Harding's lawyer, Robert Weaver, then stated he wished to speak privately with his client. Today: She reportedly lives in Central Oregon with her husband and son. The USFSA also recommended that she face a disciplinary hearing. [41] Gillooly said he would phone her after the meeting, and Harding then drove to Gillooly's mother's house. Stant, who was 22 years old at the time, was hired by Shawn Eckhardt, a close friend of Tonya Harding's then-husband, Jeff Gillooly. Jan. 23, 1994: Investigators say they have enough evidence to arrest Harding but want to build an airtight case before going forward. As Tonya grows up, her parents take her out of school to focus on her skating career, and she trains under coach . Smith did not want to commit the assault himself because he had no criminal record, but said he might know someone who would do it. Griffith, of Beaverton, was Harding's bodyguard when the Portland-born skater competed for a spot on the U.S. Olympic figure skating team in 1994. According to him, she knew about the meeting and was anxious about Gillooly talking to dangerous people. Nike pledges $25,000 to help keep Harding in the Olympics. Just six years later in Dec. 2007, Eckardt passed away in Portland, Oregon, at just 40 years old. Also, Eckardt includes with his resume a letter of recommendation from Blackstone Corp. and uses as a reference a Mr. W. J. Walther, the company's purported Oregon-based representative. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. [38], Gillooly testified that by January 1994, he and Harding were upset that the plot had apparently failed. Stant said no. The USFSA has no dominion over professional skating events, yet Harding was also persona non grata on the pro circuit. During her first artistic performance, she stops when a skate shoelace breaks. On January 1, 1994, she had a late-night skating session from 11:30 p.m to 1 a.m., and Gillooly asked Eckardt to meet them at the rink. A Portland minister, Eugene Saunders, tells investigators he's heard of tape of Eckardt, Gillooly and friend Shane M. Stant discussing the "hit.". Neither Harding nor her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, has been charged in the case. Harding's mother, LaVona, said she opposed the marriage: "I knew Jeff had a violent streak [] he tried to break down the door because he thought [Tonya] had gone out with another boy. [43], On December 22, 1993, Eckardt received a call from his friend Derrick Smith who lived in Phoenix, Arizona. Griffith died . [88][89] Harding was stripped of her 1994 U.S. Championship title and banned for life from participating in USFSA events as either skater or coach. . Jan. 22, 1994: Investigators fly to Los Angeles to interview Kerrigan, who's filming a commercial there. [38] Smith wanted to know if Eckardt was still interested in moving to Phoenix to help set up an anti-terrorist training camp as they had previously discussed. [64][65] Harding left her home that evening to practice figure skating with her coaches, where she spoke with reporters and performed a triple Axel. The networks and national press go gaga. "[22] In summer 1991, she became engaged to mechanical engineer Mike Pliska. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. [50][51] Smith then applied for a police officer job and was waiting for his interview to be scheduled before Eckardt told him about possible bodyguard work in Oregon. Shawn Eckardt, 'I, Tonya' Image via NEON. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Tonya Harding prepared Monday for her first questioning by the district attorney amid reports that her ex-husband was about to be arrested and that funds from the U.S. They're a warm-up act for the night's main event, pitting Mike Tyson against Clifford Etienne at The Pyramid arena in Memphis, Tenn.a"Tyson wins with a powerhouse punch, knocking out Etienne in 49 seconds. Ten days later, Harding's lawyer asked the restraining order to be lifted because the couple again wished to reconcile. As you can tell, each relationship featured I, Tonya, is fraught with built-up animosity. The interview with Diane Sawyer from 1994 is as weird as you'd expect, with Sawyer explaining to viewers that, "Eckhardt has a rsum that makes him out to be a cross between James Bond and. [38], On December 28, he and Stant were in Portland to discuss the attack plan. She said: I get angry, nobody wanted to ever believe me. The penultimate episode of the animated comedy Futurama, "Stench and Stenchibility", features a devilish six-year-old girl named Tonya (voiced by Tara Strong; a reference to Harding), who is the opponent of Bender Rodriguez (John DiMaggio) in a tap dancing competition held by Randy Munchnik. In a July affidavit, Harding wrote that she had been in an abusive marriage for two years, "he has assaulted me physically with his open hand and fist [] put me down to the floor on several occasions. Nancy Kerrigan had already finished her practice session and departed to Stoneham, Massachusetts for the weekend. .". But . Sept. 22, 1995: Shawn Eckardt gets out of the Oregon State Penitentiary 109 days early for good behavior; he was to have served 18 months for his part in planning the attack. Oregon sentencing guidelines carried a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment for the offense. [38][30] It was true that Steinbrenner had recently given Harding a $10,000 donation through the USFSA. The media allowed him to air his version of events: that of an innocent caught in Harding and Gillooly's nefarious web. He claims to have worked for the Blackstone Corp. as a contract operations specialist in Switzerland from 1984 to 1987. May 2006: A writer and composer collaborate to craft "Tonya & Nancy: The Opera," and it makes its debut at Zero Arrow Theatre in Cambridge, Mass. It was later revealed that Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her bodyguard, Shawn Eckhardt, were the masterminds who hired Stant to render Kerrigan incapable of competing at the 1994 Olympics. The hitman was Shane. In I, Tonya, Eckardt is played by Paul Walter Hauser, and the actor nails his impression of the bodyguard. Eckardt is dead. Executive security consultant. Gillooly refused to pay more until he had receipts proving that someone was in Boston for their plan. [49] He was the son of Derrick Smith's wife's sister. ". [38] On December 25, Gillooly had an answering machine message from Smith asking for more details about the plan. "Tonya and Jeff remembered almost nothing the same way," Rogers said. Jan. 11, 1994: The FBI begins investigating an allegation that Eckardt and Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, orchestrated the attack on Kerrigan. [62] On January 15, Harding and Gillooly spoke with reporters, but declined to comment about the investigation. [50][30] The company claimed Smith was good at his work, remaining quiet and patient if a little anti-social. What happened to Stant after he went to prison? Jan. 6, 1994: An assailant clubs Nancy Kerrigan, Harding's skating rival, on the right knee with a metal baton as she leaves skating practice in Detroit. Just six years later in Dec. 2007, Eckardt passed away in Portland, Oregon, at just 40 years old. I, Punch Line", "Tattoo Assassins: The Strangest Mortal Kombat Knockoff Ever", "Inside The Bizarre (And Pervy) Mortal Kombat Knockoff That Never Was", "Nancy Kerrigan Versus Tonya Harding: A Rap History", "Former Olympic skater Tonya Harding bitter and thankful over Obama's 'kneecap' comment", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Assault_of_Nancy_Kerrigan&oldid=1134109791, Harding v. US Figure Skating Ass'n, 851 F. Supp. March 16, 1994: In Portland, Harding pleads guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution. In October, she decided to reconcile with Gillooly and withdraw the divorce, saying they were still in love and seeking counseling: "I know he's changed. Formerly Shawn Eckardt, Griffith served 14 months for his role in the 1994 attack on Harding's. For those unfamiliar with the story, a brief recapping, pardon the pun. Rather than focus on the 1994 attack, I, Tonya instead focuses greatly on Harding's upbringing and the backstory that led up to the unbelievable pre-Olympics controversy. "Shawn was the kind of guy you saw in high school or at the bus stop who's in his own world. Harding also expressed anxiety when Prouse asked about Marano's testimony:[34], Jeff Gillooly first testified about the attack plot on January 26, 1994. She's allowed to continue, but the magic is gone. Gillooly said only her right leg needed to be disabled, her landing leg; he claimed to have previously verified this with Harding. He lived for more than a decade after the infamous attack plunged him into the headlines. We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. I, Tonya opened theatrically in the United States on December 8, 2017.. I grew up in the Camp Hero area of Montauk, the closest Neighborhood to the lighthouse. A jaw-dropping confession found in the archives of early-90s TV newsmagazine Hot Take, featuring Tonya Harding's infamous "bodyguard" Shawn Eckhardt.Learn mo. The whole thing created such a stir that it became a national sensation, and Eckardt was a key figure throughout the whole investation. When asked about her finances, Harding said she had one bank account which was currently $109 overdrawn. I knew something was up, confessed Harding, who still insists she had no role in the vicious attack. "[37] However, she was skeptical about Eckardt's ability to arrange it. [66][67][68], On February 5, 1994, the USFSA disciplinary panel stated there were reasonable grounds to believe Harding had violated the sport's code of ethics. Hi, I'm Shawn Eckardt and I'm born and raised in Montauk New York. Why? [15], On the afternoon of January 6, 1994, Kerrigan was practicing for the U.S. Championships on an ice rink inside Cobo Arena. Tonya Harding married Jeff Gillooly when she was 19 and divorced him in 1993, a year before the attack. Here, Kerrigan exclaimed the now-famous line, "Why? Schatz asked Harding whether someone she knew could have planned the attack. [28][24], On August 28, 1993, Harding and Gillooly were granted a divorce. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Kerrigan's injury forces her to drop out of the competition, which Harding wins. [36] Gillooly said he liked that idea. [38][40] He also testified that Harding told him she wanted Kerrigan injured either at her home or skating rink. Figure. I, Tonya is an American biographical film directed by Craig Gillespie. "But the Shawn I know is someone, who, following his activities, immediately began to lay awake at night crying.". She and her lawyer, Robert Weaver, negotiated a plea agreement ensuring no further prosecution. Stant said it was "a pleasure" to meet Gillooly, then remained silent. Harding will skate in the Olympics. Eckardt had dropped out of high school and was currently enrolled in a paralegal course at Pioneer Pacific Collegethat is, when he wasn't running the grandly titled World Bodyguard Services from. "Eckardt just couldn't keep up with the training, and we terminated him," said Tom Duggan, the school's training manager. "That's news to me," said Joe Walther, the man who answered the phone listed in the letter. Formerly Shawn Eckardt, Griffith had changed his name since the attack. View our online Press Pack. But both reportedly have been implicated by confessions made by Eckardt and Shane Stant, the alleged hit man. Jan. 31, 1994: Gillooly says Harding approved the attack on Kerrigan. [14] Stant and Smith then planned to carry out the attack together. [18], Harding met Jeff Gillooly in 1986 when she was skating at the Clackamas Town Center; she was 15, he was 17. "Unfortunately, he tried to turn fantasy into fact by masterminding this stupid attack," Ron Hoevet said. She gave birth to her only child, a son named Gordon, on February 19, 2011. The shamed US figure skater has confessed that she overheard her husband Jeff Gillooly and bodyguard Shawn Eckardt talking about carrying out an attack on one of her competitors. Eckhardt was sentenced to 18 months in prison for racketeering but was released four months early in September. Few skaters and promoters would work with her, and she did not benefit from the ensuing boom in professional skating after the scandal. The lettersfrom his mom, his sister, a former Navy SEAL/Army chaplain and a lawyer who is a former military prosecutorglow with praise for how Stant has turned his life around, Bleacher Report notes, adding that, in 2013, Stant had not given an interview for 20 years, choosing a life of obscurity after the scandal. Phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading people search directory for contact information and public records. Eckhardt contacted Smith, who hired his nephew Shane Stant as Kerrigan's hit man. Check social media profiles, resumes and CV, places of employment, photos and videos, news, public records, publications, skilled experts and arrest records . The extraordinary story is the subject of a critically acclaimed movie I, Tonya which stars Wolf of Wall Street actress Margot Robbie as Harding. He was 40. Kerrigan had been practicing skating on an ice rink in the arena shortly beforehand. It was their idea, he said, to kneecap Kerrigan. In an interview with The Oregonian, Stone said he'd changed and was remorseful for the attack on Kerrigan. Russell then advised her that while concealing criminal knowledge did not violate Oregon law, lying to the FBI would violate federal law. But the two men have known each other since attending grade school together. 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