{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Halls of Mediocrity","title":"Hours After His Team Lost in the Playoffs, Mike Danton Was Arrested for Hiring a Hitman. | HoM Ep. 7","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3303,"description":"He hired a hitman hours after his team was knocked out of the playoffs. Who he hired the hitman to kill is still disputed 20 years later.\n \nMike Danton, born Mike Jefferson, was a hard-nosed center for the New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues. On April 16, 2004, hours after San Jose eliminated the Blues, the FBI arrested him for conspiracy to commit murder. The alleged target: his agent, mentor, and former coach David Frost. Danton's version: the hit was on his biological father, Steve Jefferson, the man he says abused him daily until he left home at 14 to play junior hockey and move in with Frost. The plea deal he signed in July 2004 didn't require him to name the target on the record. He didn't say a word publicly until 2009.\n \nDavid Frost is the linchpin. By most accounts a controlling, cult-like figure who had been in Danton's life since he was a teenager, Frost was arrested in 2006 on 12 counts of sexual exploitation involving players he coached — including, allegedly, players from the same junior team Danton played on. He was acquitted of all charges in 2008. He later moved to California and changed his name.\n \nDanton served roughly five and a half years. In prison, he earned a psychology degree and became a certified first aid responder — a credential he used in his first game back in Sweden, when he dropped to the ice and saved a teammate's life during a seizure. He is now married, has three kids, and coaches' junior hockey.\n \nNext episode: The Superfly, Jimmy Snuka.\nIntro Music:\nMusic by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay\nOutro Music:\nMusic by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/7Y3VHU5yAhVzoaJqrkUKYWSsaVjM8YVkiBE-JzqrKWw/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMjNk/NjJkYTExNWM0ZDA2/YTE3YzQ4NzAwNzY0/NDE4Yi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}