Atty claims govt out to get him with 'Mission Impossible'-level plot
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -- Edgar Steele believes the government is out to get him with a 'Mission Impossible'-level plot," according to the recording of two phone calls the one-time attorney for the Aryan Nations made from the Kootenai County Jail.
The recordings were played Tuesday morning at 49-year-old Steele's detention hearing during which he argued he should be released from jail pending his trial.
On Sunday night Steele made two phone calls from jail, one to his son and the other to his wife, Cyndi Steele. During those calls, Steele stated the government is targeting him. He added, "No matter what you hear or what you think, you must not say that it's my voice on the recordings (of the alleged murder-for-hire plot)."
At the beginning of each jailhouse phone call, a recording is played that informs prisoners all outgoing phone calls are monitored and recorded, and anything said during a phone call can be used against them in court.
During his conversation with his son, Steele described the call as the most important phone call he would ever make. He then told his son to tell Cyndi Steele that the voice on the tape investigators had obtained was not his own.
Edgar Steele explained to his son that government officials were trying to turn Cyndi Steele against her husband, and that they'd intentionally left out a present for his Ukranian girlfriend so that his wife would find it.
During his phone conversation with his wife, Edgar Steele again repeated that this call was the most important call he'd ever make. He added, "No matter what you hear, what you think, what you feel, you have to say the following: 'no, that's not my husband's voice."'
"They are after me," Edgar Steele told his wife, adding the attorney general is behind the "top-level deal."
"I guarantee it isn't me," he said. "I would never be so stupid to hire someone to kill you. I love you. Please, please, please, my life is in your hands now. Like a rhinoceros in the road, no matter how hard they push you, you have to do it."
Cyndi Steele, in return, said very little during the conversation.
Edgar Steele was originally expected to be acting as his own attorney for the detention hearing, but has since received the assistance of a federal public defender, Roger Pevan, the same attorney who once served as legal counsel for Joseph Duncan.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge ruled Edgar Steele be held without bail, because he had tried to obstruct the case against him and intimidate witnesses.
During the phone conversation with his wife, Edgar Steele said, "You've got to do this. Otherwise, you'll have to explain how your testimony put me in prison."
Federal prosecutors believe Edgar Steele hired Larry Fairfax to kill his wife and mother-in-law and that Fairfax, who tipped off authorities to the plot, actually followed through with placing a pipe bomb under Cyndi Steele's car. The bomb was discovered by employees of Coeur d'Alene's Quick Lube late last week when she went in for an oil change.
According to the complaint filed in the case, Fairfax was hired by Steele to build two pipe bombs at his home in Sagle as part of the murder-for-hire plot. On or about May 30, Fairfax placed one of the two pipe bombs on the Mitsubishi Endeavor owned by Edgar and Cyndi Steele, the same vehicle Cyndi Steele was driving when the bomb was discovered by of Coeur d'Alene's Quick Lube late last week when she went in for an oil change.
According to Fairfax, Edgar Steele told him that his wife would be driving the same vehicle when she traveled to Oregon to visit her mother on May 31.The second pipe bomb was to serve as Steele's alibi, Fairfax said, and was to be planted on Steele's own car.
Investigators say Fairfax told them he built two pipe bombs for Steele as part of a murder-for-hire plot. Fairfax originally tipped off authorities to the plot, but only confessed to attaching the bomb to Cyndi Steele's car after the bomb was found.
Fairfax appeared in court Monday when a judge denied his request to be released from jail. His attorney said Fairfax was pretending to go along with the plot, even accepting $10,000 in silver coins as a down payment for the planned killings, because he was afraid of Edgar Steele. He added Fairfax had built the found bomb in such a way that it would not detonate.
The recordings were played Tuesday morning at 49-year-old Steele's detention hearing during which he argued he should be released from jail pending his trial.
On Sunday night Steele made two phone calls from jail, one to his son and the other to his wife, Cyndi Steele. During those calls, Steele stated the government is targeting him. He added, "No matter what you hear or what you think, you must not say that it's my voice on the recordings (of the alleged murder-for-hire plot)."
At the beginning of each jailhouse phone call, a recording is played that informs prisoners all outgoing phone calls are monitored and recorded, and anything said during a phone call can be used against them in court.
During his conversation with his son, Steele described the call as the most important phone call he would ever make. He then told his son to tell Cyndi Steele that the voice on the tape investigators had obtained was not his own.
Edgar Steele explained to his son that government officials were trying to turn Cyndi Steele against her husband, and that they'd intentionally left out a present for his Ukranian girlfriend so that his wife would find it.
During his phone conversation with his wife, Edgar Steele again repeated that this call was the most important call he'd ever make. He added, "No matter what you hear, what you think, what you feel, you have to say the following: 'no, that's not my husband's voice."'
"They are after me," Edgar Steele told his wife, adding the attorney general is behind the "top-level deal."
"I guarantee it isn't me," he said. "I would never be so stupid to hire someone to kill you. I love you. Please, please, please, my life is in your hands now. Like a rhinoceros in the road, no matter how hard they push you, you have to do it."
Cyndi Steele, in return, said very little during the conversation.
Edgar Steele was originally expected to be acting as his own attorney for the detention hearing, but has since received the assistance of a federal public defender, Roger Pevan, the same attorney who once served as legal counsel for Joseph Duncan.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge ruled Edgar Steele be held without bail, because he had tried to obstruct the case against him and intimidate witnesses.
During the phone conversation with his wife, Edgar Steele said, "You've got to do this. Otherwise, you'll have to explain how your testimony put me in prison."
Federal prosecutors believe Edgar Steele hired Larry Fairfax to kill his wife and mother-in-law and that Fairfax, who tipped off authorities to the plot, actually followed through with placing a pipe bomb under Cyndi Steele's car. The bomb was discovered by employees of Coeur d'Alene's Quick Lube late last week when she went in for an oil change.
According to the complaint filed in the case, Fairfax was hired by Steele to build two pipe bombs at his home in Sagle as part of the murder-for-hire plot. On or about May 30, Fairfax placed one of the two pipe bombs on the Mitsubishi Endeavor owned by Edgar and Cyndi Steele, the same vehicle Cyndi Steele was driving when the bomb was discovered by of Coeur d'Alene's Quick Lube late last week when she went in for an oil change.
According to Fairfax, Edgar Steele told him that his wife would be driving the same vehicle when she traveled to Oregon to visit her mother on May 31.The second pipe bomb was to serve as Steele's alibi, Fairfax said, and was to be planted on Steele's own car.
Investigators say Fairfax told them he built two pipe bombs for Steele as part of a murder-for-hire plot. Fairfax originally tipped off authorities to the plot, but only confessed to attaching the bomb to Cyndi Steele's car after the bomb was found.
Fairfax appeared in court Monday when a judge denied his request to be released from jail. His attorney said Fairfax was pretending to go along with the plot, even accepting $10,000 in silver coins as a down payment for the planned killings, because he was afraid of Edgar Steele. He added Fairfax had built the found bomb in such a way that it would not detonate.