Murder of Anna Mae Aquash

Also known as: Annie Mae Aquash, Anna Mae Pictou Aquash

Active: 1975–1975
Region: Wanblee, South Dakota, USA
States: CO, SD
Kind: Single
Status: Convicted
Victims: 1

Anna Mae Aquash, a 30-year-old Mi'kmaq activist from Nova Scotia and a prominent member of the American Indian Movement, was taken from Denver in December 1975, driven to Rapid City and onto the Pine Ridge Reservation, and shot near Wanblee, South Dakota. A rancher found her body on February 24, 1976. The case went unsolved for decades. In 2003 federal prosecutors charged two AIM members: Arlo Looking Cloud was convicted in federal court in 2004 and sentenced to life, and John Graham, extradited from Canada, was convicted of felony murder by a South Dakota jury in 2010 and sentenced to life.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, 30 · December 12, 1975
A Mi'kmaq woman from Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia (Mi'kmaq name Naguset Eask), and an activist with the American Indian Movement.

Timeline of locations

December 1975
Denver, Colorado (Abduction, approximate area)
Aquash was driven from Denver to Rapid City by three AIM members, according to trial testimony.
February 24, 1976
North of Wanblee, Pine Ridge Reservation (Recovery site, approximate area)
Prosecutors believe she was killed near Wanblee around December 12, 1975. A rancher found her body north of the town on February 24, 1976; a second autopsy found she had been shot.
2004
Trials in Rapid City (Court / trial, approximate area)
Arlo Looking Cloud was convicted in federal court in 2004 and sentenced to life. John Graham's federal trial was set for Rapid City in 2008; he was ultimately convicted of felony murder by a state jury in December 2010 and sentenced to life.

Active at the same time, nearby

Ted Bundy · both active in 1975, 120 km apart · map both

A coincidence of time and place, not a connection. All overlaps

Sources

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.