on June 23 at 7:40 p.m.
Why is Idaho so full of hate and criminals? Hagadone’s empire has its very dark side….creeps east from Spooky Hollow!!
misjustice on June 24 at 9:00 a.m.
I have not read or heard why this idiot wanted his wife dead…was it vengeance, was it for money, what were his motives? Does anyone know?
At any rate, I am glad that his ‘plan’ went awry. Glad that Cyndi and her mother are fine, and that Steele and Fairfax are in jail.
IUPG on June 26 at 11:25 a.m.
RE: West and Misjustice:
Aren’t you two just the peaches? I see you have allowed the Spokesman’s hit opinions to cause you to convict Mr. Steele in the court of public opinion. I’d wager you don’t know him or anything about him. Whatever happened to Innocent Until Proven Guilty?
It is a fact that certain people in the government have been caught manufacturing evidence. The records show case after case where the authorities have created crimes just so they solve them and place blame on some patsy and make a case against those with whom they disagree.
IMHO…there was no motive because there was no plot and there was no crime committed. The story changed day after day to cover the flimsy reports and misinfo so why would anyone believe some audio tape. The media has been caught time after time manufacturing video AND audio of Bin Laden and isn’t it convenient that these “tapes” alway surface just when the military is begging for more tax money to prosecute their petro-wars.
Idaho isn’t any more ful of “Hate & Criminals than Washington. The only difference in our hateful criminals is that they hold political offices. What do you call someone who puts a “Sin Tax:” on water and candy?
I suggest you watch and listen before you fall into the “Hate-Trap” and are baited by the forces of true evil. We fight not against flesh and blood but against spirit and principality. I bet you have no idea who said that either!
IUPG
(Innocent Until Proven Guilty)
KenFromMS on June 26 at 2:20 p.m.
I agree … INNOCENT until proven guilty. Totally ridiculous to claim Idaho is full of “hate and criminals”. Totally ridiculous that a 65 year old man who is happily married with children would decide to murder his wife. Totally ridiculous a 65 year old man with no criminal record would be denied bail. Interesting that federal officials are involved in the prosecution of this local small town crime. Can we all spell MALICIOUS prosecution ? It appears that the local sheriff and the local DA are being manhandled by FEDERAL UnElected UnOfficials. Will these UnSavories be allowed into the Grand Jury room to get him indicted ? Looks like INNOCENT unless MALICIOUSLY prosecuted.
Dale_Bennett on June 27 at 8:14 p.m.
The quotes from Edgar Steele talking to his wife and son are OBVIOUSLY not intimidation.
They are EXACTLY what an innocent man facing the Federal leviathan would say to his family members in the face of doctored evidence.
It is outrageous that a judge would say that those heart-felt and totally innocent words were an obvious “attempt to intimidate.”
It would be quite reasonable for Mr. Steele’s wife to testify that a doctored recording is not his voice — in fact, it would be the only honorable and truthful thing to say.
Dale.