In 1906, Moyer was implicated in the assassination of Frank Steunenberg, ex-Governor of Idaho. On December 30, 1905, Steunenberg, who had clashed with the WFM during several strikes, was killed by an explosion at his home in Caldwell, Idaho. Harry Orchard, a former WFM member who had once acted as Moyer's bodyguard, was arrested for the crime. Using coercion and intimidation (including restricted food rations and threats of immediate execution), Pinkerton agent James McParland wrung a 64-page confession from Orchard. The confession named Moyer and other WFM leaders as the instigators of the bombing plot.