Edgar James Steele was an American author and disbarred trial attorney from northern Idaho, best known for serving as the defense attorney for Richard G Butler, the founder of the white supremacist group Aryan Nations.
18 Facts About Edgar Steele
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Edgar Steele was a graduate of UCLA Law School and the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business.
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Edgar Steele was found guilty and sentenced to 50 years in prison.
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Edgar Steele died in prison in September 2014, three years into his sentence.
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Edgar Steele defended Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler in a 2000 lawsuit, which he ultimately lost.
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Edgar Steele argued that the law breached the constitutional right to free speech under the First Amendment.
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Edgar Steele formerly worked as a spokesman for Prussian Blue, a female white supremacist pop music duo that was active in the mid-2000s.
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In 2005, Edgar Steele published Defensive Racism: An Unapologetic Examination of Racial Differences, a book in which he described his views on the differences between the races of the world, and questioned the motives of people who espouse political correctness.
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Subsequently, when Edgar Steele was already in police custody, a pipebomb was found under his wife's car when she took it in for an oil change, which brought the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms into the case, and Fairfax was arrested.
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When Edgar Steele was arrested, a federal public defender, Roger Peven, was initially appointed for him.
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In July 2010, Edgar Steele's supporters put up a website in an attempt to solicit donations and hire a private attorney for him.
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Edgar Steele remained incarcerated in Spokane, Washington, and Bonner County, Idaho while awaiting trial.
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Edgar Steele was relocated to Boise, Idaho, for his trial, which began on April 28,2011.
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The prosecutor argued that this evidence showed that Edgar Steele wanted a new partner, and he had a motive to kill his current wife.
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The prosecutor introduced several love letters which Edgar Steele had written and sent to his supposed Ukrainian girlfriend Tatyana Loginova from his jail cell while he was awaiting trial.
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In one of the letters, Edgar Steele expressed his wish to live with Loginova:.
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The prosecutor argued that Edgar Steele desired to be with Loginova in Ukraine, and thus, he had a motive to kill his wife.
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Edgar Steele's sentencing hearing was held on November 9,2011, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.