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Police catch up with neo-Nazi in Lewisburg
August 30, 2000
by Tom Searls
A neo-Nazi German murderer wanted for parole violations was arrested over the weekend after leaving the mountaintop compound of William Pierce, a neo-Nazi leader who resides in Pocahontas County.
Convicted murderer Hendrick Albert Viktor Moebus, 24, was arrested Saturday when he stepped out of a car at a Lewisburg restaurant, Mike Claxton, with the U.S. Marshal's Service in the Northern District of West Virginia, said Tuesday.
Moebus was being held in Central Regional Jail, Flatwoods, pending a Sept. 7 hearing. He was convicted in Germany in 1994 of luring a "non-Aryan'' teen-ager into an apartment and strangling him.
After his release on parole in 1998, the German government requested Moebus' arrest, saying he had violated the terms of his parole by making extremist comments about his murder victim and by giving a Nazi salute during right-wing gatherings in Germany. Moebus later issued a statement to the German media saying he would avoid arrest and fled to the United States last December.
Marshals had been watching Pierce's 200-acre compound at Mill Point for at least two weeks, said Claxton. Pierce heads the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi organization, from the compound.
He is also the author of "Turner Diaries," a book about the overthrow of the federal government during a race war. It received national attention after it was revealed that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh had read the book and the bombing was similar to one described in the novel.
"We really don't know what brought [Moebus] to West Virginia, other than the [National Alliance] and the white supremacist and the neo-Nazi ties there, and that's pure speculation," Claxton said.
When marshals went to Pocahontas County, they found residents who recognized Moebus' picture. "We were able to confirm that [Moebus] was staying with Mr. Pierce because he had been observed around the local area," Claxton said.
Pierce, who would not confirm Moebus had stayed at the compound Tuesday, said he had not realized about 10 U.S. marshals were watching him and the compound over a two-week period.
"I'm surprised," Pierce said. "I've been coming and going just like normal. I haven't seen anything, but I hadn't been looking for anything, either."
Claxton said marshals tried to look like local folks. "We had to pick and choose [marshals] because we were going to blend into the community," he said.
Pocahontas County authorities also were not aware of the surveillance and arrest until the news media broke the story.
Marshals believe Moebus may have been living at Pierce's 200-acre compound for several months after arriving in the country under his own name in Seattle. He later assumed an alias and received help from various people as he traveled through parts of Ohio and Virginia, before arriving at Pierce's compound.
He was not the only recent new arrival at the Mill Point compound. Additional people have moved to Pierce's mountaintop retreat in recent months.
"I know that there are a few more young folks there than in the past," Walt Weiford, Pocahontas County prosecutor, said Tuesday. "[Pierce] has taken on more activities."
In the past year, Pierce has purchased two neo-Nazi record labels that specialize in a hard-rock, hate music. His organization sells CDs via mail from the compound.
Pierce said Tuesday he had received several media inquiries about Moebus. "I told them that until I got more facts and more information as to what was going on and why this guy was arrested, I really don't have any comment."
Claxton said there is no investigation of activities at the compound or of Pierce. "There is no investigation and we have no information that would lead us to believe Mr. Pierce was aware Mr. Moebus was a fugitive from justice," he said.
Pierce questioned why, if Moebus was wanted, authorities "waited so long" to arrest him.
Moebus was arrested without incident Saturday after he left the compound as a passenger in a vehicle and drove about 20 miles to Lewisburg. Marshals had a warrant issued in July in Spokane, Wash., Claxton said.
"We did not want to go onto the compound. ... It is private property and involves a third party,'' Claxton said from his Clarksburg office. "We wanted to wait for an opportunity.''
Marshals believed they had spotted Moebus several times during the two weeks. "He left the compound on several occasions and frequented the community," Claxton said.
But Claxton said officers never felt anyone in the community was in danger. "We had no information this person was perpetrating or planning any crimes while he was here," he said.
"I consider anyone who is a fugitive from justice to be a danger to the community," Weiford said.
The recent influx of maybe a dozen young people staying at the compound has caused some disturbances in the Mill Point area, the prosecutor said. "There's been some complaints about them soliciting memberships down at one of the local restaurants or taverns down near where they live," he said.
Pierce told him recruiting should be expected.
Moebus' arrest is much bigger news in Germany than the United States. Recent violence by neo-Nazi groups there has caused the federal government to begin a crackdown on neo-Nazi organizations.
Claxton said he was flooded Tuesday with inquiries from German news media organizations, several of which said they planned to be at Moebus' Sept. 7 hearing.
"It's a very important case for the Germans," Claxton said. "It's really high-profile over there. "
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