The man who became one of the most prominent faces of the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville has killed himself before facing trial.
An arrest warrant had been issued by a judge after neo-Nazi Teddy Joseph Von Nukem failed to show up to court for a drug trafficking charges.
Von Nukem had been arrested at the US Mexico border on March 17, 2021, allegedly with 15 kgs of fentanyl pills hidden in the car he was driving.
According to law enforcement records, the suspect quickly admitted he had been paid the equivalent of around $215 to smuggle the pills.
He was released pending trial and was meant to appear in federal court in Tuscon, Arizona, on January 30 but he didn't turn up.
At about the same time US District Judge Rosemary Marquez issued a warrant for his arrest, Von Nukem's wife discovered his body outside their Missouri home.
He had walked out into the snow behind the shed and shot himself.
According to the coroner's report he still ahd a "faint pulse" when the emergency services arrived but he passed away shortly after.
According to the coroner’s report obtained by The Daily Beast: “Suicide notes were found at the scene, left for law enforcement and his children, however handwriting was somewhat inconsistent.”
Following Von Nukem's death federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the case.
He left behind a wife and five children aged under nine. His obituary read: “Some people knew Ted and understood he was a different type of fellow and had different views of things."
After pictures of the tikki-wielding far-right figures at the Charlottesville Rally emerged, former classmates quickly identified him.
One told local reporters he was known as “token goth kid” who had “an unsettling interest in Nazi Germany.”
Von Nukem had changed his name from Teddy Landrum in a nod to his German ancestry and the video-game character Duke Nukem.
Talking about white supremacists he said: "I don't mind showing solidarity with them.
"You have to pick your side. You have to throw your support behind the army that is fighting for you."
His death was first reported by independent journalist Molly Conger from Charlottesville. She also suspected Von Nukem took part in the brutal beating of African American Deandre Harris in a parking garage the day of the rally.
After being identified Von Nukem told reporters he supported Donald Trump and claimed whites are now “disadvantaged.”
The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11 and 12 2017.
Organisers said one of the goals was to unite the American white nationalist movement.
James Alex Fields, Jr. was later convicted for deliberately driving his car through a crowd of people peacefully protesting against the rally.
Donald Trump was later slammed for claiming there were "very fine people on both sides".
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