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M/SUNNY Temp: 66 °F Wind: N at 3 mph Wednesday, May 28, 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 17, 2003 Oregon State Police Detective Dave Beck and evidence technician Meredith Krauss remove evidence from Jack Lee Harelson�s property in Grants Pass. Harelson was arrested Thursday in an alleged murder-for-hire plot. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Harelson accused of trying to hire hit By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune GRANTS PASS — A police SWAT team arrested a convicted felon Thursday for allegedly hiring a hit man to kill five people, including two who sent him to jail for plundering American Indian burial sites. Oregon State Police arrested 62-year-old Jack Lee Harelson at his rural Grants Pass home around 10 a.m. He did not resist and voluntarily came out of his home, said OSP Sgt. Bill Floyd. No weapons were found inside the home and no one was injured, Floyd said. Harelson’s wife was not home at the time. A 30-man SWAT team, including snipers, descended on the house because Harelson had threatened to "litter the front yard with bodies" if police ever tried to serve a search warrant at his home, according to OSP Lt. Kurt Barthel. Police allege that Harelson was plotting to murder five people — two former business partners who live in the Brookings area, an ex-wife, Josephine County Circuit Court Judge Loyd O’Neal and OSP Sgt. Walt Markee. The informant offered to carry out the murders, and investigators say Harelson agreed. "He had a laundry list of people that he wanted (the informant) to kill," Barthel said. "The ones he was emphatic about murdering were these people." In 1996, Judge O’Neal ordered Harelson to serve three months in jail and pay $15,000 in fines for looting Indian grave sites. Markee, a fish and wildlife trooper working out of Salem, testified in Harelson’s trial. Police allege that Harelson made a deal with the informant at the Savage Creek boat ramp near Rogue River several weeks ago and paid $10,000 in opals for the murder of one of his business associates. As proof of the murder for hire, the informant gave Harelson a photograph doctored to make the ex-business partner appear dead, Barthel added. Police refused to give the names of the business partners, who most likely had nothing to do with Harelson’s archaeological plundering, Barthel said. Barthel also withheld the ex-wife’s name, adding that Harelson has several. Harelson’s former wife, Pamela Ralph, was a key witness in Harelson’s trial. She was granted immunity for telling authorities how in 1980 the couple robbed an Indian grave in a Nevada cave. Detectives continuing to investigate Harelson’s alleged theft of Indian artifacts stumbled onto the alleged murder plot, Barthel said. Harelson told the informant he had a silencer for his rifle and had practiced shooting. Investigators decided to offer Harelson a hit man before bodies started turning up around the state, Barthel said. "Let’s make him an offer. ... That puts us in the driver’s seat," Barthel said. State and federal investigators continued to search Harelson’s home Thursday afternoon. In addition to collecting evidence in the alleged murder plot, state police were looking for evidence of firearms sales, investigators said. Harelson, who is not allowed to possess firearms because of his felony conviction, sold guns to undercover OSP officers, Barthel said. However, no firearms were found in the house. Police said they suspect Harelson removed any weapons, anticipating a raid on his home. Rangers with the Bureau of Land Management still are looking for Indian artifacts in Harelson’s possession, investigators said. For his looting, Harelson was fined $2.5 million in December last year. The penalty was the fourth-largest ever assessed for archaeological theft. Harelson was lodged in the Jackson County Jail on Thursday on charges of solicitation for conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. His bail was set at $1,005,000. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, 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 © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times