Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Killer’s Sister Calls FBI Shooting Unfair

BOISE (CN) - A 40-year-old murderer who abducted his victim's teenage daughter and took her 1,000 miles from home into Idaho wilderness was killed unfairly by FBI agents, the killer's sister claims in court.

James Lee DiMaggio made national headlines in 2013 when he abducted 16-year-old Hannah Anderson after allegedly torturing and killing her mother and killing her 8-year-old brother. A massive manhunt traced him from San Diego to the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, where FBI agents killed him at a remote campsite and rescued Hannah.

DeMaggio's sister, Lora DiMaggio Robinson, sued "six unknown FBI agents" in Federal Court on Monday, the second anniversary of her brother's death.

The manhunt began in August 2013 in Boulevard, Calif., near the Mexican border, where the burned bodies of Hannah's mother, Christina, and, Ethan, were found in DiMaggio's burning house.

Horseback riders tipped the multi-agency hunt team on Aug. 8, 2013 that they had seen DiMaggio and Hannah, and about 270 officers descended on the area. They found DiMaggio's 2013 Nissan Versa hidden under brush at a trailhead at the edge of the Frank Church Wilderness.

Surveillance aircraft spotted the campsite and recorded video of the rescue, which shows agents killing DiMaggio.

Search warrants stated that DiMaggio, who abducted Hannah on Aug. 4, "tortured and killed his best friend's wife and 8-year-old son," according to ABC News.

Christina died of "blunt force injury to head," according to a report from the San Diego Office of the Medical Examiner that listed "12 different abrasions/lacerations on forehead, scalp and ear, and a gaping 5.5-inch incision wound across Christina's anterior neck, extending to the mid left neck."

Ethan's remains were too charred to identify a cause of death.

Lora Robinson, DiMaggio's only living immediate relative, claims video surveillance taken by the Marshals Service shows her brother and Hannah "waving pieces of cloth in an effort to get the attention of the plane" and that DiMaggio tried to fire three shots in the air as an S.O.S. signal, at Hannah's suggestion.

Robinson claims her brother got off just one shot before the FBI killed him.

"Before attempting his second shot into the air ... FBI agents shot James Lee DiMaggio six times, including shots to his head, chest and extremities," according to the complaint.

Robinson calls the operation suspect, because the FBI "excluded other officers from participating in the ground operation," should have known DiMaggio was unaware of the agents' presence, was seeking rescue, and that the FBI should have tried to arrest him "without the use of excessive force."

"Plaintiffs believe and allege that the defendant FBI agents were so enraged by the as-yet unproven underlying allegations of wrongdoing ... that they were overwhelmed by passion, resulting in their mission being more akin to an execution than a mission to rescue and apprehend," the complaint states.

Robinson says the FBI did not allow officers from other agencies to participate "so that they would not be closely monitored and could not be prevented from using excessive force."

And she claims that the FBI and the Department of Justice conspired after the shooting, and "engaged in numerous acts to keep secret information and evidence probative of the unknown agents' tortious conduct."

Robinson seeks punitive damages for excessive force, violation of due process, and violation of the First Amendment guarantee of right of association.

She is represented by Matthew Williams, of Cascade, Idaho, who did not return phone calls seeking comment.

A call to the Department of Justice in Boise was not immediately returned.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...