Hate Crime by a Neo-Nazi Is Suspected in Stabbings

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla., March 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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/25/national/25assault.html