Arrest seen as break in 27-year-old murder case

By Jim Holland, Journal Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 02, 2003

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RAPID CITY -- The arrest of a Colorado man is the first major break in a murder case that continues to stir angry accusations among numerous factions of American Indians more than 27 years after the death of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash.

U.S. Attorney James E. McMahon on Wednesday announced the arrest of Arlo Looking Cloud, 49, of Aurora, Colo., in connection with the death of Pictou-Aquash, whose frozen body was discovered in a ravine north of Wanblee by a rancher on Feb. 24, 1976.

The initial autopsy listed cause of death as exposure, but a subsequent autopsy on March 10 revealed that she had died from a single shot to the head, execution-style, from a .38-caliber revolver.

Looking Cloud's arrest by Denver police on March 28 came after a federal grand jury indictment handed down earlier in the month.

He made his initial appearance in a Denver court Monday and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder committed in the perpetration of kidnapping, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Investigators said Pictou-Aquash was taken from a Denver home in December of 1975, then brought to Rapid City shortly before her death.

An identity hearing is scheduled in Denver today to determine whether Looking Cloud is the man charged in the indictment and whether he should be returned to Rapid City to stand trial.

A relative told the Associated Press that Looking Cloud was living homeless in Denver.

"He's a very good person. He's a very gentle man. The children like him, and he's really good with my mother. He helps her. He's not a bad person," said Looking Cloud's cousin Bernice Bull Bear of Denver, who grew up with him on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

"He's never harmed anybody around here."

McMahon declined comment on the arrest when contacted by the Associated Press Wednesday. He declined to comment on why charges weren't filed sooner and also declined to say whether more arrests are possible.

The indictment charging Looking Cloud remains sealed, but that isn't stopping a long-time watcher from the opinion that more charges are forthcoming.

"I have no doubt that there's a whole lot more to this story than has already happened, said Paul DeMain of Hayward, Wis., editor of the newspaper News From Indian Country, which has published hundreds of articles on the murder.

"In fact, this may be the domino that tips everything over," DeMain said Wednesday. "It certainly represents a break in the case."

DeMain said Looking Cloud provided security for American Indian Movement leaders in the early 1970s.

Vernon Bellecourt, AIM's international affairs director, said from the group's headquarters in Minneapolis that he didn't know much about the specific allegations against Looking Cloud and hasn't seen him in 25 years.

"I've heard the same scuttlebutt and accusations that everybody else has heard," he told the Associated Press.

Bellecourt also wondered why it took the government so long to make an arrest.

"Why 27 years later?" he asked.

Pictou-Aquash, a member of Canada's Mi'kmaq Tribe, was among the Indian militants who participated in the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee.

Some speculated that AIM members killed her because she knew some of them were government spies, and others said Pictou-Aquash was killed because she herself was an informant.

Still others have charged federal authorities with masterminding the murder to sow discord among AIM members.

Federal officials have repeatedly denied any involvement.

Russell Means, an AIM activist turned actor and politician, testified before a federal grand jury convened in Sioux Falls in November 1999.

He then accused senior AIM members of ordering the execution because Aquash knew which of them were federal informants.

Bellecourt vehemently denies Means' accusation that Bellecourt or other movement officials had anything to do with the Pictou-Aquash's death.

Means expressed frustration in January of this year that federal investigators for years have had the information they needed to make an arrest.

Means, scheduled to be in Rapid City for today's march in support of a Rapid City man killed in a confrontation with police last month, could not be reached for comment on Looking Cloud's arrest.

Claims and counter-claims aside, friends and family of the slain woman hope the arrest will finally lead to some answers in the case.

"If an indictment and a trial give some closure to her family, then that's good," said Candy Hamilton of Oglala, a friend who had testified at earlier hearings and who was with Pictou-Aquash in Rapid City shortly before her death.

"I hope the feds follow through," she said.

One of Pictou-Aquash's two daughters, Denise Maloney Pictou of Ontario, Canada, issued a statement on behalf of her family and the Mi'cmaq Tribe. Another daughter, Debbie Maloney Pictou, lives in Nova Scotia.

Denise Maloney Pictou said the family was pleased with the news of an arrest.

"Twenty-seven years of silence from those involved, along with limited resources to seek justice, had led the family to believe that they did not have ownership over our mothers' affairs and her right to justice," she said.

"Anna Mae's family has been at the mercy of the consciousness of many people for the last 27 years," she said. "We have known for a long time that people have discussed amongst themselves the events that led up to her death, yet publicly have remained silent.

"We know how easy it is to run with the masses and remain silent, which is why we continue to support all those that have chosen to take the responsibility to assist a victim and her family, presently and in the future.

"Today, our mother's spirit is truly honored."

Contact Jim Holland at 394-8415 or jim.holland@rapidcityjournal.com