Naman Shrestha
Hulu’s ‘Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae’ is a four-part true crime documentary series that focuses on the eventful life of Annie Maw Aquash and her involvement in the American Indian Movement. Despite being found dead in the mid-1970s, her murder was not solved for nearly three decades. As the investigation saw a lot of ups and downs, the victim’s loved ones never gave up hope and fought to bring the perpetrator/s to justice. In the show, Annie’s family members and friends are interviewed on the show, allowing the viewers to get a detailed account of the entire investigation that spanned decades.
Annie Mae’s Remains Were Exhumed For a Second Autopsy When the First One Was Suspected to be False
Born on March 27, 1945, to Mary Ellen Pictou and Francis Thomas Levi, Annie Mae Aquash spent her formative years in Nova Scotia, Canada, along with her two sisters, Mary and Rebecca “Becky” Pictou, and a younger brother named Francis. Having struggled with poverty in her early days, she relocated to Boston in the 1960s with her partner, James “Jake” Maloney. In the following years, the couple gave birth to two daughters — Denise and Debbie. By 1965, Annie tied the knot with James and had also become a part of First Nations and Indigenous Americans and the American Indian Movement (AIM).
However, in the early 1970s, upon finding out about James’ extra-marital affair, Annie divorced him and soon got into a relationship with an Ojibwa activist named Nogeeshik Aquash. On April 12, 1973, they got married in a Native ceremony after moving to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Being a part of the AIM, she participated in the Wounded Knee Occupation, the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties, and the occupation of the Department of Interior Headquarters in Washington, DC. In late December 1975, 30-year-old Annie went missing, and the rumor about her possible demise floated across the community.
A couple of months later, on February 24, 1976, a rancher came across her body on the side of State Road 73, about 10 miles away from Wanblee, South Dakota. Initially, her death was reported to be caused by exposure, and her body was buried as a “Jane Doe” as she was not identified by then. After eight days of her burial, the remains were exhumed on March 10, 1976, upon the request of the AIM and Annie’s family. When a second autopsy was conducted, it was discovered that Annie was shot by a .32 caliber bullet at the back of her head, which led to her death. Due to the uproar in the community, an extensive investigation was launched.
Annie Mae Was Backstabbed by Her Fellow AIM Members
Before her tragic demise, Annie Mae Aquash was an integral member of the AIM and also participated in a conference in Farmington, New Mexico. In September 1975, she was taken into custody on charges of weapons possession and other counts. By then, she and Nogeeshik Aquash had parted ways, but the former had kept the surname. Although he got out on bond, she was arrested yet again in Oregon for nine counts for an incident in Ontario on November 14, 1975. However, she was released shortly again, on November 24. Given her early releases on both occasions, the security chief of AIM, Leonard Peltier, suspected Annie’s involvement with the FBI. In December 1975, she was last seen by people in Denver and Rapid City, South Dakota, while she was staying at Troy Lynn Yellow Wood-Williams’s residence.
According to reports, Annie was in the company of Arlo Looking Cloud, John Graham, and Theda Nelson Clarke at the time. When her family and friends in Nova Scotia did not receive her traditional Christmas phone calls, they suspected that something might have happened to her. Despite the discovery of her body in February 1976, the case went cold with no concrete evidence leading to the killer/s. Over the years, a thorough investigation into the case led the detectives to Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham. Several decades later, on March 20, 2003, Arlo and John were officially indicted for the murder of Annie Mae. A few days later, the former told the authorities that John was the gunman who landed the fatal shot to the victim.
The Killers Were Brought to Justice Several Decades Later
Nearly a year later, in February 2004, despite the lack of physical evidence against him, Arlo was found guilty of the crime, and on April 23 of the same year, he was sentenced to life in prison. Meanwhile, John Graham was ordered to be extradited to the States to face punishment for his possible involvement in the murder. On December 10, 2010, he was found guilty of felony murder after Arlo testified against him during his trial but was acquitted of the charge of premeditated murder. Like Arlo, John also received a life imprisonment sentence for the felony murder conviction. In 2011, Arlo’s sentence was reduced to 20 years due to his testimony against John Graham the previous year.
On the other hand, the latter’s conviction was upheld despite his appeal from the South Dakota Supreme Court. Besides these two, there were allegedly a few other members of the AIM involved in the brutal killing of Annie Mae. For instance, Vine Richard “Dick” Marshall was indicted for his involvement in the murder in August 2008. According to reports, he allegedly provided the murder weapon to John and Arlo. After getting paroled from prison in 2000 for an unrelated crime, he was acquitted of the charges against him. Along with John, in September 2009, Thelma Conroy-Rios was also charged with the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Annie Mae. However, in November 2010, she took a guilty plea and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Read More: Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham: Where Are Annie Mae’s Killers Now?
