Tyrannosaurus Sue-- The Extraordinary Saga of the Largest, Most Fought Over T. Rex Ever Found
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the tribal realty office to find out the status . . . ?
Farrar:
Not that I k n o w of.
Mandel:
No one ever checked with the BIA [Bureau of
Indian Affairs]?
Farrar:
Not that I k n o w of.
Mandel:
No one ever checked with the Register of Deeds?
Farrar:
I don't think so.
T H E Y ' R E N O T C R I M E S 1 7 1
Mandel: Well, tell me, would you buy a house for
$125,000 without checking whose land it was
sitting on, sir?
Farrar: No, I would not.
Mandel addresses other charges—the undervaluation of specimens
shipped to Japan and obstruction of justice. Farrar testifies that he
undervalued by half a Triceratops skull sold to a Japanese concern for
$80,000. He acknowledges that U.S. regulations require listing the "sales
price," but he explains that his shipping agent requested he do some-
thing different. "He wanted the shipping d o c u m e n t s to reflect a lower-
than-actual price," says Farrar. Why? "What I recall is that he wanted it
shipped at what we would consider its replacement cost."
Given an o p p o r t u n i t y to examine Farrar after Mandel finishes,
Ellison returns to the excavation of the suspect fossils. Farrar states that
it was his understanding that all lands involved were privately owned.
Ellison: Has it been the policy of the Black Hills Institute
and your policy to accept the word of the
landowner as to what constitutes his land?
Farrar: Yes.
Friday, Tuesday, a n d Wednesday, February 17, 2 1 , a n d 22 Farrar's
testimony has not advanced the cause of the defendants. ("Bob just fell
apart," Peter Larson would say later. "He was admitting to things we
hadn't done. He just wasn't properly prepared for the way in which the
questions were asked.") This places an additional b u r d e n on the two
m e n w h o m everyone expects will be the final defense witnesses, Neal
and Peter Larson. Neal, w h o will be questioned by Ellison, takes the
stand first, for questioning that will last three days. Jurors will later say
that his testimony was critical to their decision-making process.
Neal has been preparing for this m o m e n t for days with his attorney.
Still, he looks uncomfortable as he takes his seat and tries to adjust the
witness microphone.
Ellison: Little nervous this morning?
Larson: I am extremely nervous, sir.
1 7 2 TYRANNOSAURUS S U E
Because of the Fifth A m e n d m e n t protection against self-incrimina-
tion, n o n e of the defendants can be compelled to testify. Why, Ellison
asks, is Larson testifying? "Because for a n u m b e r of years we have been
alleged to have c o m m i t t e d crimes. I wanted to have the chance to tell my
side of the story and to tell the jury, to tell the people what happened."
Ellison's first goal is to present Neal as the honest, hard-working
everyman that most people believe h i m to be. Then Neal can tell "his
side of the story"—rebutting the government's case charge by charge.
T h e attorney begins by asking why Neal collects fossils.
Larson: . . . because I love t h e m . It is something wonder-
ful to go out into the prairie or into the hills and
to look for something that nobody else but God
has ever seen b e f o r e . . . .
Ellison: Were you out thinking you would strike your
fortune?
Larson: To us, to my brother and m y s e l f . . . the pleasure
and the wonder of h u n t i n g for the treasures, for
the pleasure of what you can find in the earth,
it's just overwhelming.
Neal explains that when he began at the institute out of college, he
earned $100 a m o n t h . He currently draws a salary of $2400 a m o n t h , or
$28,800 per year.
Ellison establishes that his client is a m a n to w h o m family values are
i m p o r t a n t . Neal testifies that he grew up in a large, loving, fossil-col-
lecting family and is n o w the happily married father of five children
ranging in age from 4 m o n t h s to 20 years old.
He is a religious m a n as well (as was shown by his desire to go to
church before bringing supplies immediately after Sue was found). Neal
explains to the jury that he went to a special high school so that he could
b e c o m e a Lutheran school teacher. Ellison observes that such an occu-
pation is "pretty unrelated to geology." Neal respectfully disagrees,
"because all of geology a n d all of the things that we find on earth I
believe were created by God."
After Neal details the history of the institute and the nature of its
business, Ellison attempts to question him about the institute's "scien-
T H E Y ' R E N O T C R I M E S 1 7 3
tific recognition." The attorney has m o r e than a dozen notebooks
demonstrating the institute's relationship with m u s e u m s , d o n a t i o n of
specimens, and authorship of scientific papers. Zuercher objects to the
evidence. Judge Battey asks Ellison to explain: " H o w is that relevant to
whether or not they broke the law?"
Ellison: It's to rebut the suggestion in the indictment that
the scientific aspect of the institute is simply for
greed and that it's a ruse for t h e m to go o u t and
unlawfully collect fossils.
After a lengthy exchange Judge Battey tells Ellison, "You are trying
to get the jury to decide this case for the wrong reason." Ellison, of
course, disagrees. T h e judge tells h i m to ask a "few general questions;
then we are through."
Ellison eventually moves to the m a n n e r in which the institute con-
ducts its collecting. Larson testifies that as a boy he and his brothers col-
lected on neighboring land.
Ellison: W h e n you were collecting on other ranchers'
land, did your dad instill in you h o w you should
treat the question of permission?
Larson: You m u s t always get permission whenever you
go on anybody's property.
Ellison: Is that something you've tried to do ever since
you were a little boy?
Larson: Yes, it is.
Ellison asks if there came "a time when the Black Hills Institute
actually developed a policy of practice regarding collecting on federal
land." Larson explains that in the mid-1980s his brother Peter worked
closely with South Dakota's U.S. Senator Larry Pressler to develop legis-
lation governing such collection. T h e effort was in response to BLM reg-
ulations that would have allowed commercial collectors on the land but
m a d e it very difficult for amateurs. Pressler was responsive to fashion-
ing a compromise giving greater access to amateurs. He introduced a
bill, but it didn't pass. The experience persuaded the Larsons that there
1 7 4 TYRANNOSAURUS S U E
was antagonism to commercial collectors. As a result, Larson says, "Our
policy was to avoid collecting vertebrate fossils and then later of all fos-
sils on any federal lands to avoid any confrontations as we seem to have
got ourselves involved in now."
In 1988, the insti
tute's board of directors had formally adopted a
policy regarding collecting on federal lands. This action, Larson
explains, followed the three-year effort of the National Academy of
Sciences to "formulate an agreement between amateurs, professional
commercial collectors, academics, and government agencies." Although
never implemented, the NAS report had r e c o m m e n d e d that the federal
agencies should allow collecting on public lands, with the exception of
national parks and m o n u m e n t s . Amateurs were to be allowed to collect
fossils from public lands and a permitting system was to be established
to regulate professional commercial collectors.
Ellison: So was there a decision m a d e by the Black Hills
Institute to seek some of these permits and see if
that's in fact what the agencies would do?
Larson: That's what we tried to do, yes.
And what happened? With one exception, "all [permit requests]
were immediately denied," says Larson.
Ellison begins questioning Larson about each allegation of alleged
illegal fossil collection. According to Larson, in all but one instance, the
institute received permission to dig from the landowner. In some
instances, the institute personnel relied on experienced collectors and
skilled m a p readers with w h o m they had previously worked to deter-
m i n e that they were on private, not public, land. This was the case with
Campbell, for example. In other instances, however, the Larson broth-
ers themselves used their o w n m a p s to make sure they were on private
land.
Some of these m a p s can be difficult to read. BLM m a p s are color-
coded, Larson explains. On a BLM m a p Larson and Wentz used on a
collecting expedition near Edgemont, South Dakota, national forest and
national grasslands are designated in green. Patented lands—those
owned by individuals and on the tax rolls—are white. State lands are
T H E Y ' R E N O T C R I M E S 1 7 5
blue. There is also land shaded in pink, a rarity on such a m a p ; it is des-
ignated "Bankhead Jones," apparently a reference to previous owners.
On the map, the words "Buffalo Gap National Grasslands" cross the
areas marked by pink, white, and green.
Larson was interested in exploring a large exposure in the Bankhead
Jones area. After conferring with a local rancher, Larson believed that
the exposure lay on land owned by a grazing association. It turned out
this was forest service land. Larson a n d Wentz eventually collected parts
of a mosasaur and, in his words, other "junk," from the property.
Ellison: Did you understand, sir, when you looked at the
m a p that the pink was forest service land?
Larson: No, sir.
Ellison: If it had been forest service land, would you have
gone on that land?
Larson: No, sir.
Jurors listening to Farrar might have concluded that the institute
m a d e little effort to determine whether they were on tribal lands. To
demonstrate that this was not the case, Ellison examines Larson exten-
sively about remains of a Triceratops allegedly removed illegally from
Standing Rock Reservation in Corson County, South Dakota. Larson
details a relationship with m e m b e r s of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe
that began in the 1970s when a rancher n a m e d E m m a Bear Ribs gave
him permission to collect a m m o n i t e s on her property.
In 1983, Larson says, he received permission to collect from a n o t h -
er Sioux rancher, Wesley Arnold. He was excavating some dinosaur
bones when he was approached by a tribal officer, Paul Bruno Red Dog.
Red Dog asked h i m whose property he was on. Larson said, "I'm on
Wesley Arnold's property."
According to Larson, Red Dog responded: "Well, the land in this area
is kind of checkerboarded and you cannot always be sure. Many times
the ranchers don't know if it's their property or if it's tribal property."
Mr. Red Dog suggested that Larson cease collecting and get a permit
from the tribe. Despite Arnold's continued assurances that he owned the
land, Larson stopped collecting until the tribe awarded h i m a permit. For
1 7 6
TYRANNOSAURUS S U E
several years thereafter, he always called Red Dog or his successor, Ron
Yellow, to tell h i m where and when he would be collecting.
The Standing Rock Triceratops that was the subject of the indict-
m e n t came from badlands on the ranch of Tim M o n n e n s . M o n n e n s
assured Larson that he owned the land, gave him permission to dig, and
took m o n e y for the fossil, Larson says. This seems to contradict
Monnens's testimony earlier in the trial. W h e n called as a witness by the
government, M o n n e n s said he never told Larson that he owned the land
in question. Ellison does not ask Larson if he checked with the tribe
before dealing with M o n n e n s .
After addressing each alleged fossil transaction, Ellison moves to the
financial transaction. Neal acknowledges that he signed the two separate
checks totaling $15,000 that his brother took to Peru. Why two checks?
Neal explains that at first his brother thought $7000 would cover
expenses. But, then: "[Peter] informed me that he had to take more
m o n e y . . . that $7000 was not enough, because they were going to be
there for an extended a m o u n t of time."
Ellison: Why didn't you tear up the first check?
Larson: We try not to void checks; with the additional
check, it m a d e the same a m o u n t . . .
Ellison: Did you write these two checks to try and avoid
any reporting?
Larson: I did not.
Finally, Larson gets the o p p o r t u n i t y to tell his side of the story
regarding the alteration of dates on boxes of fossils. He acknowledges
that he changed the dates on some boxes in anticipation of an FBI raid.
The boxes had nothing to do with Sue. Instead, they contained bones
removed from Sharkey Williams's ranch at approximately the same time
Sue was excavated. T h e labeling on the boxes of fossils from Maurice
Williams's ranch and Sharkey Williams's ranch was similar.
Larson testifies that prior to actually being served with the search
warrant in May 1992, he had no understanding that the government
was interested in any fossils besides Sue. Worried that the FBI might
mistakenly take the Sharkey Williams's boxes, he changed the date.
T H E Y ' R E N O T C R I M E S
1 7 7
Ellison: So the intent was not to prevent the government
from what they thought they were coming for,
but from getting the w r o n g thing?
Zuercher: Objection, leading.
Judge Battey sustains the objection, b u t Larson and Ellison have
m a d e their point.
Ellison now asks if, after seeing the search warrant, Larson tried to
hide the boxes he had altered. No, says Larson. He directed the agent to
the area where the boxes were stored and "commenced to show t h e m the
different items that were on the search warrant."
Larson has come across as decent m a n w h o loves what he does for
a livin
g. Ellison's gentle questioning seems to have established reason-
able doubt as to whether the defendants knowingly and willfully col-
lected fossils illegally. But can Larson hold up u n d e r Zuercher's sure-to-
be-aggressive cross-examination?
The prosecutor revisits each of the acts recounted in the indict-
ment. He begins at the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, where Larson
said he removed fossils from what he mistakenly thought was property
owned by a grazing association.
Zuercher: W h e n did you become aware that the ranchers
used the national grasslands for pasture?
Larson: I don't think that question ever came up in my
m i n d to come up with an answer on that, s i r . . . .
Zuercher: .. .Were you aware that you could not remove
vertebrate fossils from forest service lands?
Larson: No, sir.
An incredulous Zuercher shows Larson a copy of the institute's
unsuccessful application to the U.S. Forest Service requesting a permit
to dig fossils on the grasslands. Wouldn't the fact that the institute
applied for a permit suggest that Larson knew it was illegal to dig with-
out one? Larson says he is unfamiliar with the application and the par-
ticular regulations.
1 7 8 TYRANNOSAURUS S U E
Zuercher: As an officer of the company, didn't you sign the
board of directors' minutes indicating that
indeed you wished to submit such an application
for a permit?
Larson: Yes, I did.
Before leaving the grasslands, Zuercher turns to Larson's reading of
the color-coded m a p .
Zuercher: When you saw "Buffalo Gap National Grasslands"
written on the m a p right over the top of it, didn't
that give you some reason to think that perhaps it
was Buffalo Gap National Grasslands?
Larson: It's also over the white, too, sir, a n d the white is,
according to that, patented land.
Larson does admit that he never called the forest service or local
register of deeds to find out whose land he was on.
Zuercher moves to the lobster fossil allegedly removed from the
Fort Peck Reservoir. He notes that in 1983, Peter Larson had gone to
Washington, D.C., to protest the arrest of David Anderson, who had
been charged with illegally removing fossils from this same federal land.
Wouldn't this have put the institute on notice that fossil collecting there
without a permit was illegal?
Larson: Depending on what he had been cited for. He was