A competitive spirit is part of what drives professional athletes. They strive not only to be better than their competitors, but better than the athlete that they once were. However, there are some out there who will do whatever it takes to win, no matter the cost. This is the story of figure skating legend Nancy Kerrigan. She was assaulted
for her skills in the figure skating world. The attack on her was meant to take her out of the competition for good and raise someone else to the top instead. This is her story.
My name's Ben and I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim, a.
True crime podcast. The following podcast and material intended for a mature audience listener discretion as it.
So.
Our first ever podcast video is officially up on YouTube. We got it done.
We did it finally.
It took a little while to get everything figured out, but it's done. It's up. This one's being recorded and being thrown up on YouTube too. A little bit of a round of applause and a pattern our back, because I'm proud of ourselves for that.
Third time was charm, wasn't it it? It was just took three times. That's not terrible.
No, not at all, you know, but it's up there. We got it done. So we're going to continue posting these in video format. If you want to check it out YouTube link down below. We have two YouTube channels for the record of log one and one that actually hosts the podcast, so they're both in the description. Very cool, but we got a lot going on that we're going to talk about. We're going to get through this real quick so we can get onto the episode, which is
Nancy Kerrigan, which is a very heavily researched one. Took a long time to get through. I could imagine it's if you don't know this, it is a wild sports story. So we're going to get into that. But first we want to thank our Patreons. We do everyone who signed up on Patreon absolutely so this week we had John Wiseman, Chelsea Adler, and Amanda all sign up on Patreon and they're getting behind the scenes, the extra content, all that good stuff, all all all the things.
Thank you so much, honestly, that's awesome.
They're also getting a heads up on something that we just recorded prior to.
This that you know, it took us about five times, but we got it. We nailed it. We nailed it, jailed it.
We're no voice actors by any means, so it took us a bit. But we have a podcast trailer coming out.
And finally after a two hundred episode.
Right, well nearly, I think we're on episode. This is one seventy one or seven seventy two, I think. Okay, but uh yeah, they got the heads up on the script and everything, and they're gonna hear the actual trailer before it's released live.
So it's awesome.
I think I think we did a good job.
Yeah, I'm pretty pumped about it.
There's there's a little like seasoning in there that hints at like our name wicked yeh grim that I love.
It's real good.
Yeah, So I'm pretty proud of ourselves for that one too. So another rando applause for ourselves and having back.
Holy heck, hey, we deserve a treat or.
Something, No kidding. Well, I've got a drink. I don't know about you.
I just have water, just water. Yeah, well, hydration is important.
It is you know the good old counting calories, right beers? Well, actually I don't know how much calories is in a cann of beer.
Yeah, they don't count.
Okay, okay, it has zero you should.
I'm especially not gonna be counting the calories when we are over at our friend Deadfall recording our next true Crime Trivia day.
Yeah, I will. I won't count calories that day.
No. So we're gonna be hosting this true Crime Trivia day. We're gonna be uh streaming live probably on Instagram or Patreon or something. We haven't figured out exactly yet, but we're gonna be doing a live stream as well. And yeah, it's gonna be a good time.
This is our second time doing it. The first one was freaking amazing. It was so fun.
I don't understand how all these people are so smart with true CRIMEA.
I mean, because honestly, if Ben and I were in attendance, we would not have like people wouldn't want us on their team.
No, we would do so bad. I think it's probably because we research so much that it's like the information we take in flushes out the information in our head.
Yeah. But I've always sort of had.
An issue of retaining me too too.
Because even like when I was in university, I would do a course, do the exam, and then it was gone.
Forget it like just gone.
In one ear out the other. Yeah, no, I feel you there. I'm the same way, one hundred percent. I usually retain the useless information, the useless stuff.
Yeah, like what's Barbie's full name?
Barbara Melinis Roberts.
There you go.
Yeah, yeah, I've known that since I was like twelve. I just was like scruising the internet looking up weird facts. Learned that, and it's stuck with me since.
Anytime you say anything in regards to you rechain useless information. I ask you that same question.
Yep, you do. Anyways, you guys didn't come here to learn more about Barbie, you look, came here to listen to the story of Nancy Carrigan. So should we dive into it?
Let's do it.
Okay, we're gonna dive in. We're going to do our best attempt at a proverbial triple axel and tell you this story.
Wow that I liked that.
Yeah, I just pulled that off the top of my head.
Really, okay, I thought that was in your script.
Definitely not. No, okay. So Nancy was born in the quaint town of Stoneham, Massachusetts. She emerged as a figure skating sensation from her beginnings. Now, she was the youngest of her siblings and was the sole daughter of Daniel and Brenda Kerrigan. Nancy's journey to the ice ring began when quite young. Now. Her family had deeply rooted roots, if you will, in a blue collar, kind of valued town family sort of thing. Just your standard good valued
type people. They were a mix of English, Irish and a German heritage. So while her brothers pursued hockey, Nancy, though still donning the skates, instead found her passion, gliding gracefully on the ice at the age of only six years old.
Wow.
Despite limited resources, her father, Daniel, epitomized sacrifice. He was often juggling multiple jobs to support Nancy's skating endeavors and of course her brother's hockey as well.
Well yeah those are not cheap sports.
No, especially hockey. Yeah. Yeah. He even volunteered as a zamboni driver for Nancy's skating lessons at the local rink.
My gosh, I love this. I love this family.
They're just like a close knit, blue collar, good valued family, like I said, right, And they're they're tight, They're they're doing what they need to do, especially for their kids. So props to them. Now, under the guidance of her first coach, Teresa Martin, Nancy's talent began to blossom. However, it was her transition to working with the renowned duo Heavy and Mary Scott Fold that marked her big turning
point in her career. Okay, so once she kind of joined this duo as her coach, that's when she really began to propel herself in the kind of competitive world. So throughout her competitive journey, the Scott Folds remained pillars of support, helping nurture her figure skating potential and just really honing those skills. So I think they saw something in her and they really helped her develop it.
Yeah, that sounds a good coaches.
Oh, definitely. Now Nancy moved to a national competitive prominence, but it was a gradual move. Soon her prowess as a jumper would distinguish her from her competitors. So as she's kind of going to this national level, she began to get this ability to jump higher and better than the competitor she was with.
Then, I mean props to anyone that is good at figure skating. I can't skate to save my.
I can skate really good, but I cannot stop, which means I can't do much else other than go. That's about it.
It's actually super dangerous.
Oh yeah it is, I know now. Her senior debut signaled the beginning of a steady climb up in the national rankings, culminizing in a bronze medal in the nineteen eighty nine Winter Universite. Nancy's raise towards greatness continued. Its upward trend continued further and further as she clinched third place in the nineteen ninety one US Figure Skating Championship. So the country she clinched that third place prize, look
at her go. This achievement granted her entry into the highly coveted nineteen ninety one World Figure Skating Championships, where she secured the bronze medal.
Wow, that is super impressive.
No kidding. So notably, her win contributed to a historic milestone, as a United States actually claimed a clean sweep of the women's podium at the World's champion for the first time ever.
Well, I bet they were proud of that.
Yeah, so her and her teammates were all standing side by side on that podium.
Very cool.
The nineteen ninety two season saw Nancy's remarkable consistency and improvement as she once again surpassed her previous year's performance at the national Championships, securing the runner up position. Her stellar form extended onto the international stage, where she claimed bronze medal in the nineteen ninety two Winter Olympics and followed it up with a silver at the ninety two World Championships. So she's just getting better and better and better.
She means business.
The nineteen ninety three season marked a significant milestone in Nancy's career as she ascended to the top, claiming the title of United States Champion. Despite encouraging the inevitable highs and lows inherited with competitive sports, Nancy's unwavering determination and commitment to her craft continued to push her forward. Alongside her athletic pursuits, she delved into the realm of sponsorships, navigating the complexities and endorsement deals and stuff like that.
Right still, though she pushed on and kept going through her journey, Nancy remained a force to be wrecking with in the figure skating world, which brings us to nineteen ninety four.
I just wanted to say too, to be to have those kind of awards. I guess you could call them like, you've to have pretty big dedication to it. Yeah, I mean she would be eat, sleeping, and breathing. Oh, definitely skating. I think the word you're looking for is accolades.
Yes, yes, to have that sort of stuff.
Yet recognition, you know, like all that, Like she was the best in the state in the United States.
She's she's top tier.
Ye.
To be top tier like that, you have to work for it.
Oh, yeah, she certainly was.
Yeah, you have to put a lot of energy and a lot of time into that, no doubt.
Now it was on January sixth, though, in nineteen ninety four, let's get back to this here, that Nancy Carigan was hard at work on the ice preparing for the US Figure Skating Championships, which is being held in Detroit, Michigan. It was no secret that Nancy was good with a competitive history. She was a top contender to win the competition. Each skater was doing their thing, warming up on the ice, you know, getting their practice routines in, but of course
also eyeing up the competition. Nancy had just finished up one of her practice sessions at the Cabo Arena, and was leaving the ice rink when she was assaulted the moment she stepped off the ice. It was even captured on camera by a film crew who was working with the competition. They followed Nancy when she stepped off the ice and until the moment she went behind a draping blue curtain over the rink exit towards the changing rooms. As Nancy walked away and heading down the hallway from
the ice rink, the camera turned off. She was approached in that moment in the hallway by a man. In that instant, Nancy was attacked and a metal baton and struck her right above the right knee, the same leg Nancy used to land her signature jumping moves that she was so well known for. Nancy began screaming in pain as the man fled. Within seconds, people were swarming around Nancy and the camera was turned back onto her. She cried, asking repeatedly, why, why, why, just why was she attacked?
It was immediately clear this was a targeted assault, one that was meant to take Nancy out of the competition. Oh my gosh, hey I remember when this went down.
Yeah, I didn't realize that so much of it was documented. Oh there, I don't remember that part.
Yeah, there was a camera crew following her right there, and the second that camera turned away, the assault happened.
Oh my gosh. It would have been the last thing that she would have ever expected.
Yeah. Yeah, I mean you're at a rink practicing, there's people, this is broad daylight.
Well yeah, I mean like ice rinks too, are probably sort of feel like her safe place, you know, like her second home.
Yeah, huh bu probably her first home really, because she's spending so much time then.
Actually probably yeah, whoa, Okay.
I can't imagine now. The aftermath of the attack unfolded as captured by as I mentioned a camera that was broadcast globally, with Nancy screaming in pain and being carried away by her father, Daniel.
Oh my, oh, her dad was there too.
Her dad was there and carried her away. The injury forced her to withdraw from the US Championships, but her fellow skaters rallied behind her, unanimously agreeing that she deserved a spot on the Olympic team. So she wasn't able. She didn't make the qualifyings because like she was injured, of course, but they still decided you know, she deserves a spot to be on the Olympic team even though she didn't make the qualifyings.
Because she would have had to go in that channelampionship in place correct to go correct.
Yeah, so they were recognizing your talent determination at the USFSA, which is the United States Figure Skating Association, and they made it the decision to include her in the Olympic roster.
Anyways, how oppressive.
So they held a spot for her regardless of her injury, regardless of her not placing right on.
That seems a little bit surprising. Yeah, so good though.
But I mean, still she's injured. There's a lot of uncertainty looming over not only the question if she's going to be able to make the Olympics, but if she's ever even going to be able to skate again.
That's true. So they're being pretty optimistic.
They are. They're like, if you can make it, there's a spot for you. But still can't, like, can you even skate? Who knows? Now? Fortunately, medical assessment revealed that her leg miraculously remained unbroken. Instead, she sustained only severe bruising to the impacted area. So she was struck right above the right knee on her thigh with a metal baton, and it did not break her leg. She only was bruised.
And because of this like nature of her injury, Nancy was thankfully able to make a swift recovery and she right away plunged back into her rigorous training.
Holy shit, that almost seems like a miracle, right because I don't that. I mean, I get I guess if the hit wasn't that hard, But you think that that would break something.
It's got a good chance of it. Yeah, slim chance. You're not walking away without a severe permanent injury.
You have to wonder if they almost meant to hit the knee, because I feel like if you did that to the knee, for sure, you'd be able to.
Watch shattering something. If you did it right on the kneecapah, you would be shattering that knee cap no problem.
You almost wonder if it wasn't in a way a miracle and the attacker missed where they were supposed.
To maybe Guardless, So the investigation on the attack on Nancy Kerrigan was unfolding. It drew upon a few different resources, the initial focus centering on the gathering crucial evidence from security footage from the cobble arena, which was the side of the attack. Now, the footage captured the assailants hasty fleeing from the scene. So I think I said that kind of weird, hastily there we go fleeing from the scene,
which was of course a pivotal piece of evidence for investigators. Now, this in tandem with the footage, eyewitness testimonies also were able to kind of start describing this individual. So like, okay, we've now got camera footage, we have eyewitness statements kind of talking about this individual, what he looked like, who he might have been, what he was doing, all those sort of things. Their account provided valuable descriptions in the
attacker and critical insight into the nature of the incident. Additionally, a bunch of tips and information flooded in from various sources, shedding light on potential leads and avenues of inquiry. Among the leads that emerged, a finger began getting pointed towards a woman by the name of Tanya Harding. Now, Tanya Harding was a figure skating prodigy hailing from Portland, Oregon. Raised by her mother, she embarked on her journey in the sport at the age of only three years old
when she enrolled in her first ice skating lesson. From there, Tanya's dedication and talent propelled her through the ranks, leading her to make significant sacrifices, including dropping out of high school to fully commit to the passion of ice skating.
WHOA that seems I don't know. I don't KNOWSSI that's too far. I think I get it.
I difficult to speak on that as a parent. I'm not sure if I mean. I'm not a parent, so I can't say. But if I were in those shoes, I'm not sure if I could allow my child to drop out of high school to do that.
But at the.
Same sense, it's like they are so promising for this, I don't know. It's a very difficult situation. Education is important, though, if.
It's going to get them closer to achieving their dreams, it is.
It's a tough it's a tough situation now.
Herricent, though in the US Figure Skating champions Championships, was from nineteen eighty six and nineteen eighty nine, which marked the beginning of her rise. She won the nineteen eighty nine Skate American Competition and in nineteen ninety one, she clinched the US Championship title and secured silver medal at the World Championships. Notably, Tanya even became the first American woman and only the second woman worldwide after Midori Ito,
to successfully execute a triple axle in competition. However, Tanya was a clear direct competitor when it came to Nancy care again, which now that she was a suspect, only fueled speculation into the attack on Nancy was a targeted effort, specifically put out to eliminate her from the competition, to make it a clear path for her to win easier. That became the prominent.
Question, do you even have to think that way? Is kind of disgusting?
Oh? I know, but I mean the evidence is there, well, not necessarily evidence per se yet to say, but that's kind of what it's looking like. That's what people are starting to whisper and talk about.
Yeah, well it makes sense.
So Tanya found herself at the center of scrutiny with all this finger pointing, with suspicions mounting about her involvement, and on January eighteenth of nineteen ninety four, Tanya Harding found herself in a hot seat when she faced questioning from the district Attorney in FBI, accompanied by her legal counsel. The interrogation stretched over the length of ten grueling hours, delling into intricate details of the case in a pivotal
moment during the marathon of the interview. As interrogation progress, Tanya's story took a dramatic turn. At this point, of course, she's maintaining her innocence and denying any sort of involvement. The tide shifted when she confronted was con fronted by an FBI agent who accused her of lying. In a startling revelation captured by an FBI transcript, Tanya conceded, admitting her knowledge that her husband or ex husband, Jeff Gillulei,
and his involvement in expressing the remorse for her actions. So, to quote her quote, I hope everyone understands I'm telling on someone I really care about. I know now Jeff is involved.
I'm sorry, okay.
And so she just decided to drop that bomb after ten hours.
Correct, So she dropped the bomb that she knows her husband was involved. So now what's kind of coming out of this is that she knew after the fact of the attack, that her husband had something to do with it, and it would be on January nineteenth that Jeff would surrender to the FBI. In the midst of the amounting scrutiny, Tanya faced immense media media coverage, sorry including a probing interview with Diane Sawyer on Prime Time, where she continued
to maintain her innocence. However, as the investigation deepened, Jeff's testimony began to implicate Tawnya, raising suspicions about her alleged involvement in the attack plot.
Well, I feel like it would more so be her idea, and she's just completely throwing her husband or whatever under the bus ex husband. So why would an ex husband give a shit? You know, Like I feel like.
Well, technically their ex husband, but they're like kind of still husband white. She looks at them still as like her husband. They still have a relationship, but they're technically divorced. It's a weird thing.
I mean, you want your suppouse to succeed, right, but like, would you have come up with this idea on your own?
Yeah? Who knows?
I have trouble believing that.
Well, lucky enough, I did the research and we're going to talk all about that, but we're gonna we're gonna keep on track here, so I'm not going to divulge everything right away. We're going to keep going through the
story linear in a linear fashion. So, in an attempt to mitigate the damage on her own reputation, Tanya held it press conference to issue a prepared statement expressing her regret for the attack on Nancy, emphasizing her respect for her fellow skater, and stated that she had no foreknowledge of the of the plot to attack her, but admitted to her failure to report crucial information promptly. In this statement, she cited legal nuances, emphasizing that withholding criminal knowledge alone
does not constitute a crime under many state laws. So she's like, technically, I didn't do anything illegal by not coming forward right away, even though I knew who did it after she was attacked, but I didn't know beforehand.
That's not a crime.
In many state laws. That's what she said. I'm sure in some states it was. Maybe it is more and more so now, but at the time it was not necessarily in many states. A lot of people, though, didn't believe Tanya. They're like, okay, sure, she says this but is that true. But regardless of all the controversy, as one must say, the show must go on real.
Well yeah, I mean she's really covering her bases here.
Yeah, So, regardless of what was occurring, investigation and everything, skating continued. The Ladies single skating event of the nineteen ninety four Winter Olympics held at the Harmer Olympic Amphitheater in Norway, and it came seven weeks after the attack. Despite the challenges and the distractions, Nancy skated what she deemed to be the pinnacle of her career, delivering flawless performances in both a short program and free skate, again
seven weeks after she was attacked. Badass of the day.
No kidding, that's freaking incredible.
So she had her leg bashed in with a metal baton and just skated the best performance ever at the Olympics.
Well yeah, because she would have to heal from that, which would also make it so that she didn't have quite as much practice in right, Yep, So it's quite incredible.
Oh they're telling me, Wow, I.
Almost want to, like, I probably watched that. I don't really remember. We were pretty young then, but i'd like to go back and watch that.
We should we should so, her remarkable displays in the ice earned her the silver metal. However, the event was not without controversy. Tanya Harding encountered difficulties with her equipment, specifically the laces on her skate, and was granted a
reskate by the judges. However, regardless, Tanya finished in eighth place. Now, despite everything that's going on, Nancy emerged from the short program competition so the short skate competition in first place, hoping that she'd clinch the gold, but the coveted gold slipped from her grasp of another competitor from Ukraine named Okasana Bail seized victory and closed the contested and controversial five to four decision during the free skate, so Nancy made away with silver.
Yeah okay.
Now, despite the bitter disappointment from falling short of the gold, her silver medal triumphs serves quite as a testament to her resilience, obviously, but with the Olympics now being complete, the investigation ultimately led to the identification of several individuals involved in the planning. Because as the Olympics were being carried on, so was the investigation. And they found out
a lot more information. So the individuals who planned it and carried out the attack were including Tanya Hardings x's husband, Jeff Gilulei, her bodyguard Sean Eckhardt, and other associates Derek Smith and Shane stant So. On January thirteenth, Sean and Derek were arrested, and the following day, on January fourteenth, the United States Figure Skating Association made a public statement on whether the arrest affected Tanya Harding's Olympic placement. They
said this about it quote. We will deal only with the facts. So Jeff, Tanya Harding's former husband, provided crucial testimony to the FBI regarding the attack ploy plot Sorry on January twenty sixth, nineteen ninety four, divulging a detailed account of the events leading up to the infamous now infamous incident. So according to Jeff, this is all in his testimony on how this played out. The plan was made in early December of nineteen ninety three, following Tanya's
disappointment at the nineteen ninety three NHK Trophy competition. She was upset over her placement in the competition and reached out to Jeff, who emphasized with her frustration. Subsequently, Jeff confided in his friend Sean Eckhart about the intricacies of figure skating and the politics and everything right. Sean mentioned the idea in this conversation kind of a passing mention,
what if we just threaten her competition? Like, what if we threaten Nancy Carigan, you know, her main competitor, in order hopefully get her to be too fearful of her own safety to compete, which would lead Tanya to free to compete and win. Jeff liked the idea the thought, but the psychological impact on someone threatening skaters could actually have an impact on Tanya's performance as well. So, despite the initial reservations, Jeff mentioned it to Tanya so like potentially, like, hey,
what if we did this? Would that affect you? Would you be okay with it? What do you think?
She liked the idea, My gosh, man, this is a conversation that shouldn't be happening. No.
However, she expressed doubts that Sean would have the ability to execute the threats. In collaboration with his uncle Derek Smith, Sean proposed a plan to instead actually injure Nancy while meeting with Jeff and Tanya discussed details on the plan. However, negotiations hit a snag when Derek quoted the price of four five hundred dollars to execute it. Later after the meeting, Jeff attempted to cancel the deal, but was informed by Sean that Derek was already en route to Portland to
execute the plan. He also needed further information about Nancy's whereabouts Now. Instead of insisting to cancel the plans like he originally said he wanted to, they moved forward with it, and on December twenty seventh, Tanya reached out to her friend Vera Morano, a figure skating writer based in Pennsylvania, under the pretext of a quote bet she and Jeff supposedly had regarding Nancy Nancy's training whereabouts. So she's all like, hey,
I'm just curious, where does Nancy train? You know, I got a bet with my husband and where that is?
Okay, that does not That's so obvious.
Hey, yeah, No. Vera contacted the United States Figure Skating Association to obtain the name of her training rink, leaving a message on Jeff's on Tanya's answering machine about it now. Despite this message, reportedly, it was difficult to discern and understand what she said, so Tanya called her again, requesting her to correctly spell the name of the arena while Jeff wrote it down, which was the Tony Kent Arena.
So during her testimony on January twenty second in nineteen ninety four, Vera Morano reiterated Tanya's question and the quote bat concerning Nancy Kerrigan and disclosed that Tanya had also sought information about Nancy's potential property owned in Cape Cod So she's not only asking where she practices, but where
she lives now. In Tanya's two thousand and eight authorized biography quote The Tanya Tapes, which was based on records recorded interviews, Tanya denied ever soliciting information from Via regarding Nancy's training rink. She even suggested that Vera may have misremembered details and was quote was a little bit out there.
Someone wouldn't just make that up, though I know.
She also said, quote, I really didn't do anything wrong except ask questions to win a bet. It's just that this sounds bad. I think the bet was for a quarter or something like that. Big deal. So first she's saying that there was no bet, and then she's saying that there is a bet.
Yeah, so what the fuck?
I mean? Her ex husband could have potentially did this bet and she still might not have known he was just making up this bet.
But there's potential there.
Yet I'm playing like mega to him's advocate.
Here, Well, just say that is the fact. Remember that piece, Okay, that her husband made up this bet for that piece to get that piece of information. Okay, if we can remember, we'll come back to that at the end of the podcast. There's a piece of information that we could.
Attach to that, Okay.
Okay. So on December twenty seventh, Derek and his nephew Shane stant arrived in Portland and made their way to Shawn's house, where they requested a meeting with Jeff for the following day. The next day, December twenty eighth, after Tanya completed her training at ten thirty am, Jeff drove
them to Shawn's home for the scheduled meeting. During the meeting, Jeff was introduced to Derek Smith and Shane stant Seawan proposed various violent methods of incapacitating Nancy, including cutting her achilles tendon or running her off the road in an accident, a car accident, gosh. But Jeff went for a less severe approach, focusing solely on disabling Nancy's right leg, her landing leg. This decision allegedly was corroborated with Tanya's with
Tanya beforehand allegedly. Remember this is still all Jeff's testimony.
This is just so fucked because at some point, like I get maybe one or two conversations, I mean, it's so wrong. But at one point you think you'd be like, Okay, this is just like two fuck, like we can't do this.
This is there's one thing with being like, oh I wish I could just take out my competition yeah haha, like a passing comment, yeah, in her circle.
Which is still not great, but yeah.
But and then it's like, okay, this is becoming a recurring theme. This is a little too real, Like no, this isn't actually happening, is it.
Like traveling somewhere and all the logistics like this is too far.
Yeah. So, following this initial meeting, Jeff outlined additional requirements for the execution off the plan, including acquiring another photo of Nancy and her skating schedule. So whoever's attacking her could know what she looks like and where she will be. Recognizing Tanya's familiarity with ice skating terminology, Jeff delegated the task to her, prompting her to contact Tony Kent Arena to obtain her quote patch and freestyle times and the
arena's address. Additionally, they obtained two photos of Nancy from the World Team handbook and Olympian magazine, with Tanya instructing Jeff to make sure that they moved the magazine's mailing label to conceal their home address. That evening, Jeff and Tanya visited Shawn's residence with the photos, practice times, and
two thousand, seven hundred dollars in cash. As January nineteen ninety four approach, Jeff and Tanya began growing increasingly frustrated by the so far failure of the plant because it is yet to be executed. Determined to salvage the scheme, Tanya arranged a late night skate session on January first, nineteen ninety four, with Jeff proposing an increased payment if Nancy could still be incapacitated before the national competition because
it's coming up. As a result, the attack finally went underway at Cobble Arena in Detroit five days later on January sixth, nineteen ninety four. So we're finally at the actual like, she's skating at the arena, just like we started at this she's skating doing a thing, stepping off the ice, and we're going to talk about exactly how the attack went down. So Shane Eckart, in a twenty eighteen interview, provided chilling details on how he executed the
assault on Nancy Kerrigan. He described how he positioned himself approximately quote a foot and a half behind the camera crew, patiently waiting for them to cease filming before making his move. Of course, so as Nancy passed through the curtains, unaware of the imminent danger, the camera turned away and he made his move.
And that was the moment, the time.
That was the time. The second the camera turned away, he passed by them, followed through that blue curtain down the hallway, caught up to her, and yeah, so he approached her from behind with his telescopic biton and used it to strike the lower right thigh before swiftly fleeing the scene. To facilitate his escape, Sean smashed through a
locked glass door to exit the arena. Outside, Derek Smith awaited in a car ready to act as the getaway driver, which enabled him to evade capture from the fleet or capture from the scene immediately after. So Shane, Sean, and Derek all corroborate much of this testimony. Of course, there's a little bit of varying accounts, some points of view in between, but the consensus between them all was Tanya was involved, and she knew about the plan before it occurred.
Well, it sure kind of seems like it. I mean, none of that. It makes sense that she would be involved. This story makes sense that there's no way I don't think that she wouldn't have been.
Well, put it this way, I'm pretty sure she probably would have been at least somewhere in the vicinity of this training center, and I'm pretty sure she would have recognized Sean, Hey, Sean, what are you doing here? Or Derek, we're out here in the parking lot. What are you doing here? You know, so just saying yeah. So on February first, nineteen ninety four, Jeff's attorney managed a plea deal where Jeff agreed to provide testimony implicating all parties
involved in the attack, so hence the testimony we just heard, right. Subsequently, in July, Jeff received received a two year prison sentence after publicly expressing remorse to Nancy Kerrigan, although he did admit that his apology would be very empty and didn't hold any fucking weight to it.
Oh God, right now.
Additionally, Jeff and Sean pleaded guilty to racketeering charges, while Shane stant and Derek Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second degree assault. On March sixteenth, nineteen ninety four, this is the moment you're waiting for. Tanya Harding pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution, which is a Class C felony, accompanied by her lawyer, Robert Weaver. Tanya also entered a plea agreement to ensure she would not face
further secution. In return, she should provide testimony for her knowledge after the fact.
So she's played guilty though she.
Pled guilty to hindering prosecution conspiracy to hinder.
Prosecution, Okay, so basically the fact.
With holding information after the fact, kay, And now she's entering a plea agreement where she provides information after the fact. Everything is after the fact here.
Yeah.
Now, as part of her sentencing, where she did plead guilty to conspiracy, Tanya received three year probation, a one hundred thousand dollars fine, and was mandated to perform a five hundred hours of community service. She also agreed to reimburse Molnut County ten thousand dollars in legal fees, undergo way psychiatric evaluation, and contribute fifty thousand dollars to the
Special Special Olympics Oregon charity. Had she not agreed to the plea deal, Oregon sentencing guidelines stipulated a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.
Mm hmm, well, yeah, I feel like she got off pretty easy there.
Yeah, I mean she had to pay some hefty fines, but yeah, she served like no time five hundred hours. Yeah, and i mean with her sponsorship deals and stuff, I'm pretty sure that's.
Like pennies were possibly yep.
Now. Furthermore, tanya plea bargain resulted in her resignation from the US Figure Skating Association, necessitating a withdrawal from the nineteen ninety four World Championships, for which she was scheduled to depart on March seventeenth.
See, that's the biggest of punishment. She has to let go of her dream.
Yeah. So to sum up everything here for you, because I know, things kind of got a bit confusing. It's quite a messy story, especially with all the names back and forth and he said, she SAIDs and all that sort of stuff. To break it down for you. The assault on Nancy Kerrigan was orchestrated by Jeff Gilluli, the ex husband of Tanya Harding, along with his accomplice Shawn Eckert. They enlisted the service of Shane stant and his uncle Derek Smith to execute the attack. Both Jeff and Sewn
alleged Tanya's involvement in the planning and premeditation of the assault. Initially, Tanya denied any association with the attack, but eventually she entered the plea agreement conceding her involvement to concealing the attack after it occurred. Makes sense, Okay, there is a bit of a follow up to this though, Okay, what is it? On March twenty first, nineteen ninety four, so it's only a few months later, the Portland Grand Jury
issued a statement that shook the skating world. The culmination of over two months of relentless inquiry and testimony for the likes of Diane Rawlingson, which was Tanya's choreographer, Erica Bracus, who was a freelance figure skating writer, Verremano, and Shawn Eckert Sorry, Sir Shawn Eckert's college instructor in class my bad. The indictment accused Tanya to fraudulently use United States figure
skating monies to pay for the attack. It also said that Tanya, Jeff, Sean, Derek, and Shane quote knowingly caused physical injury by means of a dangerous weapon. The grand jury claimed evidence that showed Tanya Harding was quote involved from the very beginning or very close. However, due to her previous plea deal, she could no longer be charged.
I knew that was going to come back to haunt us. I know it.
That's fucked. I think new evidence should consult a new trial.
Actually, yeah, for sure, there is.
A silver lining here. So she withdrew from the one competition right On June twenty ninth, the United States Figure Skating Association Disciplinary Panel met over the course of nine hours within the span of two days, evaluating her role on the attack on Nancy Kerrigan On June thirtieth, Chairman William Hibbel stated, quote, by a predoonderance of evidence, the panel did conclude that she had prior knowledge and was involved prior to the incident. This is based on civil standards,
not criminal standards. Bank records, phone records, the way they came together to establish the case. The panel decided that the FBI reports, court documents, and the plague deal that she entered quote were a clear disregard for fairness, good sportsmanship, and ethical behavior. As a result, Tanya Harding was stripped from her nineteen ninety four US Championship title and banned for life from participating in any United States Figure Skating Association events, either as a skater or a coach.
Oh right, there just shows you. Hey, yep, she I feel like played her cards really well.
Yep.
To get out off like, oh this is it's frustrating to listen to this.
Oh it really is. Yeah, I do want to end this on one final note. In twenty eighteen, Tanya shared a bit more about the attack. She mentioned knowing beforehand about Jeff and Sean talking about quote taking out one of her competitors in late nineteen ninety three. She stated she objected, saying she wanted to win fairly and question them about their conversation. This is a straight admittance directly
from her, not evidence showing. It's an admittance that she had prior knowledge of the assault at.
The very least, that she's a liar.
Now, let's go back to when you talked about that bet she had prior knowledge. Now her husband is saying, hey, what's what's the address? I bet you you can't remember it?
Shit, yeah, you think you have?
Red flag would pop up there.
No kidding, because that she knows, like this is one of my biggest competitors. She you don't forget a conversation like that, right, Oh my gosh, Okay, I mean I feel like she got off so easy here. But then also the whole band from doing something that she was obviously so passionate love so much.
Would be like a slap in the face.
Yeah, like almost you know, as bad as going to prison, probably because like she has to't figure out well no, no, no, I take that back, not almost as bad, but like pretty shitty. You have to you have to think your whole life.
But she dropped out a high school. She has no education because of figure skins. Shit, so now she can't figure skate now what? But that also being sad, I mean, no matter. She did enter some other sports later on in her life, like I think she went into boxing in like the previous ten years or something like that. But endorsements and sponsorships, I bet you anything. And I did read that they were very hard to come by her for anything she was doing, because no one wanted
to work with her on anything. Well.
Yeah, and didn't she write a book though?
Oh, she had a book that was written by another author based on records and preapproved by her.
Okay, so I mean there might be other books, probably not like super Struggling.
For money though, Oh I don't think she is.
No, Yeah, she probably had a couple of million in the bank when this all happened. And if she was smart, she's probably just sitting there laughing on a beach right now somewhere anyways.
Oh my goodness.
Yeah huh. Now As for Nancy, though, after the Olympics, she participated in several competitions ongoing okay, also in other competitions like ice Wars, but mainly concentrated on performing in various ice shows These included Champions on Ice, Broadway on Ice, and an ice show version of the musical Footloose, among others. I think she actually even was on Dancing with the Stars.
Cool.
In two thousand and three, she would take on the role of a national spokeswoman for Fighting for Sight, which and continuing to be an all around I mean badass.
Well, no kidding.
Yeah, So she continued being an athlete regardless of the situation, regardless of what sort of avenue she went in, whether it was an Olympic athlete or these other like ice Wars and all these other things. Broadway on Ice, for example, she's both an Olympic competitor and a Broadway star. Are you fucking kidding me?
Yeah?
Badass?
I mean she's obviously amazing.
Yeah, no kidding. So she is doing very well. And I did also watch an interview where she never actually really received an apology from Tanya. Yeah.
Well, I mean that doesn't even really surprise me, to be honest.
Yeah. So that's the story of Nancy Kerrigan and the Olympic assault. I don't even know what I'm going to title this yet, because how do you put all this into a title?
No kidding, I don't even know. I would just maybe title it her name.
Yeah, yeah, maybe it'll just be you know what I'm gonna say, Nancy Kerrigan, Olympic competitor, Olympic athletes. Yeah, something Olympian because that's what she is. I mean, she competed seven weeks after.
Which is incredible. I feel like figure skating used to be a lot more popular. I feel like or maybe I don't know, I just feel like or this event maybe made it more known.
Well, I mean this is all pre social media too, right, so it was like when the Olympics were happening, was like everyone was watching.
I feel like, yeah, I know.
Growing up, like my mom was quite into watching the Olympics, figure skating was one of those things. She was a big fan of Elvis Stoiko. I remember back in the day, and I remember seeing some He was retired by the time I remember, but I do remember Kurt Browning and his back flips.
Oh geez. Well, like yeah, there was just like some really incredible I get athletes.
Yeah. No, the figure skating was an extremely competitive division, and I'm sure it still is today. It's just not as like prominent in mainstream media.
I don't know, maybe, but I mean also I think there was a lot of drama back.
Then, Yeah, like an assault of someone.
That made it very much some more in the foreground, right.
Yeah, but it's without a doubt that Tanya was involved prior to there is evidence of it. There's things like phone records that were found and pulled, there's red and stuff. She admitted it and she did not serve the time because of her fucking plea deal. That I honestly feel if new evidence comes out, a new trial should be warranted.
Yeah. No, I agree, because yeah, when she got that plea deal, she was probably just like dancing a way.
It's like, yes, and I do know that, like I've heard in other cases I've researched this before, where they've gone into another trial, a new trial, and they can't reuse evidence from the first one. They have to have new evidence. So I would think that new evidence should warrant that.
Yeah.
Like, if you're in jail for a crime that you didn't commit and you get evidence, you get a retrial. So if you're out of jail and there's new evidence that you did, it's the exact opposite. There should be a retrial. To me, that makes sense, but I don't know.
Yeah, well, I mean, gosh, what's she like assaulting? Being part of an assault like that? Is you should it be paying some time?
Yeah, she's skeezy, skeezy as fuck.
Oh, I was like, ski easy, what do you mean you know, not ski? Sound was like, is she skiing?
No? Ski, She's not a skier.
She's skeezy, skeezy, yes, slimy, yeah, no kidding douche canoe.
Yeah.
Yeah, she is someone you wouldn't want to, you know, stay a little bit away from.
Especially if she's holding a baton or someone she knows is holding a baton.
Or if or if someone she knows is doing better than her. Yes, right, yes, the real thing.
Don't compete with Tanya Harding. She'll take you out at the knees.
Yeah, clearly.
Yeah.
This one's been on my list for a while. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this one. It's it's a story and a half. This you can go you can go down a very big rabbit hole with this story.
Oh yeah.
It was a difficult one to research because all the little nuances that like I said that, he said, she said, and all this sort of stuff there was we mostly just went over Jeff's testimony. There are other testimonies, but Jeff's is the most prominent one that really spills the evidence. He's the one that went through the plea deal, so
the others basically just corroborated his story. But there is still some other information to go through, and the later evidence as well that they kind of came through that said, hey, she actually did have prior knowledge things like that.
So yeah, yeah, man, I mean, this story is terrible. It could have been a lot more terrible if Nancy wasn't so freaking amazing.
Right, yeah, God, she's a badass.
No kidding, Yeah, big time.
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