Leonard Peltier Trial: A Chronology
by Jeremy Strathman (2L)
December 1890 300 Sioux women and children are killed by the U.S. Cavalry in what came to be called the Wounded Knee Massacre.
September 12, 1944 Leonard Peltier is born in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
November 22, 1972 Peltier is involved in an incident in a Milwaukee restaurant for which he would serve five months for attempted murder.
February 1973 Native traditionalists and AIM members occupy Wounded Knee to protest the rough tactics of tribal leader Dick Wilson and his “goon squad.”
June 26, 1975 FBI Special Agents Coler and Williams are killed by gunshots fired at close range near the Jumping Bulls’ residence.
July 14, 1975 A grand jury convenes in Rapid City to consider charges related to the killings of agents Coler and Williams.
September 10, 1975 A car carrying Bob Robideau, Norman Charles, and Michael Anderson explodes on a turnpike in Kansas.  A damaged AR-15 (which would later be deemed the murder weapon) was found in the automobile.
November 25, 1975 Peltier, Robideau, Jimmy Eagle, and Dino Butler are indicted for the murders on the Jumping Bulls’ Ranch.
February 6, 1976 Peltier is arrested in Hinton, Alberta, Canada and held for extradition hearings by the Canadian government.
June 18, 1976  Peltier’s extradition hearing concludes with a decision to allow extradition to the United States.
July 1976 Dino Butler and Bob Robideau, facing charges for the murder of agents Coler and Williams, are acquitted by a federal jury in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
September 8, 1976 Charges are dropped against Jimmy Eagle.
December 16, 1976 Peltier is moved from Vancouver to Rapid City.
January 14, 1977 Peltier’s trial is moved to Fargo, North Dakota.
March-April 1977 Peltier stands trial in Fargo for the murders of special agents Coler and Williams.
April 6, 1977 The prosecution rests its case in the Peltier trial.
April 15, 1977 Closing arguments begin in the Peltier trial.
April 18, 1977 The jury finds Peltier guilty on two counts of murder in the first-degree.
June 1, 1977 Peltier is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in federal prison.
February 1978 Peltier stands trial on charges of attempted murder stemming from an incident involving Milwaukee police officers.  He is acquitted.
April 1978 Peltier’s appeal is argued before a three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
September 14, 1978 The Eighth Circuit rejects Peltier's appeal of his conviction.
March 10, 1979 The U. S. Supreme Court declines to review Peltier’s case.
July 20, 1979 Peltier escapes from Lompoc Federal Prison in California.
July 26, 1979 Peltier is recaptured.
November 14, 1979 Peltier’s trial for his escape begins.
January 22, 1980 Peltier is found guilty of prison escape and illegal possession of a weapon and sentenced to seven additional years in prison.
March 20, 1981 The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reverses Peltier’s prison escape conviction.
April 11, 1982 Peltier’s lawyers file a writ of habeas corpus in U.S. District Court in North Dakota.
December 31, 1982 District Judge Benson denies Peltier request for a new trial.
January 2001
 President Clinton leaves office without granting, despite an intense lobbying effort on his behalf, Peltier a pardon.
April 23, 2004 The Supreme Court refuses to hear Peltier’s appeal of a Tenth Circuit decision to deny a request of parole consideration to Peltier.
October 23, 2005
 Bob Robideau, free to admit guilt under the Constitution's double jeopardy clause, tells a gathering of 25 activists in New York City that he was the one who pulled the trigger: "I killed the agents."

Link to more detailed chronology on International Peltier Forum

Peltier Trial Homepage