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Bob McKeown: FROM THE POINT YOU FIRST MET [KATIE WOLFMEYER] THAT NIGHT UNTIL THE POINT WHERE SHE SAID: I'VE GOT SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL DO HIM A FAVOUR, HOW LONG WAS IT?
Justin Levi Jones: Maybe an hour. Didn't take very long.
Bob McKeown: HOW DID IT START? TAKE ME THROUGH IT.
Justin Levi Jones: He called her a number of times that evening and she got like increasingly worked up about whatever it was that this person was talking about on the phone. And then everybody, everybody in the car was asking her what's wrong, what's going on? Then she finally came out with it and said what was going on. She told me outside the car you know, away from everybody else.
Bob McKeown: AND WHAT DID SHE SAY?
Justin Levi Jones: She said that she had a friend that needed a favour. So I asked her to elaborate, you know, see what was going on. And she said that Mike was having problems with someone. And you know she kept hitting here and hitting there and then finally she just said that he had a favour that he wanted done and that she wanted to talk, he wanted to talk with me because she told him about me.
Bob McKeown: AND DID YOU KNOW AT THIS POINT THAT THE PERSON WHO WANTED THE FAVOUR, ACCORDING TO HER, WAS MIKE DANTON OF THE ST. LOUIS BLUES?
Justin Levi Jones: That's what she said.
Bob McKeown: DID YOU BELIEVE IT?
Justin Levi Jones: I didn't even know who he was so I didn't really have any reason not to believe her. I wasn't familiar with him prior to this.
Bob McKeown: AND DID YOU KNOW WHAT THE FAVOUR WAS?
Justin Levi Jones: Not until I spoke to him and that's when everyone was on the same page you know.
…
Bob McKeown: DO YOU KNOW IF WHEN HE GOT YOU ON THE PHONE, HE KNEW YOU WORKED FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT?
Justin Levi Jones: Yes he did.
Bob McKeown: WAIT A MINUTE. HE ASKS HIS GIRLFRIEND TO FIND SOMEONE SHE TRUSTS ESSENTIALLY TO HELP HIM KILL SOMEBODY?
Justin Levi Jones: Yes.
Bob McKeown: SHE HANDS THE PHONE TO YOU, SHE'S KNOWN YOU LESS THAN AN HOUR AND HE PUTS THIS TO YOU THOUGH HE KNOWS YOU WORK FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT?
Justin Levi Jones: Yes, because she told him that before she handed the phone to me and he must have, he just believed everything. He was just like: you're not going to tell on me, are you? You know he said stuff like that.
Bob McKeown: HE WAS SO DESPERATE, FOR WHATEVER REASON, TO GET THIS DONE THAT, EVEN THOUGH YOU WORKED FOR THE POLICE, HE WAS WILLING TO SUSPEND DISBELIEF AND TRUST YOU?
Justin Levi Jones: Yes.
Bob McKeown: SO HOW DID HE PUT IT? HOW DID HE TELL YOU WHAT THE FAVOUR HE NEEDED DONE WAS?
Justin Levi Jones: He said that he needed somebody taken care of.
Bob McKeown: TAKEN CARE OF, MEANING?
Justin Levi Jones: Well, I eventually had to beat it out of him that what – I had to ask him numerous times in numerous different ways what it is that he wanted done because he didn't want to come out and say it directly. And he was all secretive and whispering on the phone. He was just very strange to talk to. And eventually I said: like taken care of, like you want him beaten up? And he said: no, like taken care of permanently, something to that nature. I don't remember his exact words but it was something like that.
Bob McKeown: NO QUESTION, GIVEN THE ANSWERS YOU GOT, THAT HE WANTED THIS PERSON DEAD?
Justin Levi Jones: Correct.
Bob McKeown: AND HE WANTED YOU TO DO IT?
Justin Levi Jones: Yes.
Bob McKeown: YOU SAY YOU ASKED HIM EVERY POSSIBLE QUESTION YOU COULD THINK OF. WHO DID HE WANT KILLED?
Justin Levi Jones: From what he said – this is where it gets even more bizarre – he said that a man was coming from Canada to kill him and that another acquaintance of his is giving him this information. So this man that he wants killed is supposedly in his apartment in St. Louis while he's in San Jose awaiting him to return home from this game. So he wants this man killed before he can kill him, which is strange to me. Mike, just call the police, have this taken care of. You know why do you need somebody to kill him? And that's why, that's when I started to get suspicious –
…
Bob McKeown: EFFECTIVELY WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO DO WAS HIRE YOU TO KILL SOMEONE?
Justin Levi Jones: Correct.
Bob McKeown: FOR HOW MUCH MONEY?
Justin Levi Jones: He had mentioned the total of $10,000.
Bob McKeown: AND HOW WAS HE GOING TO GET YOU THE MONEY?
Justin Levi Jones: The first installment, if you will, is to be picked up in his apartment in his safe which he said was $3,000 individually enveloped by $1,000, which I believe we did recover as evidence later on. And so that's how he planned on making the first payment. He said that I could get the rest later on.
Bob McKeown: RIGHT. SO YOU WERE GOING TO TAKE THE $3,000 OUT OF THE SAFE WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN LEFT OPEN?
Justin Levi Jones: That is what he said, yes, and it indeed was open.
…
Bob McKeown: BUT YOU HAD NO DOUBT THAT HE WAS DETERMINED TO HAVE SOMEONE KILLED?
Justin Levi Jones: Yes. He wanted it done that night and I had to go to work in the morning, I wasn't prepared to – it was late in the evening so I had to push him off until I could get to work the next day to continue everything you know.
Bob McKeown: AND DID HE TELL YOU WHY HE WAS INSISTENT IT BE DONE THAT VERY NIGHT?
Justin Levi Jones: His exact words were: it's a matter of life and death and that he's desperate. And he said that he was begging, he said he would do anything, so.
…
Bob McKeown: YOU SAY THE NIGHT BEFORE YOU REALLY DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TO GO ON, YOU WEREN'T SURE IF IT WAS A JOKE. AT WHAT POINT DID YOU DECIDE TO RECORD THOSE CONVERSATOINS ON YOUR CELL PHONE SO THAT YOU WOULD HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW TO THE POLICE?
Justin Levi Jones: I believe it was right about the time that he started talking about killing people. Right immediately thereafter he had to hang up the phone because his roommate came in. And I believe Wolfmeyer's phone battery was going dead, which gave me the opportunity to use my phone and record the conversations.
Bob McKeown: SO ALL OF THESE ORIGINAL, OR MOST OF THESE ORIGINAL CONVERSATIONS WHEN HE'S TELLING YOU WHO AND WHERE AND HOW MUCH, YOU GOT ON TAPE?
Justin Levi Jones: Correct.
Bob McKeown: SO YOU HAD SOMETHING TO TAKE TO THE FOLKS YOU WORKED FOR AT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT THE NEXT DAY AND SAY: LISTEN TO THIS?
Justin Levi Jones: Um hmm.
…
Bob McKeown: NOW IN TERMS OF MAKING THIS AS AUTHENTIC AS POSSIBLE TO [KATIE] AND ANYONE ELSE, WHAT PREPARATIONS DID YOU TAKE?
Justin Levi Jones: Well, I was – we were given, I have a bag that had a number of different things in it that would you know maybe give her the perception that I've done this before or that I had a plan here or that such as I believe, there was a number of tools in there you know that –
Bob McKeown: YEAH. HAMMER, ROPE –
Justin Levi Jones: Something of that nature, right. And a disabled firearm that was given to me. And so all this together should give someone the impression that this person was serious about what they were about to do especially the pistol that was there.
Bob McKeown: YOU WERE ALSO WIRED?
Justin Levi Jones: Correct.
Bob McKeown: SO YOU'VE GOT THE FBI, YOU'VE GOT THE COLUMBIA POLICE FOLLOWING YOU. YOU KNOW THEY CAN HEAR EVERYTHING THAT'S SAID. TAKE US THROUGH WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MEET KATIE WOLFMEYER AND PROCEED TO DANTON'S PLACE.
Justin Levi Jones: Well, we picked her, I picked her up, I was in my own vehicle. And she just carried on a conversation like nothing was going on.
Bob McKeown: LIKE ABOUT WHAT?
Justin Levi Jones: About hockey, about her job, about her sports, about nothing in particular, just random things. And sometimes mentioning her relationship with Danton. She just carried the whole, just like that until –
Bob McKeown: DO YOU BELIEVE THAT IT WAS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR TO HER WHEN SHE HANDED THE PHONE TO YOU, SAYING: A FRIEND OF MINE WANTS A FAVOUR, THAT THAT FAVOUR WAS TO KILL SOMEONE?
Justin Levi Jones: I don't know. I don't know what they said to each other. But she knew that night because I said it to her in plan English: this guy wants me to kill someone. So she knew. I know that she knew that. Whether or not, I don't know what went through her head, I don't know what was going on. But you know I know what I knew and I was there for what she heard so.
…
Bob McKeown: YOU GET TO THE GATE, THE GUARD ASKS YOU WHO YOU WANT TO SEE. YOU SAY MIKE DANTON. HE ASKS WHO YOU ARE. YOU SHOW HIM YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE.
Justin Levi Jones: Yes.
Bob McKeown: AND YOU'RE THROUGH. WHAT HAPPENS THEN?
Justin Levi Jones: Well, she's trying to explain to me where his, where it would be to make, to enter his apartment and where his vehicle is. So we're going up, up into the next level. And she points out where his door is and his vehicle and right about the time that we're going to turn around and go back down, a man comes out of the door and is intently walking toward the vehicle. And he didn't look too happy. He was rather a large man, kind of scruffy looking. He was walking quickly towards the vehicle. So I backed up and tried to maintain distance and started back down toward the, back toward the gate and head out. And when I got down to the bottom, the security guard stopped me. And he asked me again who I was there to see and what I was doing there. And this man, who was coming toward me, was up on the next level on the balcony looking down and asking the same thing, yelling out you know: who are you here to see? What do you want? You know so –
Bob McKeown: AND WHAT WENT THROUGH YOUR MIND THEN?
Justin Levi Jones: Well, I was getting a little worried because this guy was getting ready to come downstairs and he wasn't, he was very angry and he was – when he heard who it was we were there to see, he first initially said: He said: well, I'm Mike Danton. And I told him: no, you're not. And he said: well, I'm Mike's father. I said: OK. And there was an exchange there. I was trying to get away from them, try to get out. And the security guard was, he kind of had, he was kind of clueless. He was trying to figure out what was going on and he was looking at the man looking at me. And I told him: I'll be back and I left.
…
Bob McKeown: YOU LEAVE THE APARTMENT COMPLEX AND YOU GO TO THE PARKING LOT. NOW YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE GOING TO BE POLICE THERE.
Justin Levi Jones: Yes.
…
Bob McKeown: SO TAKE US THROUGH WHAT HAPPENED.
Justin Levi Jones: It was, well, we were sitting there waiting a moment and I had – parts of the parking lot were roped off. So and I could have either parked right next to the highway or in further close to the building. And parts of it were roped off for cleaning and there was street sweeping and such. So I parked close to the building to keep it away from the highway. I thought that would be a better idea. So it took the agents a few minutes to weave through the you know the blocked-off areas. So we're sitting there for maybe five minutes, you know eight minutes, something like that. And she's just you know totally nervous about the whole thing and I think I was telling her that I was going back in there and I was going to take care of it. She said: no, just wait for Mike to call. She wanted to talk to him and see what he thought about this and who that was in his apartment. Everybody had questions you know. She didn't even know what was going on at that point – who the man was and what was going on.
Bob McKeown: WELL, YOU'RE SAYING AT ONE POINT: I CAN'T BELIEVE MIKE WANTED US TO KILL HIS DAD.
Justin Levi Jones: I wanted to know what she knew and I didn't know who this guy was. It was either – she said he kind of looked like his agent and this man's saying it's his dad. I'm thinking that she knows more than she's telling me. So I'm saying: oh, he wanted us to kill his dad? You know I'm saying it like: I can't believe he wanted us to kill his dad. And she kept, she was just in her own world. She's saying: that kind of looked his agent. I've never seen his dad. I don't think his dad would stay at his house, you know just a number of things. And about the time that she stops talking, she gets quiet for a minute. I see a couple of vehicles are rolling up and I recognize them and one comes head-on with us in front of our vehicle. Another one blocked us off in the rear and a couple came from the side. And you know in law enforcement fashion, they just remove her from the vehicle and me also and –
Bob McKeown: HOW DID SHE RESPOND TO THAT?
Justin Levi Jones: I think her exact words when the lights actually came on was, she said: oh, shit was exactly what she said. She knew that something was wrong.
…
Bob McKeown: NOW DID YOU HEAR FROM MIKE DANTON AFTERWARDS?
Justin Levi Jones: Yes, while I was in one of the government vehicles. He called again. He may have called a number of times. One time I don't believe I answered and another time when I did answer. He was frantic, totally panicked. He said that just to tell the police that I didn't know him and that Katie and I were over there because she wanted to go see him. And just a number of crazy things that this man was just blurting out and how just that you know he'll take care of it, you know it's messed up but he'll take care of it, will try again or something like that. And he just babbled on and finally he had to get off the phone again. And I believe that he had spoken to Mr. Frost and the man was just frantic.
Bob McKeown: BUT HE STILL WAS TALKING ABOUT TRYING AGAIN AT THAT STAGE?
Justin Levi Jones: Yes. He wanted it done. He said we'd wait awhile or something, something of that nature so.
Bob McKeown: AND IT WAS A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER THAT HE FOUND HIMSELF ARRESTED BY THE FBI?
Justin Levi Jones: Um hmm. Yes, sir.
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