Jury finds man not guilty in 34-year-old slaying on South Dakota Indian reservation
By APThursday, April 22, 2010
Jury acquits man in ‘75 SD reservation slaying
RAPID CITY, S.D. — A federal jury has found a man not guilty of murder in a 34-year-old slaying on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Richard Marshall was accused of providing the gun used to kill American Indian Movement activist Annie Mae Aquash (AH’-kwash) in December 1975. He was found not guilty of first-degree murder.
Jurors deliberated for less than two hours Thursday before reaching the verdict on the trial’s seventh day. Marshall hugged his attorney when the verdict was read, and cheering erupted in the courtroom. Marshall nodded and smiled at departing jurors.
Prosecutors believe AIM leaders ordered Aquash killed because they thought she was a government informant. Federal investigators have denied Aquash was a snitch.
