Blues player apparently has killer instinct

[Ragone]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1784155

[Honolulu_Blue]

This is all very strange. The report itself doesn't seem to make all that much sense. Danton has always been a bit odd, but this over the top.

[Ksyrup]

That article is a bit more in-depth than the original article from last night, but even more perplexing. It seems to suggest that he might be gay - a male victim and Danto sobbing about the (intended) victim leaving him? That's the only way the report makes sense.

[Tekneek]

Mike Danton has had a tough life. Apparently he was abused by his father, and may likely be the ultimate root of all his problems. He had problems with the NJ Devils, which ended up getting him moved to St. Louis. His relationship with his family is so bad that he changed his name from Jefferson to Danton a year or two ago. It will be a shame if this charge is legitimate and he does down for it. He has certainly had plenty of chances to get his life back on track, but I can't imagine dealing with some of the things he has. His problems are only going to get worse now.

[Draft Dodger]

That article is a bit more in-depth than the original article from last night, but even more perplexing. It seems to suggest that he might be gay - a male victim and Danto sobbing about the (intended) victim leaving him? That's the only way the report makes sense.

that's the way I read that as well.
sounds like his ex-lover was going to leave him, and, more importantly, was going to out him to his team.

[TurnerONU22]

The stuff I've been reading seems to peg his acquaintance as one of two people.

1. - A gay lover - which would be hinted at by the whole "didn't want him to leave" and the fact that he was going to go to the STL organization and ruin him. The fact about being gay would definitely ruin his career.

2. - Here's the odd one - his agent - David Frost

hxxp://www.sunmedia.ca/DunlopAwards/frost.html

His agent seems to be some psycho controlling guy that could be who Danton was going after. In the FBI report, they said that when the "cooperating witness" and the girl arrived to the apartment, the security guard called to Danton's room, and his acquaintance came outside the room on the railing of the 2nd floor and said that he was "Danton's father".

Here's the whole report:

hxxp://www.ksdk.com/news/DantonComplaint.pdf

It seems to be no doubt that he's guilty, but I think what's making people wonder is who this "acquaintance" is.

[Tekneek]

It is all very strange. I was under the impression that blackmail was a crime, and if this acquaintance was threatening to ruin his career by revealing details to Danton's employer then this person should be in some kind of trouble. Is blackmail a crime or just something you can handle in civil court?

[bbor]

This guys career has been wackysince Jr hockey.He played in Toronto during his junior years.Frost would sit behind the coach and tell him when to play Danton/Jefferson.Frost ran the team from the stands as he had about 3 or 4 players on that team under his influence.If the coach would tell Frost of..the 3 or 4 players would come down with "injuries".

eventually the team traded 3 of the guys away to another team.

Not surprisingly...none of the 3 are steady NHL players as no one wants to deal with Frost.

[samifan24]

After reading the PDF of the FBI report and the story on Frost, I have to say that it sounds as though the man Danton wanted killed may have been Frost himself. Given the close, odd, some say "cult-like" relationship between Frost and his players, it may be that Frost "crossed a line" with Danton and the two were in a relationship together. Obviously I'm just speculating here. I feel bad for everyone involved, these people all seem to be falling apart, especially Danton. I have to wonder what role Frost plays in all of this given the fact that he was basically "controlling" his players. As you know, bbor, Danton was a 4th liner and Sheldon Keefe hasn't spent much time in the NHL either. Do you think that, if the person who came to the railing at Danton's apartment complex was Frost, that he continues to control Keefe and the other two guys as well?

[Maple Leafs]

More and more bizarre...

By the way, the stories also seem to suggest that Danton was worried about the acquiantance informing the team of his drinking. Was Danton on the NHL's warning list for alcohol?

[Tekneek]

More and more bizarre...

By the way, the stories also seem to suggest that Danton was worried about the acquiantance informing the team of his drinking.

This thing is, so far, falling in line with patterns exhibited by people who have been abused, taken advantage of, etc, by those in positions of authority during their lives. I'm just an amateur, but this seems like the product of some bad stuff brought on by somebody who, up to this point, is not facing criminal charges.

[Maple Leafs]

News reports this morning all seem to be saying that the "acquaintance" was a romantic partner. I haven't seen anything about the agent yet.

[bbor]

After reading the PDF of the FBI report and the story on Frost, I have to say that it sounds as though the man Danton wanted killed may have been Frost himself. Given the close, odd, some say "cult-like" relationship between Frost and his players, it may be that Frost "crossed a line" with Danton and the two were in a relationship together. Obviously I'm just speculating here. I feel bad for everyone involved, these people all seem to be falling apart, especially Danton. I have to wonder what role Frost plays in all of this given the fact that he was basically "controlling" his players. As you know, bbor, Danton was a 4th liner and Sheldon Keefe hasn't spent much time in the NHL either. Do you think that, if the person who came to the railing at Danton's apartment complex was Frost, that he continues to control Keefe and the other two guys as well?


Keefe was one of the other players...i don't recall the other 2 guys' names.

That is an interesting thought that maybe he was going to have Frost killed...i never thought of that,but it makes perfect sense now that you mention it.

[Tekneek]

News reports this morning all seem to be saying that the "acquaintance" was a romantic partner. I haven't seen anything about the agent yet.

I'm thinking they don't know and nobody has brought up the idea that it could be Frost. Plus, getting into that kind of specific speculation about an individual, in the media this soon, could cause some legal problems.

[Maple Leafs]

I'm thinking they don't know and nobody has brought up the idea that it could be Frost. Plus, getting into that kind of specific speculation about an individual, in the media this soon, could cause some legal problems.True, but typically in cases like this the media is getting its information from the police, both through official announcements and off-the-record leaks. If there was anything to the agent angle, I think word would be getting out.

[Axxon]

True, but typically in cases like this the media is getting its information from the police, both through official announcements and off-the-record leaks. If there was anything to the agent angle, I think word would be getting out.

Theres enough cases like this to make something typical about their handling? Yikes!

;)

[Tekneek]

An interesting quote I found from Frost, back when Danton was playing out his final times with the Devils :

"If you start messing with his head, you might lose him. To me, this is opening up a can of worms I don't know they want to open up."

[chrisj]

I remember when Mike Jefferson was playing in the Memorial Cup here in Halifax..

Jefferson made a comment about how Brad Richards, of the QMJHL, wouldn't last 5 games in the OHL. After a game in which Richards' Rimouski Oceanic beat Jefferson's Barrie Colts 6-2, Jefferson refused to shake Richards hand.

Of course... look at where the two are now. Guess he was a little wrong.

Actually, that whole team from Barrie was insane. During the season their coach twice smuggled one of their import players into the US in the luggage compartment of their bus.

[Ksyrup]

News reports this morning all seem to be saying that the "acquaintance" was a romantic partner. I haven't seen anything about the agent yet.
That's the only thing that makes sense to me, given the "promiscuity" angle. It's certainly possible that if it was Frost, and he had the kind of control over Danton that it sounds like he had, that Danton being afraid the guy would "leave him" - meaning as his representative and a major influence in his life - could fit that story, without their being a sexual connotation.

However, it seems odd to me that he would fear someone going to the team about his "promiscuity" unless that meant a gay relationship. I don't know many athletes who get a bad rep for being a womanizer, muh less punished for it by their team, unless they are married or have a disease. So the Blues "finding out" about his promiscuity - and that being a big deal - has to suggest a gay relationship.

Now, whether all of this is wrapped up in the agent - being the intended victim AND the gay partner - who knows. It could be that Frost knew of his relationship with another person - the cooperating witness - and threatened to tell the team about it. In that scenario, Frost could be the intended victim, not the lover.

In any event, this is all REALLY odd.

[klayman]

It could be that Frost knew of his relationship with another person - the cooperating witness
Wasn't the cooperating witness just the hitman they hired? I don't think he had any connection to Danton until he tried to hire him.

[Ksyrup]

Wasn't the cooperating witness just the hitman they hired? I don't think he had any connection to Danton until he tried to hire him.
Yeah, you're right. I was thinking back to the original article I read, where it was even less clear who the players were.

[Tekneek]

Mental notes :

Don't ask a 19 year old girl for help getting someone whacked.
Don't use a telephone to arrange the hit.
If the itended victim calls you, keep your damn mouth shut.

[Tekneek]

Here is an article about David Frost :

http://www.sunmedia.ca/DunlopAwards/frost.html

[Honolulu_Blue]

Here is an article from the St. Louis papers that offers some more detail...

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/Sports/Blues/3D10B641095A2C8186256E790012054B?OpenDocument

Blues player is held in murder plot case
By Michael Shaw
Of the Post-Dispatch
04/16/2004

FBI agents arrested Blues hockey player Mike Danton early Friday on charges that he tried to arrange the murder of an acquaintance at an apartment both used in Brentwood.

Also charged is a woman who said she was involved in a relationship with Danton and who authorities say confessed helping him try to locate a "hit man."

Nobody was injured in the plot, which the FBI said evolved since Tuesday, when Danton, 23, and his target had an argument.

A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court at East St. Louis says the acquaintance "stated that he and Danton had a severe argument on Tuesday, April 13, 2004, concerning Danton's promiscuity and use of alcohol."

It continues: "Danton begged the acquaintance not to go to the general manager of the St. Louis Blues hockey organization and ruin his career. The acquaintance threatened to leave Danton."

Later in the document, it describes a recorded phone call the FBI got the unidentified acquaintance to make to Danton, apparently before his arrest Friday morning.

"The acquaintance called Danton and asked Danton why he wanted to have him killed," it says. "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."

Danton was picked up in San Jose, Calif., where he played in the Blues' last game of the season Thursday night.


If convicted, he could be imprisoned up to 10 years and fined up to $250,000 on each of two counts - that he conspired and used a telephone across state lines to set up a murder.

Katie Koester Wolfmeyer, 19, of Florissant, also is charged on two counts. She was arrested Thursday night after taking the intended killer, who by then was cooperating with the FBI, to Danton's apartment.

Dave Frost, Danton's agent, said: "We don't as of yet have all the facts. I spoke with Mike. We're fully supportive of him, and we fully intend to be behind him, and with him. Unequivocally, I can tell you it had nothing to do with drugs and alcohol, period. Once we get all the facts, we'll be able to realize what really happened. He's a good kid. He really is."

An affidavit by FBI Special Agent John Jimenez, which is part of the complaint, laid out these details:

On Wednesday, Wolfmeyer was with friends when Danton called her cell phone and asked whether she could help arrange a killing. He said a hired killer was en route from Canada to murder him over a debt, and he wanted that person killed first.

Wolfmeyer arranged for one of her friends, in Monroe County, to take a call from Danton early Thursday. Danton repeated the story and said he wanted her friend to intercept the killer at his apartment, at 1800 South Brentwood Boulevard, and make it look as if one burglar had killed another and fled after looting the place.

The friend suggested doing the killing elsewhere, but Danton insisted on the apartment. "I'll know it's taken care because when I come back, obviously I'll see him there," he was quoted as saying.

Danton wanted the crime to be committed as soon as possible, preferably that night.

After becoming convinced that Danton was serious, the friend called the FBI and consented to taping of phone conversations.

Wolfmeyer met the friend outside a North St. Louis County restaurant Thursday night, and they went together to the apartment, where a gate guard asked whom they were there to see. They told him Danton, and the guard called the apartment.

The intended target came to a second-floor rail and asked who they were. They decided to leave. Suspicious of the event, the man called police.

Danton later called to counsel Wolfmeyer and her friend about what to say about the visit if they were questioned by police.

FBI agents found $3,000 in cash in an unlocked safe in the apartment, matching what Danton had said would be there as down payment for the murder.

The hockey team's spokesman, Jim Woodcock, said late Friday: "It would be inappropriate for the Blues to comment on this matter and this time. This matter is in the hands of law enforcement officials and the judicial system."

U.S. Attorney Ronald J. Tenpas said he could not comment beyond the contents of the complaint.

A hearing in the case is tentatively scheduled for Monday in federal court in East St. Louis.

[Tekneek]

Well, I suppose that tends to rule out Frost being involved in this specific incident. This is all so strange. I wonder if we will ever find out what was really going on. Why would he fear that this person, who called himself Mike's father, would ruin his career by going to the Blues? This is surreal.

[SunDancer]

What happen to the other thread that I just posted in.

[mckerney]

Mental notes :

Don't ask a 19 year old girl for help getting someone whacked.
Don't use a telephone to arrange the hit.
If the itended victim calls you, keep your damn mouth shut.

And in some fucked up cases, Don't forget to tell the hitman your hiring to not hurt the TV.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=2&u=/nm/20040416/od_nm/odd_hitman_dc

Kill Mom But Don't Hurt TV, Teen Tells Hitman
Fri Apr 16, 7:42 AM ET


MIAMI (Reuters) - A Florida teen charged with hiring an undercover policeman to shoot and kill his mother instructed the purported hitman not to damage the family television during the attack, police said on Thursday.

Police in the southwestern Florida city of Fort Myers arrested the boy, 17-year-old Carlos Chereza, on Tuesday on a charge of soliciting to commit first-degree murder.

Tipped by an informant that Chereza had offered to pay to have his mother killed, an undercover detective posed as someone willing to do the job, Fort Myers police said.

Chereza offered the detective $2,000 that he expected to inherit from his mother's bank account, and gave him the keys to the family apartment, a map of the apartment and a picture of his mother, the police report said. He asked that the shooting be made to look like a burglary, it said.

"Carlos stated that he didn't want anything to happen to the television," the detective wrote in the arrest report.

Police arrested the teen immediately after the meeting with the detective, and the mother was unharmed. Police spokeswoman Kara Winton said the motive was related to domestic problems within the family, but declined to elaborate.

[sovereignstar]

Must've been a Hitachi.

[Ksyrup]

An update, which seems to confirm what we've been suspecting:


ESPN.com news services
<!-- template inline --><!-- insertinlineAd -->Law enforcement sources have told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that sports agent Dave Frost was the target of an alleged murder-for-hire plot arranged by his client, Blues (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=stl) forward Mike Danton (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?statsId=3219).

The identity of the target has been a mystery since charges were filed against Danton on Friday, a day after the San Jose Sharks (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=san) beat the Blues 3-1 to eliminate St. Louis from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Danton remains jailed in California pending extradition to the St. Louis area.

Frost has denied that he was a target and refused to discuss specifics of the case in an interview with the Post-Dispatch on Monday.

"The lawyers are the ones who will have to comment about the specifics of that night," he told the newspaper.

However, according to the Post-Dispatch's law enforcement sources, the FBI found Frost at Danton's apartment in Brentwood, Mo., about midnight Thursday. Minutes later, the 19-year-old suburban St. Louis woman accused of helping to set up the hit arrived there with a man she believed to be a hired killer. That man had reported the alleged plot and was secretly working with the FBI.

Another law enforcement source not identified by the newspaper confirmed that the FBI brought Frost to the Brentwood police station to talk with him, Danton's accused accomplice, Katie Wolfmeyer, and the informer.

"Once the whole thing shakes down, everyone will understand exactly all of the circumstances of what happened," Frost told the Post-Dispatch. "When the smoke clears, everyone will know what Mike was thinking and what really happened."

On Monday, Frost told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that Danton is in dire need of psychological counseling.

"Mike is scared," Frost said. "He's still in a state where he doesn't actually understand what's happened. He's in desperate, desperate need of counseling, immediately. We're doing what we can to keep his mind-set as strong as we possibly can."

Wolfmeyer was released on $100,000 bond Monday, the Post-Dispatch reported. Danton and Wolfmeyer face federal charges of conspiring and using a telephone across state lines to set up a murder. According to the criminal complaint, Danton told Wolfmeyer that a hit man from Canada was coming to kill him and asked her if she knew someone who would kill the person for $10,000.

Robert Haar, Danton's St. Louis-based attorney, told the Post-Dispatch that the process of extraditing Danton from California could take "two to three weeks."

"I suspect [Danton will be moved] much quicker than that," Haar told the paper.

A possible motive for killing Frost remains unclear. The complaint alleges that Danton was trying to kill a male acquaintance whom he had fought with Tuesday over Danton's "promiscuity and use of alcohol." The complaint said Danton feared the acquaintance, who is not identified, would talk to Blues management and ruin Danton's career.

"There is a story behind the story which will be told eventually," Frost's lawyer, Michael Edelson, told the paper. "Other than that, I have no comment. We're not going to try this in the press."

According to the Post-Dispatch, Frost has been banned from two junior hockey leagues in Canada for "having a strong influence over a core of young players."

Danton's father, Stephen Jefferson, said Frost is a "monster" and blamed him for his poor relationship with his son. Frost told the Post-Dispatch that Jefferson was the controlling figure in Danton's life. The player has been estranged from his family for some time and changed his name from Jefferson to Danton in the summer of 2002.

St. Louis acquired Danton in June from the New Jersey Devils (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=njd), where he had been twice suspended for disciplinary reasons. He sat out all of the 2001-02 season and played in just 17 games in 2002-03.

This season, Danton had seven goals, 12 points and 141 penalty minutes -- tied for most on the team.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[bosshogg23]

Another update has the agent denying he was the target....

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nhl/story/7270135

ST. LOUIS -- Mike Danton's sports agent on Tuesday dismissed media reports that he was the target of the St. Louis Blues player's alleged murder-for-hire scheme, saying "it'll all be cleared up as soon as Mike is able to talk.'

"I wasn't the target," Dave Frost said by telephone after St. Louis media outlets, quoting unidentified sources, reported Monday night and Tuesday that Frost was the person Danton sought to have killed. "I can't comment on the specifics."

A message left Tuesday with Danton's St. Louis attorney was not immediately returned.

Danton, 23, was arrested Friday -- a day after the San Jose Sharks eliminated the Blues from the NHL playoffs -- on charges that he and a 19-year-old St. Louis woman conspired and used a telephone across state lines to set up a killing.

Danton has been jailed in California pending his voluntary return to the St. Louis area. His first appearance on the Illinois federal charges was possible as early as Tuesday.

The alleged accomplice, college nursing student Katie Wolfmeyer, made her initial appearance Monday in federal court in East St. Louis, Ill. Her attorney, Donald Groshong, told a federal magistrate that his client is a "young girl smitten with a hockey player who lied to her."

Wolfmeyer was freed on $100,000 bond and scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 30.

"This is not a theft, this is not a drug case. This was a crime of violence," Stephen Clark, a federal prosecutor, said during Wolfmeyer's hearing Monday.

Clark said in court that Wolfmeyer confessed to the crime. Groshong said that was not the case, calling Wolfmeyer "a nice young girl who is the real victim in this case. She was lied to by everybody." He would not elaborate.

A criminal complaint filed by the FBI alleges that Danton tried to hire a hit man for $10,000 to murder an acquaintance at the apartment the men shared. The complaint alleged the men argued April 13 over Danton's "promiscuity and use of alcohol," and that Danton feared the acquaintance would talk to Blues management and ruin Danton's career.

On Monday, media outlets quoted law enforcement sources as saying the FBI found Frost at the player's suburban St. Louis apartment last week minutes after Wolfmeyer and a man she believed to be a hired killer had arrived there. Wolfmeyer apparently was unaware the supposed contract killer was secretly working with the FBI.

Frost told the Associated Press on Monday that Danton is in "desperate, desperate need of counseling."

"Mike is scared. He's still in a state where he doesn't actually understand what's happened," the agent said. "We're doing what we can to keep his mind-set as strong as we possibly can."

In several interviews, Danton's estranged father, Stephen Jefferson of Brampton, Ontario, has blamed Frost for his son's emotional problems.

Jefferson, who has no telephone listing and could not be reached Tuesday, has told the Toronto Star that he introduced his son, then 11, to Frost at the urging of a friend. Soon, the father said, Frost took over the boy's life.

Frost has served as Danton's agent since Danton was 15.

Danton legally changed his name two years ago from Mike Jefferson.

"That man has ruined my son's life," Jefferson told the Toronto newspaper of Frost.

Frost has only said that police have long documented the reasons behind Danton's problems. Frost again said Tuesday they are unrelated to drugs or alcohol, though he declined to elaborate.

Danton came to the Blues in a June trade from the New Jersey Devils, where he had been twice suspended for disciplinary reasons. This season, Danton -- serving as a fourth-line agitator -- had seven goals, 12 points and 141 penalty minutes -- tied for most on the team.

AP NEWS

[klayman]

Well, one thing is consistent in all the reports that I'm reading. And that is that Danton got 7 goals, 12 points and 141 penalty minutes this season.

[Tekneek]

"crime of violence" he says, yet no violence happened. If it had, they should have included that in their complaint to the court. A Federal Prosecutor who is trying to be dramatic.

I read an article from several years back where Mike's father said that Frost was the best thing that ever happened to him...

http://www.sunmedia.ca/DunlopAwards/frost.html

[Ksyrup]

Looks like this ended with a whimper. There's something fishy about his agent, though. He's obviously got a story to hide if he's unwilling to admit that he was the person on whom the hit was placed.



EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- Former St. Louis Blues (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=stl) player Mike Danton (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?statsId=3219) admitted Friday that he sought to have his agent killed as part of a plot that unraveled when the would-be hit man turned out to be a police informant.
http://adsatt.espn.go.com/ad/sponsors/blank/blank-espn.gif (http://log.go.com/log?srvc=sz&a=1&drop=0&addata=1331:228:141468:65&guid=73D22585-785B-447F-B074-67A14F32C338&goto=)<!-- InContent Blank -->

Danton pleaded guilty to a federal murder-for-hire conspiracy charge and could face seven to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 22.

Danton was to have been tried in September with co-defendant Katie Wolfmeyer, and was scheduled for a pretrial hearing next week.

Danton, 23, and Wolfmeyer, a 19-year-old college student from a St. Louis suburb, faced identical conspiracy charges, with Wolfmeyer accused of trying to hire the would-be killer of Danton's agent, David Frost.

The would-be killer eventually went to police, and Frost was unharmed.

Danton has been jailed since his arrest April 16 in San Jose, Calif., a day after the San Jose Sharks (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=san) eliminated the Blues from the playoffs.

Wolfmeyer has pleaded not guilty and is to be tried in September.

Federal prosecutors have agreed to let Danton serve his possible prison time in his native Canada. U.S. District Judge William Stiehl told Danton that the agreement may bar him from re-entering the United States.

[Franklinnoble]

He should compare notes with Tonya Harding.

[Ksyrup]

At least Tonya got things done.