Evel Knievel’s Dark Side: Evel Knievel FBI Investigation & Attack on Shelly Saltman (Pictures)
Posted on October 6, 2008
Evel Knievel might should have been called “Evil Knievel” after learning of some of his naughty ways. Knievel was known as the “bad boy” motorcycle daredevil, who loved danger. But it’s been revealed that Evel Knievel was under investigation by the FBI, to discover his involvement in a string of beatings. Knievel’s wife, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel said she had no idea her husband was being investigated by the FBI. Evel Knievel attacked Shelly Saltman, a promoter, by attacking him with an aluminum baseball bat. Read more below.
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![shellysaltman-77x100 Evel Knievels Dark Side: Evel Knievel FBI Investigation & Attack on Shelly Saltman (Pictures)](http://stupidcelebrities.net/wp-content/shellysaltman-77x100.jpg "Sheldon \\"Shelly\\" Saltman photo")
In documents obtained by The Associated Press, the federal government came very close to charging Evel Knievel, who in turn threatened to sue the FBI for alleging he was connected to a crime syndicate. But neither Knievel or the FBI followed through on their intentions.
Knievel, who passed away last November in Clearwater, Fla., always denied his involvement to both investigators and victims, according to the documents.
“Knievel stated that he was not responsible for what just happened to (name redacted) and that he had no control over the ‘thing’” which was from a phone conversation in an FBI interview.
Evel Knievel was known as “America’s Legendary Daredevil.” Knievel had lots of crazy stories and even claimed he had been a swindler, car thief, safe cracker, as well as a hold up man.
In 1977 Evel Knievel attacked studio executive Shelly Saltman with a baseball bat in the parking lot of 20th Century Fox.
Shelly Saltman was the promoter for Knievel’s infamous attempt to jump Idaho’s Snake River Canyon and Saltman even wrote a book about the experience, angering Knievel by portraying him as “an alcoholic, a pill addict, an anti-Semite and an immoral person.” So that’s why he got his ass kicked by Knievel!
Evel Knievel received a sentence ofS six months in jail and Shelly Saltman won a $12.75 million judgment, but he never collected. Makes you wonder why, but Saltman did not want to comment when contacted.
Knievel’s FBI file shows investigators believed he was also involved in an attack in a Kansas City hotel room and a vicious beating in San Francisco. All were allegedly carried out by Knievel associates, according to subjects quoted in the file. Authorities also looked into an alleged threat made in Phoenix, but could find no information for the case.
Of the 202 pages of Knievel’s 290-page file released to the AP, some were heavily redacted, with identities, interviews and contact information left out. The names of victims were not released, butFBI some details of their experiences were.
One man told FBI agents he received a threatening phone call, and then shortly after was beaten by a Knievel associate who left him hospitalized. The man was interviewed by the FBI, but did not remember his attacker’s face.
He told the AP he wants to remain anonymous, and is in a different career these days. He said the FBI wanted to know if he could identify his attacker.
“They gave me mug shots at one point in time and I couldn’t pick him out,” he said. “It was a dark room, he had dark glasses on him. All I know is he was big. I could describe his shoes better than anything.”
Authorities first wanted to charge Knievel with violations of the Hobbs Act, which prohibits interfering with interstate commerce by attempting to rob or extort someone. But the case was dropped when a new federal prosecutor picked up the case and decided there was insufficient evidence. The federal government today won’t comment.
“The Department follows the facts and the law in making decisions and beyond that, couldn’t comment on matters in which no public federal charges were filed,” Department of Justice spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said in an e-mail.
Evel Knievel’s widow, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel, said she was not aware of any FBI investigation involving her husband and declined further comment. They were married in 1999.
FBI files are available to the public after the death of their subjects and can provide rare glimpses into the private lives of public figures. For example, former President Ford advised the FBI that two of his fellow Warren Commission members doubted the bureau’s conclusion that John F. Kennedy was shot from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, according to his file.
Bob Gill, a competitor of Knievel’s during the 1970s, said he was part of a confrontation associated with Knievel, but the daredevil later apologized and denied his involvement and the two became friends. Gill was not interviewed by the FBI, but said his run-in mirrored others described in the file. He declined to elaborate.
“I was really, really mad at Evel over the whole thing, but he apologized at least 10 times, and said it was out of his control and I believed him,” Gill said.
Gill, who was paralyzed after a failed stunt, said Knievel tried to help him set up a meeting with a doctor who Gill thought would help him walk again. He said Knievel also devised a plan to help pay for the expenses.
“Evel’s never done any wrong besides that one little incident,” Gill said. “And he’s made up for it 1,000 times.”
Wow! Seems some skeletons are coming out of the closet about stuntman Evel Knievel. What do you think about this?
Images: PR
Source: news
One comment
The police is out of serious jobs these day’s, folks?