Dead Run: The Murder of a Lawman and the Greatest Manhunt of the Modern American West

Jason McVean, Bobby Mason and Alan Pilon all believed, in varying degrees, that one day true patriots would be called upon to fight it out with "the New World Order", a cabal controlled by Jews and United Nation proponents - the controllers of the black helicopters throughout the world. On one day in May, 1998 they started their own war on police in the sleepy town of Cortez, Colorado, starting with the theft of a water truck.

Why? No one really knows. State and federal law enforcement, dismiss the trio as "smash and grab" punks who, realizing they would never evade the seamless web of Western police work, took their own lives.

Author Dan Schultz does a creditable job of bebunking the "official story" of the crime, the chase and the end. That storytelling is the strength of this book.

Of lesser rigor is his speculation as to why they did it. Plausible, but not plausible to the exclusion of many other possibilities the reader can logically spin up her or himself while page turning.

And of even less substance is the explanation of how each died. Here's the explanation of one ending in the last paragraph of the book . . . "in the fifth year after McElmo Bridge, they at last caught up with him . . .". The reader is left to wonder, "who is 'they'?" Schultz provides not a clue. Schultz's theories are little more than speculation piled upon inference linked to possible innuendo. Sadly, Schultz's logic on these points is little better than the crazy conspiracy theories of McVean, Mason and Pilon.

Unless, of course, those folks in the black helicopter really are behind it all.

DEAD RUN is one of those nonfiction books that proves life is stranger than fiction. The book opens with the shocking, tragic murder of small town Colorado cop Dale Claxton, and the adrenaline rush continues as law enforcement from across the country converge on the Four Corners area to track the killers through some of the most brutal, rugged terrain in America. I couldn't help but think of Cormac McCarthy books while reading. This sensational case's twists and turns will keep you guessing as to the motives of the killers, and whether they will be apprehended. The larger takeaway, however, is how eerily relevant this story is to contemporary discussions of gun control and America's glorification of vigilante justice. A great read for those who enjoy American history, Journalism, and True Crime.

The American West is alive and well, with independent thinkers, gun-toting conservatives, and more than few vigilantes. This is the story of 3 friends, none of which very likable, who take it upon themselves to commit domestic terrorism, 3 years before the 9/11 attacks. Their plans are thwarted by a likable small-town cop, and in an instant, they ruin the lives of the cop, his family, and hundreds in the area.

Author Dan Schultz has done an exhaustive amount of research into the crime of McVean, Mason and Pilon. He reports it all from different vantage points and perspectives. Along the way he tells a tale with great detail and careful prose. It's a joy to read.

One caution: it's tough to read before bed with any hopes of drifting off. This is a page-turner.

I was here in Cortez during that time, had some small involvement, and had friends who were closer to the action than was I, so was aware of some of the story. Some of the more interesting happenings were left out, but the author certainly couldn't have known everything that happened. Indifferent writing, which could have been improved by less verbiage and more concise relating of the events. Although a good yarn, it got spun out too long in this book.

This was well researched, but still many of the minor, and perhaps unimportant, facts seem to be lost via Journalistic privilege. The crime was horrible and if you knew Dale Claxton as a son, father, husband, brother or friend, you will feel their stomach churn and tears start to form. The descriptive part of the assassination of this good and honorable man, trying to do his job, is macabre and gut wrenching. The determination of the officers first to take up the chase is well written and makes one feel the passion of the pursuing officers. The manhunt that ensued is hard to follow in the book, and and seems as chaotic as the even itself. Over all I think it is worth the read, if you can overlook the minor factual inaccuracies.

Rest in peace Dale. You are not forgotten.

This was a good story and the best part by far was the ill-natured competition between various law enforcement agencies and lack of cooperation between them. However on page 63 the author refers several times to a ".233" rifle. Then again on page 112. No such rifle exists and it's not a typo because the mistake is made several times. On page 255 he refers to an 8 percent grade dropping 1700 ft. in 2 miles. This is incorrect as well (it drops 845 ft.). These errors really make me wonder about all the mistakes he's made that I can't check.

I've never heard this story before and I found it fascinating. The book is interesting, but I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because I think there was just a bit too much speculation about things we don't know. Some of it makes sense given the evidence but there are many other possibilities.

The greatest value in this book is putting forth the refutation of the official police position on the deaths of the fugitives, especially Bobby Mason. Here is a man who is shooting a policeman just before he is found "dead from suicide". This is ludicrous given the situation. A massive manhunt is in place after three men mow down policemen with more firepower than a normal person can probably even imagine. They are killing and attempting to kill cops. And yet we are to believe he commits suicide? Baloney. He would have gone out in a blaze of glory taking as many cops with him as he could. They would have had to fill his body with bullets to make him stop. Or else they would have had to surprise him and kill him. Since the former didn't happen, it was clearly the latter.

The above is just obvious common sense for anyone who knows anything about these anti-government militia types. However, the book provides evidence from the forensic autopsy to support the fact that this wasn't a suicide. Clearly as well, Jason McVean lived long after the initial escape and the idea he would just kill himself right away is delusional. Why do the police have to make up crap to cover up their ineptitude and time wasting turf battles? The only early death that is likely to have been self-inflicted or assisted by the fugitives themselves is that of Monte Pilon.

The author of this book clearly disbelieves the official story and he provides a clear and persuasively argued story to support his position. I suppose reading this book one is going to know as much as possible about what may have happened until someone who knows more and aided the fugitives comes forward with something more concrete.

I definitely recommend this book to true crime fans.

great story about how the desire to get one's name in the news becomes more important than the task the hunt for the fugitives crossed 2 counties so the 2 sheriffs did not work as closely as they should have Native American trackers followed the fugitives & as they closed in the sheriff called them off (so he could get the glory?) only to lose the trail within an hour of taking over the search the suspects were all found dead, presumably suicides, but under unusual circumstances (a lot like people who were about to testify against a certain female politician over the last 20 years) and a good explanation of what damage the suspects would've done had they accomplished their plan

"On a sunny May morning in 1998, three friends in a stolen truck passed through Cortez, Colorado, on their way to commit sabotage of unspeakable proportions."

In "Dead Run," Dan Schultz looks back over the last fifteen years at a sensation crime that began with the brutal murder of a small-town cop at McElmo Bridge and he lays out his case that the trio of men had their sights set on blowing up one of two dams, either the Glen Canyon or the Hoover.

"Dead Run" is a gripping true-crime account, well told by an award-winning reporter who thoroughly researched the series of harrowing events and pieced together one of the largest multi-state, multi-agency manhunts in recent history.

The story isn't conjecture-free, but Schultz' case is convincing. His efforts to document what happened--and why--are compelling. At times, Schultz seems a bit overly enamored with the dam explosion scenario and how much one of the three outlaws revered George Hayduke (the fictional ex-Green Beret Vietnam vet who is the star of Edward Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang") and the eco-terrorism that the novel espoused.

The story begins with a stolen water truck on the outskirts of Durango. Water trucks from "Overright Trucking" were borrowed all the time. A brand new truck was missing; it happened. The three men in the cab, however, had a plan. And automatic rifles. They were dressed in camouflage. The next morning in Cortez at McElmo Bridge, Officer Dale Claxton spotted the truck after having read a routine police bulletin about the case.

The white water truck was hard to miss--a four-thousand-gallon tank, New Mexico plates and "Overright Trucking" on the doors. Claxton was filling in for a colleague, who was attending training seminar. At 9:24 a.m., he radioed Cortez police dispatcher that he had spotted the Mack truck.

"Dead Run" breaks down the day-of incident in great detail. All the random vehicles in proximity to Claxton's slaying are identified. Witnesses who saw Claxton trailing the truck tell their version of events. The perspective of fellow police officers is recounted--and the McElmo Bridge scene comes into full relief. Schultz doesn't flinch in capturing the violence.

But the hunt has just begun. Schultz breaks down the day-by-day search for the killers and intersperses portraits of the three men--a pair of good friends (Jason McVean and Bobby Mason) and an odd acquaintance (Alan Pilon). None of the men were ever captured by police--though their remains have since been located. Mason was found a few days Claxton's murder. Mason had wounded another police officer in a shootout. Pilon's body was found in 1999, though his cause of death remains a mystery (a mystery Shultz explores at length). McVean's remains were found in 2007, although precisely when McVean perished--and how--is a source of great controversy.

Schultz's description of the inter-agency police work is, to put it mildly, discomforting. The idea that three men could escape into the desert and elude the efforts of 500-plus officers (representing more than 50 law enforcement agencies) seems like something out of an improbable movie. But it happened. The three were survivalists who no doubt had planned for such a scenario, but Schultz details how egos, politics, borders, boundaries and lack of leadership added to the lack of coordination. He also underscores the idea that the three men could have relied on help from sympathizers. The three men were hardly alone in their anti-government views.

Schultz lays out the facts as he seems them and draws a reasonable conclusion that a "sinister plot" was underway. The manhunt that began in Cortez happened well before the heightened security sensibilities of 9-11 but three years after the attack in Oklahoma City.

Schultz makes a strong case that Officer Dale Claxton's seemingly routine stop of a tanker truck near McElmo Bridge may have led a series of major embarrassments for law enforcement but it also put a stop to a potentially devastating attack that would have significantly altered the landscape and caused widespread devastation--devastation of "unspeakable proportions"--downstream from the dam.

i was really excited about reading this book; the topic interested me a lot. 3 young adults who rebel against government and authority and cops and for reasons not made clear, steal a water tank storage truck. and during the robbery, they murder a lawman in the town of Cortez, CO. They also shoot and injure other sheriffs and also majorly damage a lot of police cars.

all these boys have proficiency in living in the desert in survival type conditions and this is where they hid; the canyons and gullies of the desert around Cortez.

The manhunt was a jumble of interagency fights and arguments and struggles for power made even more confusing because the manhunt extended into Utah and also on Indian reservation land. The author really bogs down the story by an inordinate amount of time and detail and repetition devoted to this ineffectual beavis and butthead "manhunt". and even when Dan Schultz writes about the 3 boys and their supposed actions after last being seen, (the most exciting or could-have-been-the-most-exciting and tense part of the book) it slows down to a tortoise pace.

The main reason is that its not linear type writing. Mr. Schultz, for example in addressing the ringleader's demise, starts with the discovery of the body and then goes back to when the truck was first stolen and then hops to who left the truck first and then goes back to the death and theories as to why this kid probably didn't die the way the cops said he did. It wasn't confusing so much as highly irritating because tension wasn't allowed to build up as these kids led the police chase and then abandoned the vehicle and took off on foot into the wilderness.

i skipped the last 1/3'd of the book.