Jury Edgy, But Trial Resumes Man Appears To Be Shadowing Them, Freemen Jurors Say
Some of the jurors in the freemen trial notified the judge Tuesday they are concerned about a man who seems to be shadowing them, the judge said.
U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour called one juror to a huddled conference with lawyers in the courtroom as the jury returned from lunch, then sent him back to the jury box and questioned all 14 jurors as a group.
“Has anything happened outside this courtroom that would affect your ability to be completely fair and impartial?” the judge asked.
No jurors responded, and he asked a question about anything “that would affect your judgment.” Again, no jurors responded, and Coughenour resumed the trial.
Coughenour said at the end of the day that some jurors were concerned about an individual who seemed to be inappropriately near them in some areas of the federal courthouse and outside on the street.
The judge said he does not know how long it has been going on and officials are trying to identify the person.
The day’s testimony was highlighted by the account of the undercover FBI agent who had arranged the trap that caught two top freemen leaders and launched an 81-day standoff on March 25, 1996, at a foreclosed farm near Jordan, Mont.
The trap almost flopped at the last moment, Timothy J. Healy said in his second day on the witness stand.
Unarmed FBI agents posing as a construction crew were waiting to grab LeRoy Schweitzer and Daniel Petersen on a hillside at the edge of the freemen’s remote farm stronghold in Eastern Montana, Healy said.
Healy, as the freemen’s trusted benefactor “Mike Manson,” lured Schweitzer and Petersen there, ostensibly to inspect a radio tower and related equipment that Healy had acquired for them.
Schweitzer and Petersen, as always, were armed. So Healy had to bring them close enough to be overpowered quickly. But Petersen held back, out of reach, for a long, tense minute.
“When I looked in his face, I knew he knew, and I knew he would never, ever come up on that hill again,” Healy said.
Petersen finally relented to the urgings of the trusted “Mike Manson” and walked up to be introduced.
The five agents wrestled Schweitzer and Petersen to the ground, handcuffed them, put duct tape on their legs and hustled them into waiting vehicles before other freemen noticed, Healy said.
The arrests triggered an 81-day standoff with the remaining freemen. It ended with their peaceful surrender.
Six secondary figures in the 81-day standoff are on trial, accused mainly of helping several fugitives among the freemen to avoid arrest. Trial of Schweitzer, Petersen and 11 others is scheduled to begin May 26.
Healy’s testimony highlighted the seventh day of the trial, in which prosecutors have focused on proving that the defendants participated knowingly in the freemen’s financial schemes or helped protect their comrades by carrying arms and standing guard duty.