 |
INDEPTH: THE MIKE DANTON CASE A little truth, a lot of rumours
CBC Sports Online | Last updated Nov. 30, 2005
The delight was plainly written across Mike Danton's
face. His eyes were alive with excitement. He wore an open-mouthed,
gap-toothed grin as he skated into the open arms of his St. Louis
Blues teammates.
Danton had just scored the first playoff goal of his budding NHL career
and the 23-year-old from Brampton, Ont., was on top of the world.
But Danton's world soon fell apart.
Two days after the Blues were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs,
police in California arrested Danton and accused of him of plotting
to commit a murder.
What followed was a whirlwind of unbridled speculation about Danton,
his upbringing, his friends and the people running his hockey career.
There were rumours of homosexuality, promiscuity, substance abuse
and child neglect.
On the one side was Danton's parents claiming that svengali-like
agent David Frost corrupted their son. On the other was Frost himself,
calling Danton's parents unfit and claiming that he was simply doing
what was best for his protégé.
In the middle was Danton, who pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire
charges despite the protestations of innocence from Frost, his intended
target. Danton was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in a U.S. federal prison
on Nov. 8, 2004.
But despite the public court case, questions about the scheme, Danton's
life and his relationship with Frost remain unanswered.
THE LATEST
Recordings of jailhouse conversations between
Danton and Frost obtained by CBC's the fifth estate reveal
the enormous influence the agent held over the player. The television
documentary, entitled "Rogue Agent" and aired Nov. 30, also delved into the relationship between Danton and
his parents and how he went about trying to recruit a hitman.
CBC's the fifth estate: Rogue Agent
The revelations come over a year after Danton
was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Stiehl ruled. Stiehl
offered Danton an opportunity to speak, but he declined.
"I do not believe in over 18 years on the bench I have been faced
with a case as bizarre as this one," Stiehl said, noting that Danton
picked a 19-year-old acquaintance and a police dispatcher as his
potential helpers.
Stiehl further recommended that Danton be moved to a Canadian prison.
THE BACKGROUND
What is Mike Danton accused of doing?
A criminal complaint filed in a federal court in Illinois alleged
Danton and 19-year-old Katie Wolfmeyer attempted to hire a man to
kill an unnamed acquaintance who Danton had earlier quarrelled with.
According to the police, the argument involved "promiscuity and use
of alcohol" by Danton, who "begged the acquaintance not to go to (Blues
general manager Larry Pleau) ... and ruin his career."
Police alleged that Danton offered a hitman $10,000 US to kill the
unidentified male at his St. Louis apartment. The murder was to be
made to look like a botched burglary.
Both Danton and Wolfmeyer were charged with conspiring and using a
telephone across state lines to set up a murder. Danton pleaded guilty.
Wolfmayer was found not guilty.
Who is Katie Wolfmeyer?
The exact nature of Wolfmeyer's relationship with Danton is unclear.
Reports suggest the two were just friends and not romantically linked.
Federal authorities say Wolfmeyer confessed to putting Danton in touch
with a man who was willing to carry out the murder-for-hire plot,
someone authorities described as a "co-operating witness" for the
FBI. Wolfmeyer's lawyer denied that confession ever took place.
Wolfmeyer's family was stunned by the allegations. She was described
by relatives as hard-working, All-American girl. Wolfmeyer was studying
nursing at St. Louis Community College, where she also played volleyball
and lacrosse.
Wolfmeyer's family believes Wolfmeyer met Danton while she worked
at a shopping mall located near the Blues practice facility.
On Sept. 19th, 2004, a jury acquitted Wolfmeyer of all charges.
Who was the targeted "acquaintance" in the alleged
murder-for-hire plot?
According to federal prosecutors, Danton was plotting to kill his
long-time agent David Frost.
Police alleged that Danton tried three times over a six-month period
to hire a hitman to murder Frost.
Frost denied that Danton wanted him killed and said the truth will
come out in court. However, since there will be no court case, there
may be no official airing of the evidence surrounding the Danton case.
According to the FBI, Danton said he set up the plot because he feared
for his life.
Danton, authorities said, told Wolfmeyer that he needed to hire a
hitman to kill some mysterious man who was coming from Canada to murder
him over a financial debt.
"The only way that I'm going to be able to sleep tonight is knowing
that the guy trying to kill me is done himself," Danton is quoted
as saying in the criminal complaint.
"I'm pretty much begging. I wouldn't resort to this if it wasn't a
matter of life and death."
Police maintain there is no evidence that a hitman was after Danton.
Frost called the hitman a product of Danton's deluded mind, adding
that Danton wasn't thinking straight because he was depressed and
on pain medication and sleeping pills. Frost described Danton as a
"good kid" who needs immediate psychiatric help.
Initial reports claimed that Danton was trying
to kill his gay lover. Is that true?
The idea that Danton was trying to murder his gay lover came not from
the facts, but from an interpretation, or misinterpretation, of statements
made in the criminal complaint.
The court document described a recorded phone call between Danton
and the target of the alleged plot.
"The acquaintance called Danton and asked Danton why he wanted to
have him killed," it states. "Danton broke down and sobbed. Danton
explained that he felt backed into a corner and also felt that the
acquaintance was going to leave him. Danton did not want to allow
the acquaintance to leave him, therefore decided to have him murdered."
That statement suggests a strong emotional connection between Danton
and the acquaintance. What remains clear is the precise nature of
the relationship between the two men.
Initially, many media outlets reported the alleged murder plot was
a lover's quarrel gone bad.
But most people close to Danton deny that he is gay.
Weeks after the story broke, the media's conventional wisdom changed.
Frost isn't believed to be a sexual partner, but instead an agent
with what has been described as an unusual control over the hockey
players he represents.
The abrupt end to the case brought on by Danton's guilty plea likely
means a clearer picture is not forthcoming.
What is Danton's relationship with David Frost?
The most enigmatic in character in the entire Danton drama is Frost.
His link to Danton is just as enigmatic.
Some have praised Frost as a hockey teacher and nurturer of young
players. Others have expressed concern over the cult-like devotion
he gets from many of the young players in his stable, like Danton,
Shawn Cation and Sheldon Keefe.
John Gardner, president of the Greater Toronto Hockey League, told
the Toronto Star that Frost "practiced mind control."
But in 1999, Stephen Jefferson, Danton's father, called Frost "the
best thing to ever happen to my kid."
Jefferson introduced his son to Frost when Mike was 11 years old.
Jefferson believed Frost could help his son realize his NHL dream.
Frost started off as Danton's coach and, eventually, became his agent.
As time passed, Frost's influence grew beyond hockey. If he wasn't
at school or playing hockey, Danton would spend most of his time with
Frost. The Jeffersons' role in their son's life was reduced to a minor
one.
Stephen Jefferson would go watch Danton play, but wasn't allowed contact
with his son before or after the games.
"(Danton) was like a lemming," Edena Phillips told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Phillips, who billeted Danton –- then 16 -- at her house while he
played for the Ontario Hockey Association's Quinte Hawks, also said:
"His parents didn't seem to have any say in his life whatsoever ...
It was all David Frost."
Eventually, Danton cut his parents out of his life all together.
Since Danton's arrest, Stephen Jefferson has lashed out against Frost,
calling him a "monster " and a "manipulator" and blaming him for his
son's problems.
"He stole Michael from us and now he's taken Michael's mind from him,"
Jefferson told the Globe and Mail.
"Since Michael was 15 years old, Michael has never said a word that
came out of his own mind. He's just a tape recording. It was his words
and (Frost's) thoughts."
Why doesn't Danton want a relationship with his
parents?
In recent years, Danton has gone to great lengths to distance himself
from his parents. In 2002, he officially changed his last name from
Jefferson to Danton. The name came from a colleague he met at a hockey
camp.
The Jeffersons haven't seen Danton in years. Danton claims the estrangement
is a result of his "very troublesome" upbringing.
In a statement issued in the weeks following his arrest, Danton said
his parents subjected him "constant physical and emotional abuse"
as a child.
Danton says he was raised in squalid conditions without few basic
necessities.
Frost and several of Danton's friends have made similar statements.
"I cannot tell you how badly (Danton) wanted to get away from his
past. That was his motivation, it seemed," Shawn Cation, one of Frost's
other protégés, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"And who wouldn't? He wanted to get as far away from his family as
possible."
Family members and friends of the Jeffersons on the other hand, say
they are unaware that any abuse took place.
Danton's father, Steve Jefferson, was shocked by his son's allegations.
"I'm really hurt by it. His mother will be floored," he said. "That's
Dave Frost talking … it hurts the family to hear that type of nonsense
from him. But it just shows how badly Mike needs help."
What does David Frost say when asked to explain
his unusual relationship with Danton?
Frost scoffs at concerns that he wields a svengali-like influence
over his flock. He doesn't make apologies and maintains that his
actions have always been in the best interest of the young hockey
players he represents.
"If having too much influence means my players go to school, they
maintain 75-plus averages, they work hard in games, they don't stay
out at night, they never break curfew -- if that means too much
influence, then I'm guilty," he told the Toronto Sun in a 1999 interview.
One of the more curious twists in the Danton story is the current
state of Frost’s relationship with Danton.
Frost is his client’s chief public voice, orchestrator of media
interviews and access to Danton and been his most prominent defender.
"You'll see, you'll see and it's a much bigger story than
you think," Frost tells the fifth estate. "It's because the FBI lied. They lied."
All this from a man who police say was the target of Danton’s murder-for-hire
plot.
THE FUTURE
What is next for Mike Danton?
Danton may try to serve what remains of his sentence in Canada. His
NHL career is over.
|
|
I
do not believe in over 18 years on the bench I have been faced with a case as
bizarre as this one.