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Friday, March 30, 2001
By Dennis B. Roddy, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
A self-declared anti-abortion "warrior" who escaped from an Illinois jail one month ago has been spotted twice on what appears to be an eastward flight through territory containing clinics he once threatened with violence.
The U.S. Marshals Service has put the capture of Clayton Lee Waagner, 44, at top priority and the man heading up the search described it as the largest project since the escape of seven inmates from a Texas prison last year.
"We have no idea why he's heading in the direction he's heading in," said Bruce Harmening, a deputy marshal who has been placed in charge of locating Waagner. "It looks like he's on an eastward route."
Harmening said Waagner's trajectory would take him toward the mountainous region of the Carolinas where another anti-abortion fugitive, Eric Rudolph, is believed hiding. Rudolph is wanted in several bombings, including one at the Atlanta Olympics five years ago and another at a Birmingham, Ala., abortion clinic that killed a security guard and seriously injured a nurse.
Harmening said Waagner was first spotted two weeks ago at a truck stop near Memphis, Tenn., then, last week, at a truck stop near Knoxville, Tenn. In Memphis, he is suspected of stealing $400 from a video arcade at the stop, while in Knoxville, a truck stop clerk identified him when he paid to use a shower. She later notified authorities after recognizing Waagner's photo from a rebroadcast of "America's Most Wanted."
The program plans a third report on Waagner this weekend.
Waagner, of Kennerdell, Venango County, was facing a lengthy sentence on federal firearms and theft charges after a four-month spree during which he said he set out to stalk and kill abortion providers. Waagner said he embarked on the mission after he heard God calling on him to "be my warrior." In an interview last year, Waagner gave detailed descriptions of clinics and individuals he said he followed and said he shot no one because he lost his nerve.
His escape last month from the Dewitt County Jail in Clinton, Ill., sparked a nationwide manhunt and put abortion clinics on alert. Several of the clinics named in a list recovered from a truck Waagner abandoned during a chase in 1999 are located in the areas in which he was seen.
While in jail, Waagner corresponded with hard-line anti-abortion activists, some of whom advocate violence to stop abortions.
One of those hard-liners, Neal Horsley, gained national prominence for posting "The Nuremberg Files" on the World Wide Web. When an abortion provider or supporter is killed, a line is drawn through the name. Abortion advocates have argued that Horsley's list is an incitement to violence against abortion doctors and clinic staff members.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a lawsuit against Nuremberg List posters, saying the list is protected as free speech under the First Amendment.
Harmening said he believes that, for now, Waagner will concentrate on staying free and will not plan any strikes against abortion providers until he has established himself somewhere.
"Whenever he gets to where he's going to stay for a while, that's when we worry about him," Harmening said.