The return of the fugitive

Heather Tallchief: I was instructed to. I was under strict orders and I carried them out.

And so here was the crux of Heather’s story— the one thing she wants the world to believe: He made her do it, and bewitched her with his spiritualism, and forced her to act.

Heather Tallchief: He was extraordinarily devout in his beliefs. He was really, really sincere and faithful and pious, if you will.

She wanted to be like him, she said, wanted him to be proud of her.

Heather Tallchief: I was in awe, if you will of him. And I loved being a part of this belief system and this world.

And every day, before she went to work, she says he played videotapes for her..

Heather Tallchief: A man’s voice came in. And then the tape would go into a colorful swirl.  And the voice would count from ten to one.  Then I’d wake up. The tape would be finished.  I believe he manipulated and influenced my mind for his own means. That’s how this evolved.

Heather says he was using the tapes to hypnotize her.

Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent: But did they instruct you to do anything in particular? The tape?

Heather Tallchief: No. But when you’re not consciously aware, anything could be suggested to you.

Keith Morrison: You have no idea what was suggested to you when you were watching those tapes, though, do you?

Heather Tallchief:  I basically don’t remember anything other than the countdown and waking up.

And so, on October 1, 1993, it happened.

Heather Tallchief: I woke up one morning and he had some instructions for me. And I was to drive my vehicle from Circus-Circus to a place that he had mapped out on a little bit of paper, and he made me memorize it.

She must drive the truck loaded with its $3 million dollars out of the parking lot, said her instructions, drive down the street, and there, she’d see a sign.

Heather Tallchief: “Armored car servicing.” And I would drive my van into it. And he was there waiting.

It was the warehouse Solis had rented.

Heather Tallchief: He told me, get out the cab. I got out the cab. The first thing he asked for was for my gun. I gave him the gun.

She says he told her to hurry up, get the money out of the truck.

Heather Tallchief: And he said it a little bit differently than that. “Hurry the f*** up.” And, you know, “get a move on.” I could see he was in a panic. I did what I was told and I hurried up, especially as he had my gun.

Then, she says, he barked at her: to change her clothes, put on a grey wig, colored contact lenses.

Heather Tallchief: He opened up the trunk of his car and he pulled out a wheelchair. “I want you to sit in this now.” He ordered me to be sick. Pretend like you’re an old lady and be sick and do it now and hurry up. And they wheeled me over to a small plane and they helped me get into it.

Morrison: While all of this was going on, how did you feel?

Heather Tallchief: I think I was absolutely devoid of feeling.

It hadn’t yet hit her, she says, the gravity of her crime. Heather Tallchief had committed armed robbery and now crossed state lines. It was a federal case now. But she says she had no idea.

Heather Tallchief: It just didn’t register—the magnitude. I wasn’t thinking about money, I was thinking, “Holy sh**!  What am I doing in this plane?” I’m thinking, “Oh my god, this guy’s a maniac. Nuts. He’s evil.”

Morrison: But up until that moment, you had never had that thought about him, had you?

Heather Tallchief: No. Up until that moment, I absolutely worshiped him. I would have given my life for him.

Morrison: What did you or he or both of you do with the money? Cause you didn’t take it with you on the little plane, did you?

Heather Tallchief: No. He put them into brown cardboard boxes. Very big. The kind you would use for moving.

Moving boxes, crammed with stolen cash, which were shipped to a secret location to be retrieved later.

Heather Tallchief:  I was following strict orders and I was doing them faithfully. It was very mechanical, very droid-like.

Morrison: Surely you were aware of the fact that you had just lifted a whole bunch of money from somebody and that you were in a heap of trouble.

Heather Tallchief: Yes. So what do you do?

Morrison: What do you do?

Heather Tallchief: Well, you certainly don’t holler and make yourself noticeable.

Morrison: What would have happened if you had hollered, “Hey, police, I’ve just been forced to do something I didn’t want to do and now I’m scared.”

Heather Tallchief:  I was told that the authorities would shoot me dead on the spot. And the only way I could have a chance of surviving was to listen to him and follow his instructions.

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