Dan Schultz

3.5 stars

In May 1998, a police officer, Dale Claxton, in Colorado near the desert pulled over a truck. Nothing seemed amiss until three men stepped out of the truck – all three had automatic guns. Claxton was shot numerous times and was killed. The three set off into the desert as other police tried to chase, but were gunned down themselves (others were injured, but not one else was killed). The last of the three fugitives was found in 2007; all three had died in the desert, though the show more other two had been found within a few weeks of the original chase.

This was good. Starting off with the killing of Claxton and the chase got me into the book right away. Some of the investigation wasn’t quite as interesting, but it picked up every time one of the three killers was found. And, I found the biographical info about each of the three interesting, as well. The three men were all identified fairly quickly, but all three also had plenty of experience surviving on the desert.

Because all three were found dead, it is speculation about what happened and why they did what they did, but it seems likely they were on their way to a different big crime, but got interrupted with Claxton pulled them over. The police also put out there, for all three of the gunmen, that they’d each killed themselves, but (according to the author) the evidence doesn’t really point to that.

This is a good book about a crime I hadn’t heard about (though I’m sure there are plenty who llived closer to the area who would remember this). It was unfortunate there were no references included in the book, though. show less

Listened to this book. It was riveting. A bunch of crazies, filled with the mythological spirit of the old west that celebrated the outlaw, three nuts carrying lots of weapons, shot up and killed a local cop after stealing a water truck. Their ultimate goal remains unclear, but after the shootings, a huge manhunt involving hundreds of police and the army went looking for these guys in the desert. It has been theorized they intended to blow up the Glen Canyon dam. Had they succeeded a torrent show more of water would have swept everything away in its path for hundreds of miles. (The three were advocates of eco-terrorism. One of them had read the Monkey-Wrench Gang 17 times in which the target is the Glen Canyon Dam.)

From the start, the search was beset with problems. Each agency wanted to be in charge, the FBI, multiple county sheriffs, state cops, not to mention Navajo tribal police. The Navajos had the trackers but they were called off and replaced by dogs and white guys who wanted the credit. Everyone tromped over the trail making tracking almost impossible. The three bad guys, and make no mistake, they were out to kill cops, loved the desert and knew how to move about in it. The police showed up in heavy body army and the wrong clothes making their hunt miserable and life threatening as they suffered from heat exhaustion and dehydration. In one instance, the trackers were on the trail, but night came so they marked the end of their progress with a stick. The cattle who roamed around the area cared little for the stick and during the night trampled and moved it around, obliterating any semblance of trail. The attitude on the part of most law enforcement was to hurry up and catch them to get the glory. They lacked the patience of the Navaho, on whose land much of the search was focused. It was the Navaho who made most of the progress in spite of being shunted to the side by the better funded white LE.

In the end, the author makes a convincing case that one of the suspects was murdered and the scene made to look like a suicide. He cites substantial forensic evidence that support that case. Given the cross jurisdictions, incompetence, and slovenly command structure, not to mention independent actions by some of the police I am not optimistic for a good outcome given the current situation.

For a nice summary by someone who bikes and camps in the area see http://southwestguidebooks.com/fugitives.htm show less

Audible Daily Deal $3.95 June 27, 2017

I hadn't heard of the Four Corners Manhunt previously. The 1998 story began with the stealing of a water truck by three survivalists, a fatal shootout with a sheriff that confronted them and their subsequent disappearance into the wilderness area near the intersection of the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. It had its anti-climactic resolution in 2007.

This retelling contains a lot of speculation and a rather fantastical assumption for show more why three desert survivalists would want a water truck but not for water. There was obviously a lot of research done here but it seems the speculation was made in order to build up the story with a more monumental plot. The sadder element is the apparent infighting between law enforcement agencies some of which sounds like it borders on criminal inefficiency e.g. The Navajo Tribal Police trackers who were closing in on the villains within one day were called back so that other agencies could be in on the kill instead? The end result being that the mystery wasn't solved for 9 years.

I've since found that there are a few other non-fiction accounts of the manhunt such as "Four Corners Manhunt: One Detective's Story of the 1998 Tragedy" and "FBI Diary: Home Grown Terror". Tony Hillerman's "Hunting Badger" from 1999 fictionalizes the events. show less

I listened to this book for about three hours of it's ten plus hour length. While the initial crime was an interesting retell, the story then dived into the very boring details. I then decided that it's not my kind of book and put it aside.