Murder of Jeff Hall
Jeffrey Russell Hall | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1979 |
| Died | May 1, 2011 Riverside California |
| Cause of death | Gunshot |
| Body discovered | by Wife |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Occupation | Plumber |
| Title | Southwestern States Regional Director |
| Political party | National Socialist Movement |
| Movement | neo-Nazi |
| Spouse | Krista McCary |
Jeffrey Russell Hall was a plumber in Riverside, California, and the regional leader of the National Socialist Movement. On May 1, 2011, he was shot to death, with his own gun, by his own 10-year-old son Joseph.[1] The murder took place at 4 a.m. as Hall slept on his couch.[2] Hall was a neo-Nazi, who believed in fighting for an all-white society and had said that he would die for the cause.[3]
The boy's attorneys first moved to seek a defense of Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity.[4] If convicted, he cannot be incarcerated past the age of 25.[5]
According to the boy, the motive for the murder was that he was tired of his father hitting him and his stepmother.[5][6]
On Sunday, September 25, 2011, the story of the murder was broadcast on 60 Minutes.[5]
On January 14, 2013 it was reported that the younger Hall, although 10 at the time of the murder, was responsible for Jeff Hall's death and could be sent to a juvenile detention facility. [7] His sentencing hearing began on April 15th with his lawyers presenting evidence about his psychological well-being.[8] Now represented by Attorney Punam Grewal from the Law Offices of Marc E. Grossman, the younger Hall filed a civil rights complaint against Riverside County Mental Health and Education and also the Riverside Unified School District. The younger Hall alleges that as a result of years of systematic denials of his educational and civil rights, he is entitled to placement in a residential education treatment facility instead of juvenile detention.{Petition for Due Process Hearing: Student, Joseph Hall, by and through his Guardian Leticia Neal: vs. Riverside County Office of Education; Superintendent Rich Miller; Riverside Unified School District; Superintendent Kenneth Young; Riverside County Mental Health, and Does 1 through Does 20. OAH Case No. (not yet assigned)}
Political activity
For three years, 32-year-old Hall had been having difficulty finding work because of the economic downturn in the construction industry. Blaming his problems on Jews and non-whites, he became a local leader in the Neo-Nazi movement.
In October 2009, Hall lead a group from the National Socialist Movement (NSM) in a rally near a day-laborer site in Riverside. They wore World War II-era Nazi garb. In a November 2009 interview, about the rallies in Riverside, Arizona, and Minnesota, Hall said, "They're proud of who they are, tired of white guilt being shoved on their kids and multiculturalism. They can't see any reason for it."[9]
In 2010, he ran for election against an incumbent for the Western Municipal Water District board as a white supremacist,[10] and he received about a third of the vote.
In March 2011, Hall and his group of about two dozen white supremacists took to the streets in the affluent, primarily residential Claremont, Los Angeles County, sometimes called "The City of Trees and Ph.D.s". They had a screaming confrontation with counter-protesters of more than 200 immigrant rights activists, who decried the group as racist. Hall said, "We patrol the borders, we see the devastation, we see the drugs, we know the reality."[11] Dozens of officers from several police agencies were on hand.
Just 12 hours before Hall's death, a reporter from The New York Times was in Hall's home, interviewing him and members of his group. She also spoke to the ten-year-old, who showed off a leather belt bearing a silver insignia of the Nazi SS that his father had given him.[12]
Death
Hall bragged that he was teaching his eldest son Joseph to use night-vision equipment and to shoot a gun.[13] Eventually, the ten-year-old child told police how he took a .357 revolver from a shelf in the closet, pulled the hammer back, aimed the gun at his father's ear while he was asleep on the couch, and shot him.[2]
Joseph admitted to police that he was tired of his dad hitting him and his mother. His 26-year-old stepmother, Krista, also said that Hall had been violent with her and the son, sometimes losing self-control and kicking his son in the back. He punished his children in varying extremes on a daily basis. The police report said that the house was filthy, with the floor littered with clothes, and the odor of urine. Many weapons were accessible to the children.[2]
The son was arrested and taken to Juvenile Hall. The other four children were taken into protective custody. Krista was later arrested and charged with Criminal Storage of Firearms and Child Neglect.[2] Joann Patterson (Hall's mother and Joseph's grandmother) was given temporary custody of the other four children. On a 60 Minutes interview, she said that her grandson had been misbehaving by starting fires. She was not surprised that he killed his father, but she had expected it would not happen until her grandson was older.
The son stated his motivation for the killing was an episode of Criminal Minds, where he claimed he saw a kid shoot his abusive father and did not face any consequences for it [1]. He also believed his father would come back to life and that the two of them could reconcile [2].
Family history
Jeffrey Hall was the son of Joann Patterson.
Jeffrey Hall's first marriage was to Leticia Neal, now of Spokane, Washington. They had two children—Joseph Hall and his younger sister.
After divorcing Jeffrey Hall, Neal had twins by another father. In 2003, the twins were hospitalized for failing to thrive, resulting in Child Protective Services removing Hall's two children. Social workers reported that Neal's home had no electricity or gas, that there were maggots on dishes, and that the children were dirty, hungry, and thirsty, and had bruises.[14]
At the time, Hall was on probation for Driving Under the Influence, so his two children were temporarily placed with their grandmother Joann Patterson. In 2004, Hall was granted full custody of his two children.[15]
After divorcing Neal, Hall married Krista McCary, and had three more daughters.
At the time of his death, he had five children, ages 10, 9, 7, and 3 years and a 2-month-old infant.
According to his grandmother, Joseph was a volatile and violent child, who had been expelled from several schools for attacking students and staff, once nearly choking a teacher with a phone cord.[15] She said he had no understanding of cause and effect. Joseph and his sisters had been educated at home by their parent under the guidance of River Springs Charter School.
See also
References
- ^ Taxin, Amy (May 4, 2011). "10 Year-Old Boy Shoots Neo-Nazi Dad Jeff Hall". Huffington Post. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
- ^ a b c d http://media.scpr.org/documents/2011/05/20/hall_ARREST_DEC_20110519_hall.pdf Declaration in Support of Arrest Warrant for Krista Faye McCary, May 17, 2011, Case RIF1101077
- ^ "10-yr-old US boy kills white supremacist father". Deccan Chronicle. May 12, 2011.
- ^ "10-year-old accused of killing neo-Nazi father may pursue insanity defense, his attorney says". L. A. Now. May 4. 2011.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c Muessig, Ben (September 26, 2011). "Why Did 10-Year-Old Boy Murder Jeff Hall, His Neo-Nazi Dad?". Huffington Post.
- ^ "Ten-Year-Old Explains Why He Shot His Neo-Nazi Dad". Gawker.
- ^ "Boy found responsible for killing neo-Nazi father". BBC News. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ "Sentencing postponed for California boy who killed neo-Nazi dad". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
- ^ Cuevas, Steven (2009), Neo-Nazi Rallies Provoke 'Anger, Fear', Los Angeles: National Public Radio, retrieved 2011-10-12
- ^ Barboza, Tony (2011), Neo-Nazi running for office in Riverside County, Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times, retrieved 2011-10-14
- ^ Simmons, Ann (March 20, 2011), White supremacists, immigrant rights activists face off in Claremont, Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times, retrieved 2011-10-04
- ^ Allen, Nick (May 12, 2011), Ten-year-old charged with murdering neo-Nazi father, London: place-Daily Telegraph, p. 1, retrieved 2011-10-21
- ^ McKinley, Jesse (May 10, 2011), White supremacists, immigrant rights activists face off in Claremont, New York: New York Times, retrieved 2011-10-04
- ^ Mann, Camille (May 4, 2011), Boy charged in neo-Nazi father's death had problems with violence and aggression, CBS News, retrieved 2012-08-07
- ^ a b Stahl, Lesley; Platner, Julie (25 September 2011). "The murder of an American Nazi". CBS News. Retrieved 8 August 2012.