Hate Crime by a
Neo-Nazi Is Suspected
in Stabbings
By NYTimes on the
Web, March 25, 2006
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla., Mar. 24
-- In what the authorities described as a possible Nazi hate crime, a man
wearing a gas mask broke into a woman's mobile home in this Tampa suburb early
Thursday morning, slashed her face and arms, and fatally wounded a friend of her
son by stabbing him in the neck.
The 45-year-old woman, Patricia Wells, who is white, told officers that she had
been attacked because she dates a black man, the police said. A small
compound occupied by neo-Nazis is next door to Ms. Wells's home, and she said
members of the group had previously threatened to kill her and her boyfriend.
A former member of the group, David Dirolf, 21, said in an interview that he had
heard members threaten Ms. Wells and her son on several occasions. Ms.
Wells's son was a target because he is gay, Mr. Dirolf said, adding that he
thought the 17-year-old boy who was stabbed had been mistaken for the son, who
was not home.
That victim, Kristofer Guy King, died Friday afternoon. Ms. Wells was
treated at a hospital and released.
Two men have been taken into custody in the wake of the attack, though neither
has been charged in connection with it. One, John A. Ditullio, 20, was
arrested early Thursday on unrelated charges of domestic battery but is also
being questioned about the stabbings, the authorities said. The other,
Shawn Plott, 33, described as "affiliated" with the group, was arrested Friday
on an outstanding warrant for parole violations.
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