In the months leading up to the arrests of five Alaska militia members for allegedly plotting to murder state and federal officials, the behavior of another Alaskan known as “Drop Zone Bill” was raising eyebrows.

The former bounty hunter who also ran an Anchorage military supply store had himself, some say, become an anti-government agitator. He was helping militia members purchase grenades and weapons. And, in the weeks before the March 2011 arrests, he was to looking to raise a pile of cash, and quickly. 

This is the image of William “Drop Zone Bill” Fulton sketched in hindsight as his acquaintances try to make sense of the government's crackdown on members of the Alaska Peacemakers Militia. Fulton, 35, made national headlines in October when he handcuffed a journalist after an event hosted by U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller, who eventually lost to incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Now he is in the news again for his apparent ties to the Peacemakers militia and speculation that he might have helped authorities in their investigation of the group and its leader.

Fulton has a long history of dabbling into business affairs that allowed him to emulate real-life law enforcement and military operatives. He worked as a bounty hunter, offered a security force for hire, and sold gear to survivalists, soldiers, the militia and others. In recent months, though, some who knew Fulton speculate that he secretly was working with law enforcement on its investigation into the activities of the Alaska Peacemakers , betraying the confidence of people who had come to know and trust him.

In early March, a joint state and federal domestic terrorism unit arrested five Fairbanks-area militia members, accusing the Peacemakers with planning a violent plot to retaliate against state and federal authorities. At the center of the charges is Schaeffer Cox, the founder and leader of the Alaska Peacemakers Militia. Prosecutors claim Cox, 27, encouraged other militia members to take up arms and plan the kidnapping and murder of a local judge and state troopers.

Cox, who has declared himself a sovereign citizen, had for months resisted the authority of a Fairbanks court to force him to deal with a misdemeanor weapons charges. When the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest after he missed a February trial date, Cox formulated what he called the “2-4-1” plan: for every militia member taken into custody, two government authorities would be kidnapped or killed, authorities allege in court records.

Prosecutors claim Cox was assisted in his alleged plot by militia members Lonnie and Karen Vernon, Michael Anderson and Coleman Barney, who all face state murder conspiracy charges. All but Anderson are also charged in state and federal court with acquiring illegal weapons. In a third and separate case, the Vernons, who are embroiled in a tax evasion suit in which they could lose their house, face additional federal charges stemming from their alleged plan to kill a federal judge and IRS employee involved in the case.

After the arrests in early March and word began to spread that the murder plots had been foiled, in part due to the work of at least two informants working with authorities, Fulton vanished. He signed his store, Drop Zone, over to an employee and gave his attorney control of his house. Nobody, not even his attorney, knew his whereabouts.

Inside the militia movement and elsewhere, the answer seemed simple: Fulton, who matches the description of one of the government’s undercover operatives described in court records, must have gone into hiding out of fear for his life.

The revelations have caused people who knew Fulton to reconsider their dealings with him.