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CLOUDY Temp: 45 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Wednesday, February 19, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend January 22, 2003 Investigation led cop to hit list naming him By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune When wildlife cop Walt Markee learned last July that convicted archaeological grave-robber Jack Lee Harelson might be illegally selling artifacts, he jumped at the chance to investigate. Markee, an Oregon State Police sergeant, helped trick Harelson into admitting he took the ancient remains of two mummified Paiute Indian children from the Nevada desert in 1980, culminating in Harelson’s 1996 felony theft conviction and eventual $2.5 million civil fine. Markee found the headless bodies of the 2,000-year-old children buried in Harelson’s back yard in 1995. Maybe this time he could find those missing heads. "I was always disappointed that we couldn’t find those skulls," Markee says. "They were just kids. I really wanted to get them back where they belong." But all the while, it was Harelson who had Markee’s head in mind, police say. Harelson allegedly hired a police informant last month to kill an ex-business partner who was one of five people on Harelson’s hit list that included Markee. That turned Markee’s head-hunting artifacts case into a murder-for-hire investigation that culminated Thursday when a SWAT team arrested Harelson at his Grants Pass-area home on state and federal charges. "I know Jack, and I know he hates me," Markee says. "This doesn’t surprise me because he’s a very dangerous person, but I didn’t know I was on the list." Harelson, 63, remains in the Jackson County Jail without bail, facing charges of solicitation of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and attempted aggravated murder. No one on Harelson’s hit list was harmed, but OSP Lt. Kurt Barthel says Harelson was "extraordinarily serious" that he wanted these people dead and he wanted it done quickly. "We have him on tape arguing why we couldn’t kill two people at the same time," Barthel says. "He talked about wanting Markee dead and that he even wanted to do it himself." The men’s connection began in 1995, when Markee received a tip that Harelson had the 2,000-year-old remains of two children — a 9-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy — buried illegally in his yard. Spurred largely because of information provided by Harelson’s ex-wife, Markee started a lengthy investigation that tracked Harelson’s activities in the Nevada desert as far back as early 1980, but the case bogged down. So Markee met with Harelson, an insurance agent and amateur archaeologist, at his home armed only with one of an investigator’s best tools — preying on someone’s ego. Markee told Harelson that he needed to talk about his findings because of their archaeological significance. "I told him, ‘Jack, this will make you famous,’ " Markee says. "He said, ‘Sit down. I’ll tell you all about it.’ " The more Harelson talked, the stronger Markee’s case grew. The pair even used an OSP plane to fly to Albany to collect some pilfered artifacts. When they returned to Grants Pass, Harelson and Markee together found police serving a search warrant at Harelson’s home. Harelson knew he’d been had. "He looked at me with the coldest eyes I’ve ever seen," Markee says. Harelson was convicted in state court on theft and other charges, in part because of testimony from Markee as well as Harelson’s ex-wife. Last month, federal authorities fined Harelson $2.5 million for pilfering the Nevada archaeological site, a looting crime deemed the worst ever in Nevada. But the children’s heads were never found. In July, when an informant alleged to police that Harelson was planning on selling artifacts through a Web site, the OSP again called in Markee to orchestrate the investigation. About a month ago, the informant told Markee of Harelson’s alleged hit list and desire for killing five people — two former business partners, who police believe had nothing to do with the artifacts crimes; one of Harelson’s ex-wives, who police have not named; Josephine County Circuit Court Judge Loyd O’Neal, who tried the case; and Markee. "When you find out you’re the guy he wants killed, it gets real serious," Markee says. "We decided that we needed to insert ourselves into this plan before he could do it on his own." Through the OSP’s criminal division, police created a fictitious hit man whom Harelson refused to meet but agreed to hire through the informant, Barthel says. The informant arranged for the murder of the first person on Harelson’s list — one of the ex-business partners, Barthel says. Harelson then paid the informant $10,000 in opals after being shown a doctored photograph of what appeared to be the dead target, Barthel says. "We gave him every opportunity to back out, and every time he was emphatic that these guys were going to die," Markee says. Markee was concerned that Harelson may have hired someone else to kill him or the others. Those concerns turned quickly to anger. "I thought of my family without a dad, and it made me mad," says Markee, 40. Markee is convinced he was targeted because he conned Harelson into cooperating with police in the original artifacts case. "I appealed to his ego, and I suspect that had a lot to do with it," Markee says. "He’s his own worst enemy." Then last month, just as the undercover cop and Harelson were arranging the murder-for-hire, police went to an undisclosed location in Oregon and recovered two ancient skulls believed to be from the bodies once buried in Harelson’s yard. "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity," says Markee, who declined to divulge anything more about the skull recoveries. As for Harelson, Markee believes the motivations that led to Harelson’s crimes inevitably led to his downfall. "When you put ego and greed together, you can catch anybody," Markee says. "And having an ex-wife helps, too." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S