German Neo-Nazi fugitive caught

Found at White Supremacist camp in W.Va.

APBnews.com/August 29, 2000
By Amy Worden

Marlington, W.Va. -- A German neo-Nazi fugitive and convicted murderer is under arrest by U.S. Marshals after a nationwide hunt led them to the property of one of America's most influential white separatists, authorities said.

Hendrik Albert Viktor Moebus, 24, was arrested Saturday about 20 miles from the compound belonging to William Pierce, author of The Turner Diaries. The book, popular among white separatists, described a bomb plot similar to the one carried out by Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City. Pierce is not charged in connection with Moebus' flight.

Moebus is being held in West Virginia pending an extradition hearing Sept. 7. He was paroled in 1998 after serving two-thirds of his sentence in the kidnapping and slaying of a "non-Aryan" in Germany.

Fled Germany

German authorities requested help finding Moebus in March after learning he had fled the country. Moebus was wanted on parole violations for making extremist comments about the murder victim and giving the Nazi salute during right-wing gatherings in Germany.

He was convicted in 1994 along with two accomplices for luring a teenager, described as a "non-Aryan," to an apartment and strangling him.

In March, U.S. authorities determined Moebus had entered the country legally in Seattle in December 1999. A federal arrest warrant was issued in early July. U.S. Marshals tracked him to Loon Lake, Wash., before embarking on a six-week chase through Ohio, Richmond, Va., and finally to the Pierce property in West Virginia.

Moebus, whom authorities say had been living at the Pierce property for two weeks, was arrested without incident as he stepped out of a car about 20 miles from the compound. Authorities say he was not armed.

'Difficult fugitive to track'

In all, 35 to 40 Marshals were involved in the six-month investigation, described by authorities as one of their more difficult cases.

"He was a difficult fugitive to track because he was not living in the open and not using his true name," said Chris Dudley, the senior inspector who headed the probe for the Marshals Service. "A lot of people put in a lot of hours on it."

Dudley said Moebus had not been engaged in any violent activities in this country, nor was there evidence he was planning any violent acts. Authorities said there was no known connection between Moebus and Pierce.