sweetpea
02-24-2004, 10:31 PM
wow...he's representing himself, i think that has a lot to say for itslef...
Ariz. Inmate's Letter Discusses Siege
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 24, 2004; 5:46 AM
PHOENIX - An Arizona inmate accused of orchestrating one of the nation's longest prison hostage sieges says it could have ended in a day or two if negotiators allowed him to speak with news reporters.
In a five-page letter, hand-printed in pencil and sent to The Arizona Republic, Ricky Wassenaar expressed no remorse for the events of the 15-day standoff, which ended Feb. 1 with the release of a second corrections officer.
Instead, Wassenaar wrote that the state Department of Corrections "and their policies are to blame for this entire event."
The newspaper reported in Tuesday editions that Wassenaar confirmed the plot began when he arrived at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis near Buckeye in 2000. The 4,400-inmate complex is for inmates ranging from medium- to high-security.
Wassenaar and cellmate Steven Coy attacked a half-dozen officers at the Lewis prison, took two guards captive in a watchtower and used its weapons arsenal to carry out the siege.
Last week, a Maricopa County grand jury returned a 25-count indictment against Wassenaar and Coy on charges including assault, kidnapping and escape.
Wassenaar faces a charge of attempted murder, and Coy faces two charges of sexual assault for alleged attacks on a kitchen worker and one of the hostages, a female guard.
The two convicts surrendered after authorities agreed to a number of demands, including contact with relatives, a media interview and out-of-state incarceration.
"Negotiators did not honor all of their promises," Wassenaar wrote in a letter sent to the Republic around Feb. 12. "They told us that we'd get phone calls to our families when we got to this institution, that we'd have most of our personal property and that we could contact and give interviews to the media. The warden here has told me to my face, `No,' on all of the above."
The Republic said Wassenaar wrote one letter while still housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Phoenix. He since has been transferred to a Maricopa County jail where he awaits trial.
"There is going to be a hell of a trial in this case," Wassenaar wrote in a second letter to the newspaper. "I will be representing myself and I fully intend to be found NOT guilty on all counts!"
Ariz. Inmate's Letter Discusses Siege
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 24, 2004; 5:46 AM
PHOENIX - An Arizona inmate accused of orchestrating one of the nation's longest prison hostage sieges says it could have ended in a day or two if negotiators allowed him to speak with news reporters.
In a five-page letter, hand-printed in pencil and sent to The Arizona Republic, Ricky Wassenaar expressed no remorse for the events of the 15-day standoff, which ended Feb. 1 with the release of a second corrections officer.
Instead, Wassenaar wrote that the state Department of Corrections "and their policies are to blame for this entire event."
The newspaper reported in Tuesday editions that Wassenaar confirmed the plot began when he arrived at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis near Buckeye in 2000. The 4,400-inmate complex is for inmates ranging from medium- to high-security.
Wassenaar and cellmate Steven Coy attacked a half-dozen officers at the Lewis prison, took two guards captive in a watchtower and used its weapons arsenal to carry out the siege.
Last week, a Maricopa County grand jury returned a 25-count indictment against Wassenaar and Coy on charges including assault, kidnapping and escape.
Wassenaar faces a charge of attempted murder, and Coy faces two charges of sexual assault for alleged attacks on a kitchen worker and one of the hostages, a female guard.
The two convicts surrendered after authorities agreed to a number of demands, including contact with relatives, a media interview and out-of-state incarceration.
"Negotiators did not honor all of their promises," Wassenaar wrote in a letter sent to the Republic around Feb. 12. "They told us that we'd get phone calls to our families when we got to this institution, that we'd have most of our personal property and that we could contact and give interviews to the media. The warden here has told me to my face, `No,' on all of the above."
The Republic said Wassenaar wrote one letter while still housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Phoenix. He since has been transferred to a Maricopa County jail where he awaits trial.
"There is going to be a hell of a trial in this case," Wassenaar wrote in a second letter to the newspaper. "I will be representing myself and I fully intend to be found NOT guilty on all counts!"