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Rogue Agent: The story of Mike Danton, an NHL player who hired a hit man to kill his agent, David Frost
ROGUE AGENT: Aired November 30,
2005


FROST BITE: Aired April 19, 2006
on CBC-TV

WATCH the fifth estate ONLINE

Watch this story online.
(November 30, 2005)
(April 19, 2006)

REPORTER: Bob McKeown
PRODUCER: Oleh Rumak

WEB EXCLUSIVE: AUDIO TAPES

the fifth estate obtained tapes of Mike Danton's jailhouse conversations
with the man he wanted to have killed, his agent and mentor David Frost.

Listen to the audio tapes and read the transcripts online.

READ THE RESPONSE
Read the response on behalf of David Frost and Mike Danton
received by the fifth estate in November 2005. (.pdf file)

FROST BITE
In the early morning of April 16, 2004 NHL hockey player Mike Danton was arrested by FBI agents at the San Jose, California airport. He was charged with conspiring to have "a male acquaintance" murdered in a "murder-for-hire" plot.

On July 16, 2004 Mike Danton entered into a plea agreement with United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. Prosecutors and law enforcement officers confirmed that David Frost was the man the hockey player wanted killed.

The story made headline after headline across North America.  Because Danton pleaded guilty and did not testify, the opportunity to explore his reasons for trying to have David Frost killed were lost.  Danton's motives for paying someone $10,000 to kill Frost remain hidden still.

A TROUBLING RELATIONSHIP
But, in the week after his arrest, from inside the Santa Clara, California jail, Danton started reaching out to the very man he had tried to have killed--his mentor in hockey and life and currently his agent--David Frost.

In a series of recorded jailhouse telephone conversations, we hear how Frost extends his influence over the young player, coaching his client on how to deal with law enforcement officials, lawyers and psychologists; on what to say and exactly how to say it.

The fifth estate obtained a number of these recorded conversations. They provide a chilling glimpse into the world of the troubled player and his controlling agent.

Mike Danton
Mike Danton realized his childhood dream of becoming an NHL hockey player.
THE LIFE OF MIKE DANTON
Bob McKeown traced this relationship back to Brampton, Ontario. The two met when Danton was a ten year-old with a hockey dream, still going by his family name of Mike Jefferson. It was there that Frost first began to exert his control over the young hockey player; control that continued throughout Mike's hockey career, from the minor leagues in Toronto, through teams in the Ontario Hockey League and eventually to the National Hockey League. Frost's influence was continual and unrelenting.

In the fifth estate documentary "Frost Bite", Bob McKeown delves deeper into the jailhouse conversations between Mike Danton and David Frost. The program reveals new details of the intricate and troubling relationship between the St. Louis Blues player and his agent, especially the importance of Danton's sex life as a possible influence in the murder plot.

The documentary also explores the relationship between David Frost and one of hockey's most powerful people Bob Goodenow, former head of the National Hockey League Players Association. It concludes with a look at Frost's current role with the Junior 'A' hockey team, the Pembroke Lumber Kings, and asks whether history has been repeating itself.

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