Supremacist rambles about motive for murders

By Heather Hollingsworth
Associated Press

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) - Jurors who convicted a white supremacist of killing three people at suburban Kansas City Jewish sites heard more of his anti-Semitic ramblings Tuesday as they prepared to weigh whether to sentence him to life in prison or death.

Taking the witness stand again during the trial's penalty phase, Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. rambled largely uninterrupted about his belief that Jews controlled the media, government and banks. Occasionally chuckling, he said the issues "rattled his cage" and "made him want to do something about it."

"Have you ever heard the term, 'hang the messenger?' he asked rhetorically. At one point, he called himself a "patriot" and described the killings as "righteous" and "honorable."

During the prosecution's opening statement, assistant prosecutor Chris McMullin called Miller a "proud and remorseless killer" who deserved to be executed for his crimes.

Miller was convicted Monday of one count of capital murder, three counts of attempted murder and assault and weapons charges. The Passover eve shootings killed William Corporon, 69, and Corporon's 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, and Terri LaManno, 53, at the nearby Village Shalom retirement center.

Miller has said it was his duty to stop genocide against the white race. None of the victims was Jewish.

Underwood was at the Jewish Community Center for a singing competition, and McMullin stressed that Miller targeted the facility because of the teen- focused event. A flyer about the competition was found in Miller's car when he was arrested.

McMullin also noted that Miller's weapon didn't fire when he first tried to shoot LaManno. He then retrieved another weapon from his trunk before killing her.

McMullin called Miller's actions "pitiless" and said he "showed complete indifference to the suffering of others."

The prosecution called just one witness, an Overland Park detective, who talked for just a few minutes about the flyer.

In an effort to support his anti-Semitic beliefs, Miller showed news articles and played videos of himself and others marching with Confederate flags.

He briefly interrupted his testimony to question Alex Linder, a Kirksville, Missouri, man described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a neo-Nazi and operator of a racist website.

Linder, whose time on the stand was interrupted with a string of objections and was threatened with courtroom ejection, said Miller was "a man of my own thinking" and "a good man." But asked on cross-examination whether he condoned Miller's actions, Linder said, "I won't answer."

Published: Thu, Sep 03, 2015