HOLLADAY — A suicidal man who shot and killed himself during a confrontation with police Monday was the informant who helped federal officials in a case involving stolen Indian artifacts in the Four Corners region.

A lover of Native American culture, the work Ted Dan Gardiner, 52, did for the FBI was work he did voluntarily, his son Dustin Gardiner said.  He wanted to protect a history that was important to him.

"He had a passion for Southwestern archaeology and Native American culture," Dustin Gardiner said. "It was something he didn't want to see destroyed or disrespected."

Last summer, federal officials wrapped up a 2 1/2-year investigation in the Four Corners area, with the indictment of 26 people, including several prominent community members from the southern Utah town of Blanding.  The indictments accused them of violating the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. The government believes the defendants were selling or attempting to sell artifacts taken from federal land.

Gardiner is the third person involved in the sting to take his own life since the case has unfolded. Two defendants, Blanding physician James Reddand Steven Shrader, of New Mexico, killed themselves following their arrests in June 2009.

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