How Evil Was Evil Knievel?

Naturally, a man who makes his living as a “daredevil” is going to have a couple of scrapes with the law.

Publicly baptized before his 2007 natural death at the age of 69 and an avid anti-drug supporter, Evil Knievel may have harbored a darker secret life.

FBI papers have recently surfaced, bringing to light sordid tales of Knievel’s possible involvement with organized crime.

While the red, white, and blue daredevil never denied a less-than-perfect record, when the FBI had a couple of questions for him, Knievel was ready to sue.

Interesting!

In a 209-page report, the FBI believed that Knievel was involved with violent attacks or threats in Phoenix, Kansas City, and San Francisco. FBI files are released to the public following their subjects’ deaths, often providing glimpses into lives no one ever knows abut.

The FBI initially wanted to charge Knievel with violations of the Hobbs Act, which prohibits interfering with interstate commerce through attempted robbery or extortion. Knievel’s files have been heavily edited for release, however, with many names, contacts, and interviews removed.

In the end, the FBI did not follow through with its investigation, stating insufficient evidence. One alleged victim, claiming an attack by a Knievel associate, could not identify his assailant from mug shots, though he could recall what shoes his attacker was wearing.

Evel Knievel – whose death-defying stunts earned him several spots in the Guinness Book of World Records, sports show features, sponsorship, a movie and a merch line – may have committed his greatest “dare” in 1977 when he beat movie studio executive Shelly Saltman for revealing a dark history of drug use, racism, and abuse in a tell-all book. Knievel, with his arms in casts from his latest rounds of injuries, beat Saltman with a baseball bat and consequently recevied 6 months and jail and a $12.75 million judgment owed to his victim…which he never paid.

Asswhipe!

Of course no one could be reached for comment, apart from a former competitor, Bob Gill, who had nothing but glowing things to say of Knievel.

He said, “Evel’s never done any wrong besides that one little incident. And he’s made up for it 1,000 times.”

That “one little incident” huh?

[Image via AP Images.]