Thelma Conroy-Rios was a

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

activist. She is perhaps best known for her involvement in the

Wounded Knee incident The Wounded Knee Occupation, also known as Second Wounded Knee, began on February 27, 1973, when approximately 200 Oglala Lakota (sometimes referred to as Oglala Sioux) and followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupied the ...

and for her involvement in the murder of fellow

American Indian Movement The American Indian Movement (AIM) is an Native Americans in the United States, American Indian grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues ...

activist

Anna Mae Aquash Annie Mae Aquash (Mi'kmaq name ''Naguset Eask'') (March 27, 1945 – mid-December 1975) was a First Nations activist and Mi'kmaq tribal member from Nova Scotia, Canada. Aquash moved to Boston in the 1960s and joined other First Nations and Indig ...

. Rios was initially charged with murder but later agreed to a plea deal and pleaded guilty to accessory in the kidnapping of Aquash and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Personal life

Between 1974 and 1975, Thelma Conroy-Rios allowed a fellow male activist Harry Hill (who was known by his middle name, David) to live with her. Conroy-Rios and Hill were said to be involved in a

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

marriage. Although identified as a cop by ex-wife Thelma Conroy-Rios, Hill's role as a law official is disputed. Conroy-Rios identified Hill as having provoked the Custer Courthouse Incident Riot that unfolded in 1973 following a one-day jail sentence of murderer Darld Schmitz, a

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

veteran in the murder of Wesley Bad Heart Bull. According to Conroy-Rios, "He started it all, Dave. He provoked the riot. He was right there. He told me so, proudly, several times. He instigated that courtroom riot too. I was there. I saw him start it, punching a cop. At the time everybody thought it was great. He was a warrior. He was a hero and everybody trusted him, including me." Conroy-Rios' account is corroborated by a separate account found in

Peter Matthiessen Peter Matthiessen (May 22, 1927 – April 5, 2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher and onetime CIA agent. A co-founder of the literary magazine ''The Paris Review'', he is the only writer to have won the Nat ...

's book ''

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse ''In the Spirit of Crazy Horse'' is a book by Peter Matthiessen which chronicles "the story of Leonard Peltier and the FBI's war on the American Indian Movement." It was first published in 1983. Leonard Peltier was convicted of murder in 1977 an ...

''. Conroy-Rios was an enrolled student at

Black Hills State University Black Hills State University (BHSU) is a public university in Spearfish, South Dakota, United States. Close to 4,000 students attend classes at its campus in Spearfish, with a satellite campus in Rapid City which is shared with South Dakota Sta ...

, but had to drop out after her daughter was born with a rare blood disease in 1970.

Legal history

Murder of Anna Mae Aquash

was a female activist within the ranks of the

. On December 11, 1975, Aquash was forced out of the home of Denver

AIM AIM or Aim may refer to: Computing * AIM alliance, an Apple-IBM-Motorola alliance * AIM (software), AOL Instant Messenger * Fortyfive, a Japanese software development company previously known as AIM Military * Abrams Integrated Management, an ...

Troy Lynn S. Yellow Wood despite the latter's objection that something bad would happen to Aquash.Aquash Murder Case Timeline
by Paul DeMain, jfamr.org She was taken to an apartment in Rapid City, South Dakota owned by

Russell Means Russell Charles Means (; November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012) was an Oglala Lakota activist for the rights of Native Americans, libertarian political activist, actor, musician and writer. He became a prominent member of the American Indi ...

' brother, and during interrogation, she was raped by John Graham. Aquash was moved to two residences owned by Thelma Conroy-Rios. Looking Cloud indicated that he heard Graham and Aquash having sex in the bedroom of a Rapid City apartment (whose ownership is attributed to Thelma Conroy-Rios and her mother, which led to prosecutors alleging that Graham raped Aquash. These allegations were reinforced by the 'strong acid phosphate' found in the vagina, which "constitutes evidence in support of the allegation that defendant John Graham raped the victim at Thelma Rios' apartment on or about December 10–11, 1975." Graham acknowledged in a taped interview/interrogation that Looking Cloud waited outside of the room Aquash was imprisoned inside of. Aquash was then forcefully moved to the

Rosebud Indian Reservation The Rosebud Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in South Dakota, United States. It is the home of the federally recognized Rosebud Sioux Tribe, who are Sicangu, a band of Lakota people. The Lakota name ''Sicangu Oyate'' translates as th ...

where AIM supporters refuse to house her. Nelson-Clarke was given orders to have Aquash eliminated.

Theda Nelson Clarke Theda Nelson Clarke, born Theda Rose Nelson (1924-2011), was a Native American activist. She is perhaps best known for her involvement in the Wounded Knee incident with the murder of fellow American Indian Movement activist Anna Mae Aquash. ...

, another female

activist, received instructions to have Aquash "dealt with" from Rapid City, South Dakota

activist Thelma Conroy-Rios. Aquash's assassination allegedly was rooted in the mistaken belief that Aquash was a government informant. Looking Cloud, along with

and John 'John Boy Patton' Graham, force Aquash into the back of a car and drive her to a remote part of the

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (), also called Pine Ridge Agency, is an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota, with a small portion extending into Nebraska. Originally included within the territory of the ...

. Clarke drove from Denver, Colorado to the scene of the shooting on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in her red Pinto. Aquash was shot execution style in the back of the head and left to die. Her body was discovered on February 24, 1976 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation at the bottom of a ravine located in close proximity to an isolated highway. Aquash was revealed to have been executed using a gun, as the autopsy showed that the muzzle of the gun had been pressed into the back of her neck. The coroner's report indicated that in addition to the fatal gunshot wound, exposure contributed to the death of Aquash.

Court

Conroy-Rios was indicted on September 9, 2009 on one count of felony murder for kidnapping and one count of premeditated murder to

, with a trial scheduled for November. Rios agreed to a plea deal which allowed her to avoid going to trial on murder charges,"On September 10, 2009 the state of South Dakota indicted John Graham and Thelma Rios (Conroy-Hill on murder, rape and kidnapping charges. Thelma Rios pled guilty during November 2010 to the charge of kidnapping.
Aquash/Peltier - NFIC Files/Articles
, indiancountrynews.com which resulted in her pleading guilty to acting as an accessory in the kidnapping of Aquash, and as a result, was sentenced to serve five years in prison. Rios admitted that Aquash was kept at her home in Rapid City, South Dakota, then taken to the

. Judge Delaney of South Dakota suspended the five-year maximum sentence and instead ordered 90 days in jail, which Rios had served while waiting to be released on bond. In a plea agreement, Rios indicated that she overheard two other people who wanted Aquash to be killed, but these names were redacted from court documents. Prosecutors and defense attorneys requested that Conroy-Rios' plea agreement be sealed, which approved and carried out by the judge.

Death

On Wednesday, February 9, 2011, Rios died at 4:30 P.M. DST Wednesday of complications from lung cancer in Rapid City, South Dakota at the Rapid City Regional Hospital. Attorney Matt Kinney revealed that Rios had been diagnosed with lung cancer shortly after the negotiation of her plea agreement.

Legacy

Before her death, Rios provided names of individuals outside of her accomplices who partook in the orchestration of the murder of

. Although Conroy-Rios died before being able to share the information in its totality, Attorney General of South Dakota

Marty Jackley Martin J. Jackley (born October 13, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who is serving as the Attorney General of South Dakota since 2023, having previously served from 2009 to 2019. He assumed office as Attorney General again in 2023 a ...

has access to her sworn statement and indicated that case is not over.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conroy-Rios, Thelma 1945 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American murderers 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native American people 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American people American people convicted of kidnapping Deaths from lung cancer in the United States Lakota activists Lakota women Members of the American Indian Movement American Indigenous rights activists Native American history of South Dakota People from Rapid City, South Dakota People from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota Prisoners and detainees of South Dakota