The Nancy Kerrigan assault case pirouetted Thursday through a dizzying set of plot twists worthy of the potboiler novel it has come to resemble.
Two arrests were made and more were expected.
Reports swirled about people linked to Olympic skater Tonya Harding, including an unsupported one by a Boston TV station, implicating her.
Kerrigan's agent, Jerry Solomon, on CNN's Larry King Live, may have put it best: "As it unfolds, it seems like we never know what will be around the next corner."
Harding's bodyguard Shawn Eric Eckardt, 26, and Derrick Brian Smith, 29, were the two men arrested, says Michael Schrunk, Multnomah County, Ore., district attorney. They face charges of conspiracy to commit assault, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $ 100,000 fine.
Eckardt, in handcuffs, a green jacket and blue jeans, was brought to county jail in an unmarked car Thursday night.
Smith, arrested at Portland Airport earlier Thursday, was brought in after Eckardt. Bail was set at $ 20,000.
ABC News, citing unidentified police officials, says that both men have confessed to involvment in the conspiracy. Eckardt reportedly arranged the attack and, according to Fox News, Smith allegedly drove the getaway car.
Kerrigan was hit above the right knee Jan. 6 as she walked from practice before the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. She dropped out and Harding won, but Kerrigan was awarded the second spot on the Olympic team anyway.
Among Thursday's jumble of conflicting reports and details: Boston TV station WCVB reported that warrants were issued for Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, Eckardt, Smith and Shane Stant. ABC says Stant is thought to be the hit man.
But the Boston TV report also said Harding was named in the warrants. Authorities in Portland and Detroit later said that was untrue, but spokesmen for the Boston station said late Thursday their information "is solid."
It was that kind of day. News organizations did figure eights and triple toe lutzes in search of any shred of information on the case that has captured world attention.
The cast of characters includes Kerrigan and Harding, two graceful and talented skaters; Gillooly, Harding's ex-husband with whom she again lives; and Eckardt, her 350-pound bodyguard, who set up the attack at Gillooly's behest, according to a copyrighted story in Thursday's Portland Oregonian, which cited unnamed law enforcement sources.
The backdrop is the world stage: Kerrigan and Harding are the two female figure skaters who are to represent the United States at next month's Winter Olympics.
When a U.S. woman wins a gold medal, she becomes a figure of myth, a heroine, and sometimes a millionaire: witness skaters Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill and gymnast Mary Lou Retton. Estimates of Kerrigan's earning potential with a gold medal in hand: more than $ 10 million.
The scenario set up by reports in The Oregonian paint a picture in which those millions were the motive. Eliminate a rival, cash in at the Olympics.
But the plot overlooks Oksana Baiul, 16, of Ukraine - perhaps the event favorite - and that 1988 Olympic gold medalist Katarina Witt hopes to compete as well.
But Kerrigan has also been called the favorite and as the Olympics approach, there will be questions about her leg - and state of mind.
"She is a focused athlete with an incredible track record," said Peter Jensen, psychologist for the Canadian Olympic Figure Skating Team. "If she were a stock, you would invest in her. . . . And she has people around her who can assist her in getting through this. She is tooled up - she just didn't know she was preparing for this."
Kerrigan and Harding are teammates, at least for now. U.S. Olympic Committee officials say Harding will remain on the team as long as she is not implicated in the assault.
Both the USOC and the U.S. Figure Skating Association say they will not act until all the facts were known.
The final roster must be given to the International Olympic Committee and the Lillehammer Olympic Committee by the end of the month. The USOC can bar a qualified athlete from the team under its code of conduct, which says "All members of the official delegation shall conduct themselves in conformity with the traditions of the Olympic Games."
Michelle Kwan, who finished second at the championships in Detroit, skated Thursday at the U.S. Olympic Festival on Ice in Fairfax, Va. "I'm going to go back home to train and work on my program," she said. "'If somebody can't go, or something like that, I'll be prepared."
Sign of the times: Security at the Virginia event was heavy, with guards posted at all of the arena's entrances.
Security was also tight in Stoneham, Mass., where Kerrigan continues to have physical therapy on her leg while keeping a cool distance from the tawdry turns. A letter carrier said all of Kerrigan's mail is being inspected.
Vincent Buscemi, her physical therapist, said Kerrigan's condition continues to improve, but declines to speculate on when she may be able to train on the ice again. "Nancy has said, 'The knee's the boss," and she's right," Buscemi said.
In Detroit, deputy police chief Benny Napoleon Thursday said the case broke when a woman called Saturday and identified about four people, whose names were given to the FBI.
The plot to harm Kerrigan involved Eckardt, Gillooly, an Eckardt acquaintance in Phoenix and a Portland man who hit Kerrigan for $ 100,000, The Oregonian reported.
NBC News Wednesday quoted sources as saying that after the men met in Portland, the hit man went to Boston, where Kerrigan lives and trains. It was there the investigators believe he planned to attack Kerrigan, but bad weather somehow thwarted the attempt, NBC said.
Detroit police said Thursday they have recovered a collapsible metal baton, believed to be the weapon, from a trash can.
Dody Teachman, the coach fired by Harding soon after the 1992 season, said that Gillooly "came between Tonya and me" and "made my life pretty difficult. . . . He tried to control and run the show, run her skating."
Asked about allegations targeting Gillooly and Harding's bodyguard, Teachman said: "I'd like to believe Tonya doesn't know about anything. . . . I would think she would have enough faith in herself and her skating without having to do something like that. That is what I'd like to believe."
