“…Eckardt said something like, ‘Wouldn’t it be easier just to kill her? Gillooly said, ‘No, we’re not going to get into that.’ Gillooly told them he did not feel comfortable with that, and Derrick agreed with Gillooly. Eckardt stated they could have a guy with a sniper rifle…and nobody would see that….”
Gillooly said he talked with Harding after the meeting:
“Gillooly stated Harding asked him something like how he felt about it, and Gillooly said he felt pretty good about it but said he would leave it up to Harding. Harding said she would leave it up to Gillooly. Gillooly stated he said something like ‘I think we should go for it.’ Gillooly stated Harding said something like ‘OK, let’s do it.’ ”
Gillooly told agents about delivering money to Shawn Eckardt and about what he said was growing concern because the attack still hadn’t taken place. He later met with Eckardt at Clackamas Town Center, a suburban Portland shopping mall, where Harding was practicing:
“Gillooly explained that…they were standing near the rail of the ice rink, leaning on it, and Harding skated up….Gillooly stated Harding asked why she could not get someone to do this for her or why it was not getting done, referring to the assault on Nancy Kerrigan. Gillooly stated Eckardt stuttered and then said he did not know why because he did not have enough knowledge of it. Gillooly stated Harding said something like ‘If it doesn’t get done, you call them and get the $2,000 back.’”
Gillooly then described a later conversation he said he had with Harding:
“Gillooly stated he told Harding that Derrick and Shane were in Detroit and wanted the address of the hotel, address of the skating rinks, Nancy Kerrigan’s practice times, and Nancy Kerrigan’s room number….
“Gillooly stated he and Harding discussed the situation, and both of them agreed that the room was the best place to attack Nancy Kerrigan….
“Gillooly said that at approximately 12 noon or after on Thursday, Jan. 6, 1994, he was awakened by a telephone call from Harding. Harding said, ‘It happened.’ Gillooly asked, ‘What happened? Harding said, ‘Nancy. They did it.’ Gillooly said, ‘You’re kidding.’ Harding said, ‘No.’ Gillooly said, ‘Did they get away? Harding said, ‘I don’t know.’
“Gillooly stated he immediately called Eckardt, and when Eckardt answered, Gillooly said, ‘It happened.’ Eckardt asked, ‘What happened? Gillooly told Eckardt that Nancy Kerrigan was assaulted and that Gillooly did not know if they got away….Eckardt told Gillooly that Gillooly had better get over to Eckardt’s house with some money….
“Eckardt said he had changed world history or he had altered world history….”
After her Portland interview with the FBI, Tonya Harding called Gillooly:
“Harding told Gillooly that they had been under surveillance since they returned from Detroit. She also told Gillooly that she screwed up the fabricated story in parts and got caught in some of the lies. Harding said she was going to jail. She also told him that the FBI knew that the fabricated story about the reasons for the calls to the Tony Kent Arena in Massachusetts were ‘bullshit.’
“…Harding kept assuring Gillooly that she had not implicated him during the FBI interview.
“On Thursday, Jan. 20, 1994, Gillooly said FBI Agent Russell read the notes regarding the interview of Tonya Harding to Gillooly in the office of Gillooly’s attorney….Gillooly said that…he talked with Harding on the telephone and told her the FBI had read to him the notes that were taken during the interview of her….
“Gillooly told Harding that she implicated him and told her that she should have at least told him that she did. Gillooly said Harding then asked if he meant that the FBI came over and let him look at what they wrote down, in her interview, and Gillooly said yes. Harding then said, ‘That’s cheating.’”
DERRICK SMITH
On Jan. 12, 1994, the FBI interviewed Derrick Smith at its Phoenix office.
Derrick Smith told agents that Shawn Eckardt called him during the third week of December 1993 and was interested in hiring him to guard Tonya Harding. He said he drove his black Porsche to Portland on Dec. 27. Smith said he took the job and agreed to fly to Detroit, where Harding was competing in the national championships:
“Smith indicated a second reason for going back to the Nationals was to keep an eye on Tonya Harding. Smith was told that he should be very covert as there was a possibility that Harding was running around on Gillooly.” Smith flew to Detroit on Jan. 5 and took a cab to an ice arena where skaters were practicing for the championships. There he met with Shane Stant. The next morning the two went to the arena where the championships would take place. Smith:
“…advised they watched for Harding to skate and were able to see her practice….They then drove back to their hotel room….Smith advised that while watching television…he recalls seeing television coverage regarding an attack on Nancy Kerrigan….
“Smith denied that either he or Stant were involved in the attack….”
The interview ended. Later in the same day it resumed. Smith said his earlier story was an alibi he had agreed to with Shawn Eckardt and Shane Stant. He said he and Stant attended a meeting at Shawn Eckardt’s house Dec. 28:
“Prior to Jeff Gillooly’s arrival, Eckardt indicated that Gillooly wanted someone to injure Nancy Kerrigan and take her out of the skating competition….
“Before the actual meeting took place, Smith asked Eckardt to tape the conversation, and it was agreed that Gillooly would not know about this.
“Once the meeting began, Eckardt made introductions. Smith could tell that Eckardt was leading Gillooly to believe that Eckardt was connected to the underground in a major way, and that he could practically have the world destroyed if he wanted to….
“Gillooly stated that to do this right, they needed to injure Kerrigan’s right leg, which is her landing leg. Smith suggested hurting her arm, but Gillooly said Kerrigan could skate with an arm in a cast….
“Eckardt promised Gillooly a money-back guarantee, saying that he would give Gillooly his money back if this group was unable to injure Kerrigan….
“Smith saw his role in this whole thing as getting people together. He felt bad about Kerrigan getting hurt, and he told Stant how he felt about it. They agreed that Kerrigan had not done anything to deserve this. They agreed that when this was over, Kerrigan should be OK, or they would not take part in this. They also discussed that they felt Eckardt and Gillooly were going to do this no matter what, and that if they were involved, they could ensure that she was not hurt too badly….”
SHANE STANT
On Jan. 14, 1994, the FBI interviewed Shane Stant at its Phoenix office.
Stant told agents that on Dec. 23 or 24, 1993, Derrick Smith called him and asked if he was interested in a job. Stant said he later received a call from Shawn Eckardt, who told him about the need to “make an accident happen” to a skater.
“Eckardt suggested to Stant that the Achilles’ tendon be cut. Stant stated that he declined to do this, as he would not cut anyone….”
Stant said that he and Derrick Smith then drove to Portland, where they met with Shawn Eckardt and Jeff Gillooly at Eckardt’s parents’ home:
“Jeff Gillooly arrived at the Eckardt residence. Gillooly advised that Tonya Harding had dropped him off.
“Eckardt suggested again cutting her Achilles’ tendon. Gillooly suggested that her right knee be injured, because this was the landing leg for skaters….”
Stant told agents he flew to Boston on Dec. 28, hoping to club Nancy Kerrigan while she practiced at her home arena. He never found her, however, and took a bus to Detroit. He met Derrick Smith on Jan. 5, and the two planned to attack Kerrigan at the skating arena where the national championships would take place. Stant carried a note, written to make it appear that a psychotic was stalking skaters, and an ASP, a retractable police baton. He watched Kerrigan practice and moved in to make the hit:
“He walked to the right of Nancy Kerrigan, who was talking with anoth
er female. He took the ASP out in his right hand and put the note in his left hand. Stant then proceeded toward Kerrigan and struck her a glancing blow with the ASP on her right leg, approximately one inch above the joint. Stant stated that she immediately hit the ground. Stant stated that he hit her with approximately half his force….He continued to move and dropped the note. He then began to pick up his pace to a run toward the glass doors he had seen before. He arrived near a table and noticed that the doors were chained together. He then ran through the bottom of the door like a football tackle. This popped the Plexiglass out of the door. At this point Stant stated that he heard someone say, ‘Somebody stop him.’…He started running down the street, and a man got in his way, whom he knocked down….During the run he threw the ASP under a car, into the snow….Smith pulled up alongside him, and he entered the car and they drove off….”
An FBI agent asked Stant if the conspirators had made arrangements for an alibi:
“Stant stated that Smith had discussed this with him….Their response to any questioning would be that they had been hired by Gillooly to discover if his wife had been cheating on him….”
Exclusive Interview with Harding’s Bodyguard
Shawn Eric Eckardt, Tonya Harding’s sometime bodyguard, sat for a three-hour interview with Oregonian columnist Phil Stanford. It was the first interview Eckardt gave after his arrest on January 13, 1994. The interview appeared over two days, January 20 and 21, and is reproduced below.
Shawn Eric Eckardt, the very hefty 26-year-old bodyguard, says the plot against skating star Nancy Kerrigan began last month with a visit to his office by Jeff Gillooly.
As Eckardt explained it in a three-hour interview with The Oregonian, Gillooly - then the manager and on-again, off-again husband of Kerrigan’s rival, Tonya Harding - was an old friend of his. They’d known each other for 21 years. Over the past five or six years, Eckardt says, he had provided sporadic security advice to Harding and Gillooly on an informal basis. Gillooly never paid him for his services, he says, but on occasion he and Harding would take Eckardt out for dinner.
The best Eckardt can remember, the December visit from Gillooly was probably on the 16th or 17th. At the time, Eckardt explains, he was operating his fledgling security business, World Bodyguard Services Inc., from a room on the second floor of his parents’ house in a section of Portland called Lents:
It was in the daytime. I don’t remember exactly what time it was. And he, you know, asked me if there was any way that I could find somebody to, you know, disable Nancy Kerrigan.
Is that the word he used - disable?
Well, make it so she couldn’t skate. That was more like the phrase he used. He asked me if I knew anybody, and I said, “Well, I know a couple of guys who might, you know, do something like that. Let me check around….”
Did you know who Nancy Kerrigan was at the time?
Well, he said that Nancy Kerrigan was the girl that Tonya had to beat to win nationals and go to the Olympics.
And then he said, you know, when this happens, the skating world will be in an uproar and, you know, because sports are becoming more violent…he would have to end up hiring the corporation that I had at the time, World Bodyguard Services Inc., to provide protective services.
And then he said I’d make a lot of money. Things like, “How’s it gonna feel driving that brand new ZR1 Corvette-” And, “What’s it gonna be like having an office suite in one of the downtown buildings-” and all that other stuff.
I said if I find anybody, I’ll let you know. But time went by, and I didn’t actively pursue looking for anyone. And then one day, I got a call from a friend of mine, Derrick Smith, who had recently moved to Phoenix.
As Eckardt recalls, the call from Smith came around the 20th or 22nd of December - in any case, during the week before Christmas. Smith, who is 29, was another longtime friend of Eckardt’s. The two of them shared a common interest in international espionage and paramilitary activities of all sorts. In fact, the two of them had previously discussed Smith’s plans to start an anti-terrorist academy somewhere around Phoenix.
As it developed, Smith was calling to see whether Eckardt could come to Phoenix to help get the anti-terrorist academy off the ground. However, at some point, Eckardt recalls, Smith asked him whether anything else was going on. At that point, Eckardt says, he told Smith that Gillooly had asked him to find someone to disable Nancy Kerrigan. Would he be interested?
And Smith says, “Sure, we can do it….How much is the job worth?”
Eckardt tells him $6,500 because that, he says, is the figure that he and Gillooly had decided on.
“Yeah, we can do it for that,” Smith says, “We’ll pay Shane $4,000, and he’ll do it.”
This is the first time Shane Minoaka Stant’s name crops up. Stant, who is Smith’s nephew and another paramilitary type, also lives in Phoenix.
On Dec. 27 or 28, Smith and Stant show up in front of Eckardt’s parents’ home in Stant’s black Porsche 944. Time is a-wasting, Smith says, and they want an audience with Gillooly the next day. The meeting is set for 10 a.m. in the second-floor corporate offices of World Bodyguard Services Inc.
Well, Jeff didn’t show up until 11. And then, while we were waiting, Derrick Smith asked me to tape the conversation so that he would be able to have leverage against Jeff at a later date. I put the tape recorder on the desk and put a paper towel over it.
And then Jeff came over, and we made the introductions and I sat down. Derrick told Jeff that he had come up from Phoenix to talk to him about this problem, and how he was the kind of guy who takes care of people’s problems. And then Jeff told them what he wanted done. Stant…he was standing in the corner…wearing his baggy Australian outback coat, you know, with this gun sticking in his belt.
When Smith told Gillooly he was here to help him, what did Gillooly say he wanted done?
He told him how we was looking for someone to make sure that Nancy Kerrigan didn’t skate in the nationals.
How specific did he get?
Well, he didn’t. We started bouncing around ideas from one spectrum to the other. We started using terms like, well, “Why don’t we get rid of her-” “We’ll get rid of her” and stuff like that.
And then I really didn’t want to be involved in any murder conspiracy or anything. I mean, that just sort of red-flagged it in my mind right then. And we sorta basically sorta moved away from that.
How? What else did anyone say?
Well, I said, “We don’t need to do that…” And Jeff said, “What can we do less than that-” And we started bouncing ideas around, like, well, you know, the standard…I mean the sort of things that you would see in the movies. Like, you know, damage to the hamstrings and Achilles’ tendons and things like that.
One idea that was mentioned was: Let’s get her in a car accident and bruise her up a bit. She can’t skate with cracked ribs and stuff like that.
And then Jeff mentioned, well, her landing leg. If you do anything to her landing leg, she can’t do a jump. She can’t skate.
And then Jeff said: “Yeah, that’s it. Why don’t we just break her landing leg. Just break her right leg.
“It’s a perfect idea! Disable her landing leg! She won’t be able to skate!” he said…
“Yeah,” says Smith, “we’ll break her leg.”
So Jeff and Derrick sort of shook hands and agreed that Derrick would do the service and that Jeff would pay him $6,500 to do it. And then Derrick Smith and Shane Stant left.
Jeff had to wait because Tonya had to come pick him up, because she had dropped him off. And when he left he was all excited and bubbly about all this money he was going to make.
Later that day, Eckardt says, Gillooly returned to drop off $2,000 in cash, which he handed to Smith. Smith spent the rest of the day playing with Eckardt’s computer, trying to get information about Kerrigan. That evening he drove Stant to Seattle to catch a plane to Boston.
According to Eckardt, everyone was excite
d about the vistas that appeared to be opening up in front of them - and not just because of the obvious effects their plot would have on Tonya Harding’s skating career.
The way they saw it, if they just took the plan a step farther, they would all soon be rolling in money.
As Eckardt recalls, in the course of the Dec. 28 meeting where the attack was plotted, Smith and Gillooly also came up with the idea of leaving a note behind, suggesting that the attack was the act of a crazed individual who was stalking all the top international skating stars.
So they said, “Well, why don’t we just throw a note on her or drop a note saying there’s going to be more threats?”
Smith liked the idea because it would possibly open up the doors for more business. You know, he wanted to take the proceeds from the protective service operations and open up this training facility in Arizona that he wanted to put together so bad, and he wanted me to run it for him.
So, anyway, we came up with this note that was supposed to be dropped - thrown at Kerrigan or whatever. It was supposed to name the other targets.
Who were the other targets?
Well, Tonya’s name was on it. Kerrigan’s name was on it and some other people I don’t recall. Derrick told me: Just cut (letters) out of magazines and paste them together. But I would like to reiterate that there were never additional attacks thought of, or construed, or even considered.
Basically, it just implied that a psychotic stalker individual was out there stalking these figure skaters.
It was, you know, the sole intent of the letter to provide a psychological effect within the skating community. And Derrick Smith liked the idea because it would open up doors for him.
Fire on Ice Page 12
