Boy Accused of Killing Neo-Nazi Dad Had Rough Start

In a weird coincidence, a New York Times reporter was at the home of neo-Nazi Jeff Hall the day before he was shot to death there. The reporter even spoke to the accused shooter, Hall's 10-year-old son, who proudly showed a new gift from his father—a leather belt with a Nazi SS insignia. The boy said he was having a good time during his dad's National Socialist Movement meeting at the house but was irritated at his four younger sisters. "Boys are more important," he said.

Hall unapologetically steeped all his children in his white-power beliefs, notes AP, which reports other rough details about the boy's upbringing. Following a nasty divorce and custody battle filled with allegations of abuse on both sides, the boy went to live with his mother, Hall's first wife. Social workers removed him and other children after seeing signs of neglect and abuse (no electricity, maggots on dishes, bruises). Hall couldn't take him because he was on probation for DUI, so the boy went to live with Hall's mother before eventually returning to his dad's custody. He was removed from several schools for "wild and sometimes violent actions," Hall wrote in court papers, and the boy was being home-schooled at the time of the shooting. Public defenders are considering an insanity defense. (More Neo-Nazi stories.)