Family disappointed murder trial delayed

By The Associated Press | Wednesday, September 17, 2003

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Family members of a slain American Indian Movement activist are disappointed the case against Arlo Looking Cloud won't go to trial this month.

A federal judge last week delayed until February the trial of Looking Cloud, who was to have gone before jurors Sept. 30 in Rapid City.

Looking Cloud and John Graham, also known as John Boy Patton, are charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Aquash vanished from Denver in December 1975. Her frozen body was found in February 1976 near Wanblee. She had been shot in the head.

Her family would not answer questions but released a statement saying they were disappointed in the four-month delay.

Mary Lafford, Aquash's sister, said the continuance drags out the case even longer.

Denise Pictou Maloney, Aquash's eldest daughter, said the family was anxious to see the case go to trial but hopes the delay helps ensure a fair trial.

"We have waited 28 years for justice for our mother. What is another four months?" she said.

"We want to also be sure that those who didn't do their job right 28 years ago will do it right this time. So, while we are disappointed, we are hopeful that this will only result in justice for our mother, so that her spirit can be at rest and we as her family can finally have closure that is long awaited and way overdue."

Aquash, a member of Mi'kmaq Tribe of Canada, was killed as tensions between members of Minneapolis-based AIM and government-backed factions ended in numerous deaths on the reservation. She was among American Indian militants who occupied the village of Wounded Knee for 71 days in 1973.

Looking Cloud and Graham, who were security guards with AIM in the 1970s, would serve mandatory life prison terms if convicted. Graham is a Canadian Indian and Looking Cloud is a Lakota Indian who grew up on the Pine Ridge reservation.

Graham has not been arrested and is thought to be in Canada.

Patrick Charette, a spokesman with Canada's Department of Justice, said no public documents have been filed in connection with the search for Graham, nor has he been apprehended.

"There's nothing on the public record," he said this week.

Looking Cloud was arrested in Denver in March.

His lawyer, Tim Rensch, asked for the delay, saying he needed more time to prepare because of the large number of documents, tapes and other information in the case.

Looking Cloud's cousin, Bernice Bull Bear, said she has moved back from Denver to Kyle so she can be closer to him.

She said she's worried Looking Cloud won't get a good defense or a fair trial.

"He did not kill Anna Aquash," Bull Bear said. "A lot of people on the reservation know Arlo is innocent.

"He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn't know what was going on."