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U.S. marshals arrest neo-Nazi from Germany
8-30-00
Mike Roarke - Staff writer
A neo-Nazi wanted by German authorities for violating his
murder parole conditions was arrested by U.S. Marshals Service deputies
in West Virginia last weekend on a federal warrant issued in Spokane.
Hendrick Albert Victor Moebus, 24, entered the United States using his
own name in Seattle last December, said Chris Dudley, a senior inspector
with the Marshals Service in Washington, D.C.
Court documents show Moebus traveled to Spokane and was believed to be
staying with Nathan Pett, who leads the White Order of Thule, near Elk,
Wash.
The White Order of Thule has beliefs tied to Greek and Norse mythology
as well as white superiority. Its headquarters were moved to the Spokane
area within the last year.
After Spokane, Moebus surfaced at the 200-acre compound of white
supremacist William Pierce in West Virginia after leaving a trail in
Ohio and Virginia, Dudley said.
Pierce founded the New Alliance and wrote "The Turner Diaries," which
has been a source of inspiration to racist groups and some violent
dissidents, including Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
In 1994, Moebus was convicted of murder and kidnapping in Germany. He
was 16 at the time.
According to a July 7 complaint filed in U.S. District Court in
Spokane, Moebus and two accomplices lured a teenager into a house,
slashed him with a knife, and then strangled him with an electrical
cable.
Moebus was sentenced to eight years of confinement at a juvenile
facility. In August 1998, he was released and placed on three years'
probation.
Following his release, Moebus issued a public statement indicating the
murder should not have been a crime because the victim did not fit the
"picture" of the white race. He told the German press that he would
never surrender to authorities.
Moebus is also accused of displaying the "Hitler salute" and organizing
right-wing groups in Germany and Europe, court documents say. Both
violate his parole conditions.
Acting on a request for assistance from the German Federal Ministry of
Justice, Dudley said 30 to 40 deputy marshals took part in an
investigation that climaxed with a two-week stakeout of Pierce's
mountainside compound.
Moebus was spotted leaving the compound Saturday, trailed for about 20
miles to Lewisburg, W. Va., and arrested in a restaurant parking lot. He
offered no resistance and no weapons were found, Dudley said.
Victor Gerhard, a legal adviser for one of Pierce's corporations, said
Moebus had been staying at the compound for "several months," living for
free.
He was working as a volunteer in a book distribution warehouse and went
by the name Hans Schmidt, Gerhard said.
Gerhard described Moebus as a "quiet, unaggressive person" and said
many have been surprised by his arrest.
"It's hard to believe what they are saying," Gerhard said. "He had left
the property plenty of times. It was not like he was hiding out here."
Moebus is being held at a jail in Flatwoods, W. Va., Gerhard said. A
removal hearing is scheduled for Sept. 7.
Moebus may be brought back to Spokane, where the warrant for his arrest
was filed. But Dudley also said he might waive the step, in which case
extradition proceedings to Germany would start.
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