Clayton Waagner
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221875658
2008-06-26T14:01:34Z
Quadell
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clean up, Replaced: [http://www.tkb.org/KeyLeader.jsp?memID=30] → <ref>http://www.tkb.org/KeyLeader.jsp?memID=30</ref> (5) using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]]
{{Infobox FBI Ten Most Wanted
| name = Clayton Lee Waagner (born Roger Waagner)
| image = Clayton Lee Waagner.jpg
| crime = Escaped federal prisoner; Bank robbery; Unlawful possession of unregistered bomb device; Felon/Escapee in possession of firearms; [[Carjacking]]
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|8|25}}
| death_date =
| death_place =
| added_date = [[September 21]] [[2001]]
| caught_date = [[December 5]] [[2001]]
| remove_date =
| number = 467
| status = Captured
}}
'''Clayton Lee Waagner''' (born Roger Waagner, [[August 25]] [[1956]] in [[North Dakota]]) is a convicted [[bank robber]], [[domestic terrorist]]<ref>http://www.tkb.org/KeyLeader.jsp?memID=30</ref> and [[anti-abortion]] activist. He is currently in prison. He was an escaped [[fugitive]] during the spring, summer and fall of 2001 and was the [[FBI]]'s [[FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 2000s|467th fugitive to be placed on the Ten Most Wanted]] list for carjackings, firearms violations, and bank robbery on [[September 21]] [[2001]]. On [[March 6]] [[2001]] he was placed on the U. S. Marshals Service Top 15 Fugitives list for sending more than 280 letters that claimed to contain [[anthrax]], which he mailed to [[Planned Parenthood]] with return addresses of the [[U.S. Marshals Service]] and the [[U.S. Secret Service]] beginning in October 2001.<ref>http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/waagner.htm</ref>
==Prior crimes==
Waagner had previously been sentenced to 4-10 years for attempted robbery in 1992.
Years later as a convicted felon released from prison, early in September 1999, he was pulled over by the [[Pennsylvania State Police]], but fled into the woods and evaded capture, leaving behind a stolen car that contained firearms, explosives, [[identity document forgery|false identity papers]], and a list of [[abortion clinic]]s.
Later in September 1999, while on a self-described "Mission from [[God]]", he took his wife and their nine children on a cross-country road trip headed west in a stolen [[recreational vehicle|Winnebago]], planning to [[murder]] various abortion doctors, beginning with one in [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]], [[Washington]]. However, after crossing into [[Illinois]] his vehicle broke down, and Waagner was arrested when [[Illinois State Police]] stopped to investigate. Waagner was convicted on charges of interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle and for being a convicted [[Felony|felon]] in possession of [[firearm]]s.
While he was awaiting sentencing, and facing a term of 15 years to life, Waagner escaped from [[DeWitt County, Illinois|DeWitt County]] Jail in [[Clinton, Illinois]] on [[February 22]] [[2001]].
==Escaped fugitive crime trail==
As an escaped fugitive felon from Illinois, Waagner made his way back east to Pennsylvania, where three months later he became wanted for the bank robbery of a [[First Union Bank]] in [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]] in May 2001.
His fugitive trail then led southwest, where he was next identified as having abandoned a vehicle in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], following a hit and run accident. Authorities recovered law enforcement-type equipment, anti-abortion literature, and weapons from the car. He next became wanted for [[carjacking]]s across the state line in [[Tunica, Mississippi|Tunica]] and in [[Robinsonville, Mississippi]] and firearms violations in [[Memphis, Tennessee]] on [[September 7]] [[2001]]. Later that month, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigations|FBI]] placed him on the [[FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives|list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives]], in the wake of the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref>http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/waagner092101.htm</ref> Although Waagner's actions were leading toward acts of domestic terrorism, he was already most wanted by law enforcement officials for his escape from prison in February of that year, and also as a suspect in the series of [[bank robber]]ies in May and June.
==Anthrax hoax==
Waagner then became most infamous for a [[hoax]] in November 2001, in which he sent envelopes containing a white powder to more than 500 [[abortion]] providers. The envelopes also contained a note, which said, "You have been exposed to [[anthrax]]. We are going to kill all of you. From the [[Army of God]], Virginia Dare Chapter." The threat was considered serious, as it arrived shortly after the [[September 11]] terrorist attacks on America, as well as the then-recent [[2001 anthrax attacks|delivery of genuine anthrax letters]] to various governmental officials by a different perpetrator.
A [[United States Marshals Service]] Top 15 Fugitive since [[March 6]] [[2001]], Waagner also became a [[FBI Ten Most Wanted]] fugitive because of the more than 280 letters that threatened to contain anthrax, which he mailed to [[Planned Parenthood]], with return addresses of the [[U.S. Marshals Service]] and the [[U.S. Secret Service]] beginning in October 2001. In the wave of mailed letters, Waagner was accused of stalkings and threats to kill 42 low-level [[abortion clinic]] employees up through [[November 23]] [[2001]].
On [[November 29]] [[2001]] the FBI took the unusual step of releasing a press release of new information about Waagner seeking the public's assistance, while also pointing out that Waagner's letters were not associated with the recent letters that had been sent to the offices of Senators [[Tom Daschle]] and [[Patrick Leahy]] which actually did contain [[anthrax]].<ref>http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/leahy111601.htm</ref> The white powder in Waagner's letters initially tested positive for anthrax, due to the addition of a powdered [[insecticide]] known to trigger [[false positive]] results.
==Capture and conviction==
He was captured on [[December 5]] [[2001]], after a clerk at a [[Kinko's]] copy shop in [[Springdale, Ohio]] identified him from a photograph on a [[wanted poster]] circulated by members of the [[United States Marshals Service]]. Waagner had been known to patronize Kinko's stores in the past, and for this reason the Marshals sent a copy to every store in the chain. When arrested, he was preparing to [[fax]] a [[bomb threat]] to a mass list of clinics. In addition to his earlier 15 years to life sentence in Illinois, he was convicted [[April 18]] [[2002]] in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]] U.S District Court on separate firearms and car theft charges. For the anthrax letter spree, he received a 53-count indictment, and on [[December 3]] [[2003]], he was convicted on 51 of the 53 counts, including charges of violating the [[Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act]], threatening the use of weapons of mass destruction, and mailing threatening communications. He was sentenced to 19 years in a federal prison.
==Prison==
Waagner has distributed a [[manifesto]] while in prison, and continues to correspond with outside individuals, including other members of the [[Army of God]]. He is currently serving in [[List of U.S. federal prisons|United States Penitentiary]], [[Lewisburg, Pennsylvania]], with a projected release date of January 17, 2046.<ref>http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&LastName=Waagner&Middle=&FirstName=Clayton&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=17&y=14</ref>
==See also==
*[[Christian terrorism]]
*[[Army of God]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* http://ClaytonWaagner.com
* http://www.armyofgod.com/ClayWaagnerMainPage.html
**http://www.armyofgod.com/Claytonsmessage.html
* [http://www.lifenews.com/nat1436.html Clayton Lee Waagner Sentenced for Abortion-Anthrax Letters]
* http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/clayton_waagner.html
* [http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/files/portal/webzine/eyeonextremism/eoe-031209-waagner-anthrax.xml Anti-Choice Terrorist Clayton Waagner Convicted Of Sending Clinics Anthrax Threat Letters]
* http://www.ethicalatheist.com/docs/clayton_waagner.html
* http://www.christiangallery.com/Waagner.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waagner, Clayton}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:American prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:American pro-life activists]]
[[Category:American terrorists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from North Dakota]]
[[Category:American escapees]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States Federal Government]]
[[Category:Escapees from Illinois detention]]