Shawn Eckardt

Shawn Eric Eckardt (1967 - December 12 2007) was an American criminal who, while employed by figure skater Tonya Harding as a bodyguard in the early 1990s, conspired with Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly and Shane Stant in the planning and execution of the assault on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan on January 6 1994. Kerrigan was forced to withdraw from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships as a result of the damage done to her knee, but went on to win the silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics. At the time of the attack Eckardt was a weightlifter, while also a paralegal student at Pioneer Pacific College in the Portland, Oregon, area.

For his part in the assault conspiracy, Eckhardt was sentenced to 18 months in prison on racketeering charges, but was released after 14 months. He legally changed his name to Brian Sean Griffith later. In 2001 he started a computer business, Applied Information Systems Inc. It was dissolved in December 2005. He was also sentenced to three years on probation for misdemeanor assault in 2001.

He died of natural causes relating to obesity at age 40, pending an investigation by the Washington County, Oregon, medical examiner.

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