Texas/Mexico News

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 1998

FBI: Men knew of cactus weapons, threats

Agents testify in trial of Republic of Texas men accused of government attack plot

By MADELINE BARO
Associated Press

   BROWNSVILLE - Two men accused of threatening government officials in e-mail admitted knowing about the threats as well as a device to shoot germ-coated cactus thorns, an FBI agent testified Monday.
   But Oliver Dean Emigh, 63, and Jack Abbott Grebe, 43, denied any involvement with the scheme, said FBI Agent Franklin Sharkey, citing statements the men made to FBI agents after their July 1 arrests.
   Emigh, Grebe, and Johnie Wise, 72, are charged with conspiring and threatening to use weapons of mass destruction.
   The defendants are members of a faction of the Republic of Texas, a group that believes Texas was illegally annexed and is not part of the United States.
   The men are accused of sending threatening e-mails in June to President Clinton and his family, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, and other federal, state and local officials and their families.
   They are also accused of plotting to infect their alleged targets with modified cigarette lighters designed to shoot cactus needles coated with biological toxins like botulism, anthrax or rabies.
   Wise denied any knowledge of the Bic lighter plan or threats in his statement to the FBI, Sharkey said.
   Defense attorneys have accused the government of entrapment and challenged the credibility of government informant John Cain.
   According to Sharkey, both Emigh and Grebe said they knew of the lighter device.
   Emigh, who's accused of writing an e-mail titled the "Declaration of War," denied being the author, the agent said.
   "He said he wrote it down, but did not compose it," Sharkey testified.
   Grebe told agents he was in the room making copies when the e-mails were sent, but did not participate, Sharkey said.
   Sharkey was allowed to testify about only certain parts of the defendants' statements. Defense attorneys and prosecutors agreed outside the presence of the jury to leave out parts of the statements in which the three apparently implicated one another.
   Much of the prosecution's case hinges on Cain, who testified last week that he started doing freelance computer work for Republic of Texas members and ended up reporting to the FBI about members' activities.
   Attorneys for both sides spent most of Monday morning going over details. Dan Herink, Grebe's attorney, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Trey Martinez went over transcripts of secretly recorded conversations between Grebe and Cain, pointing out specific sections and asking FBI Agent David Church for his interpretations.
   Church also testified that the FBI ran background and criminal checks on Cain, which did not turn up any criminal history nor history of involvement as an informant or otherwise in any previous Department of Justice case.
   Sharkey also testified Monday that Cain was paid $350 for attending a Republic of Texas meeting in the Bryan area in mid-June. Church previously testified that Cain was also paid to attend a previous meeting in Conroe.
   The case against Grebe, Wise and Emigh focuses on two specific e-mails. One message, sent June 12, was the "Declaration of War." The second, sent June 26, said government employees and their families had been "targeted for destruction by revenge."
   Audiotapes were made of conversations between Cain and the three men and a videotape was made of Grebe, Wise and Cain discussing and sending the e-mails on June 26.
   Prosecutors say the messages were sent by Cain under the direction of Grebe and Wise. Emigh allegedly drafted the "Declaration of War."
   

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