Steele’s phone calls to wife, son released
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.
Listen to the recordings above.
Read Alison Boggs's story on today's hearing here.
June 21: No bail for suspect in pipe bomb murder plot
June 20: Arrest puts Steele back in public eye
June 17: Pipe bomb suspect in federal custody
June 16: Steele: 'This is a very emotional situation'
June 16: Bomb found on SUV registered to suspect