- Clayton Waagner
-
Clayton Lee Waagner 
Clayton Lee Waagner
(born Roger Waagner)FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Charges Escaped federal prisoner; Bank robbery; Unlawful possession of unregistered bomb device; Felon/Escapee in possession of firearms; Carjacking Description Born August 25, 1956 Criminal Status Added September 21, 2001 Caught December 5, 2001 Number 467 Captured Clayton Lee Waagner (born August 25, 1956) is a convicted bank robber and anti-abortion activist. He was born Roger Waagner in North Dakota. He was an escaped fugitive during the spring, summer and fall of 2001 and was the FBI's 467th fugitive to be placed on the Ten Most Wanted list for carjackings, firearms violations, and bank robbery on September 21, 2001. He was placed on the United States Marshals Service Top 15 Fugitives list for sending more than 280 letters that claimed to contain anthrax, which he mailed to Planned Parenthood with return addresses of the Marshals Service and the Secret Service beginning in October 2001.[1] He is currently in prison.
Contents
Prior crimes
Waagner had previously been sentenced to 4–10 years for attempted robbery in 1992. Years later as a convicted felon released from prison, early in September 1999, he was pulled over by the Pennsylvania State Police, but fled into the woods and evaded capture, leaving behind a stolen car that contained firearms, explosives, false identity papers, and a list of abortion clinics.
Later in September 1999, while on a self-described "Mission from God", he took his wife and their nine children on a cross-country road trip headed west in a stolen Winnebago, planning to murder various abortion doctors, beginning with one in Seattle, Washington. However, after crossing into Illinois his vehicle broke down, and Waagner was arrested when Illinois State Police stopped to investigate. Waagner was convicted on charges of interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle and for being a convicted felon in possession of firearms.
While he was awaiting sentencing, and facing a term of 15 years to life, Waagner escaped from DeWitt County Jail in Clinton, Illinois on February 22, 2001.
Escaped fugitive crime trail
As an escaped fugitive felon from Illinois, Waagner made his way back east to Pennsylvania, where three months later he became wanted for the bank robbery of a First Union in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in May 2001.
His fugitive trail then led southwest, where he was next identified as having abandoned a vehicle in Memphis, Tennessee, following a hit and run accident. Authorities recovered law enforcement-type equipment, anti-abortion literature, and weapons from the car. He next became wanted for carjackings across the state line in Tunica and in Robinsonville, Mississippi and firearms violations in Memphis, Tennessee on September 7, 2001. Later that month, the FBI placed him on the list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, in the wake of the September 11 attacks.[2] Although Waagner's actions were leading toward acts of domestic terrorism, he was already most wanted by law enforcement officials for his escape from prison in February of that year, and also as a suspect in the series of bank robberies in May and June.
Anthrax hoax
See also: Anthrax hoaxesWaagner then became most infamous for a hoax in November 2001, in which he sent envelopes containing a white powder to more than 500 abortion providers. The envelopes also contained a note, which said, "You have been exposed to anthrax. We are going to kill all of you. From the Army of God, Virginia Dare Chapter." The threat was considered serious, as it arrived shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks on America, as well as the then-recent delivery of genuine anthrax letters to various governmental officials. A United States Marshals Service Top 15 Fugitive since March 6, 2001, Waagner also became a FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive because of the more than 280 letters that threatened to contain anthrax, which he mailed to Planned Parenthood, with return addresses of the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Secret Service beginning in October 2001. In the wave of mailed letters, Waagner was accused of stalkings and threats to kill 42 low-level abortion clinic employees up through November 23, 2001.
On November 29, 2001 the FBI took the unusual step of releasing a press release of new information about Waagner seeking the public's assistance, while also pointing out that Waagner's letters were not associated with the recent letters that had been sent to the offices of Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy which actually did contain anthrax.[3] The white powder in Waagner's letters initially tested positive for anthrax, due to the addition of a powdered insecticide known to trigger false positive results.
Capture and conviction
He was captured on December 5, 2001, after a clerk at a Kinko's copy shop in Springdale, Ohio identified him from a photograph on a wanted poster circulated by members of the United States Marshals Service. Waagner had been known to patronize Kinko's stores in the past, and for this reason the Marshals sent a copy to every store in the chain. When arrested, he was preparing to fax a bomb threat to a mass list of clinics. In addition to his earlier 15 years to life sentence in Illinois, he was convicted April 18, 2002 in Cincinnati, Ohio U.S District Court on separate firearms and car theft charges. For the anthrax letter spree, he received a 53-count indictment, and on December 3, 2003, he was convicted on 51 of the 53 counts, including charges of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, threatening the use of weapons of mass destruction, and mailing threatening communications. He was sentenced to 19 years in a federal prison.
Prison
Waagner has distributed a manifesto while in prison, and continues to correspond with outside individuals, including other members of the Army of God. He is currently serving in United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, with a projected release date of January 17, 2046.[4]
See also
Notes
External links
- http://ClaytonWaagner.com
- http://www.armyofgod.com/ClayWaagnerMainPage.html
- Clayton Lee Waagner Sentenced for Abortion-Anthrax Letters
- http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/clayton_waagner.html
- Anti-Choice Terrorist Clayton Waagner Convicted Of Sending Clinics Anthrax Threat Letters
- http://www.ethicalatheist.com/docs/clayton_waagner.html
- http://www.christiangallery.com/Waagner.htm
Categories:- FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
- 1956 births
- American bank robbers
- American prisoners and detainees
- American pro-life activists
- Living people
- People from North Dakota
- American escapees
- Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government
- Escapees from Illinois detention
- Christian terrorism
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
