On 12 December 1975, Looking Cloud, along with Theda Nelson Clarke and John "John Boy Patton" Graham, forced Aquash into the back of a car and drove her to a remote part of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where Aquash was shot execution style in the back of the head and left to die.
[7] Her body was discovered on 24 February 1976[8] on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation at the bottom of a ravine located in close proximity to an isolated highway.
[11] On 27 March 2003, Looking Cloud, who was a 49-year-old homeless man, was seen walking down Colfax Avenue by Denver police detective, Abe Alonzo.
[21] Nichols also discussed suspicions nearly twenty members of the American Indian Movement had of Aquash being an informant, or were at least acquainted with the rumor.
[25] Two Elk stated that he believed his adopted brother was involved in the murder of Aquash and that over the years, Looking Cloud was only "acting on orders.
"[26] In February 2004, after a federal jury (consisting of 7 women and 5 men) deliberated for seven hours, they convicted Arlo Looking Cloud in the 1975 execution-style slaying of Aquash.
[21] In August 2011, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol signed an order which reduced Looking Cloud's original life-sentence term to 20 years in exchange for previous testimony given to state prosecutors during December 2010 against co-conspirator John Graham.
According to Russell Means, American Indian Movement member, racism was at the heart the federal jury conviction of Looking Cloud.
Our culture is disregarded and not included, and one of the most pathetic men in the city of Denver is given the sole responsibility for the murder ordered by a leader of the American Indian Movement.
"[34] According to Barry Bacharach, an attorney for Peltier, the testimony used to convict Looking Cloud was not based on proof or evidence of Looking Cloud for wrongdoing, but based on testimony which focused primarily on leaders and prominent activists within the American Indian Movement, Peltier included.