Evidence Of Abuse With Son, 10, charged in Neo-Nazi dad's slaying

By JOHN ASBURY
The Press-Enterprise

A 10-year-old Riverside boy was charged Wednesday with murder in the slaying of his father, a neo-Nazi leader, and court documents reveal that the boy has a history of violent behavior.

The boy was charged with intentionally shooting his father, Jeff Hall, inside his Riverside home about 4 a.m. Sunday. He also was charged with using a gun in the commission of the killing.

abuse allegations

Court records show Jeff Hall, the boy's father, had been involved in a decade-long custody dispute with Neal, his first wife.

At a January custody hearing, a Riverside Family Court judge ruled Hall would maintain full custody of the boy and his sister, who is 9.

The two siblings and Hall's three other children lived with Hall and his current wife at the Riverside house where the shooting occurred

Neal has had no contact with her children for the past six years, according to a custody order and authorities. Hall and Neal filed for divorce in 2000.

Hall won custody of the boy and his sister in 2004.

Court documents filed in the custody dispute show that Hall accused Neal of abuse and neglect. He also accused her of molesting the boy. She also accused him of abuse.

No charges were filed in connection with the allegations.

In January, Neal was ordered not to have any contact with the children, even by telephone, without a therapist's consent.

Child Protective Services records show investigators were called to the home four times in 2003 and four times during prior years.

The children received counseling for possible abuse though the Riverside County Victim Witness Assistance program.

A therapist told Hall both children were aggressive and developmentally delayed.

"I realized the extent of their anger and poor social skills," Hall wrote in a custody declaration. "(The boy) was removed from several schools for his wild and sometimes violent actions."

Neal filed a motion last year seeking visitation with the children and full custody.

"Jeffrey Hall is currently president in the neo-Nazi group and I am really scared of what will happen to my kids," Neal said in her statement.

Juvenile legal experts said the murder charges are aimed to hold the boy accountable for his actions, but also to rehabilitate the boy.

"I think you can't give up on a 10-year-old child, period," UCLA law professor Jyoti Nanda said. "The chances are this kid needs help in some way, and this is the community's responsibility and duty to protect the children in society."

rehabilitation

The case may rest highly on psychiatric evaluations, Nanda said. If the defense chose to pursue an insanity plea, attorneys would have to prove the mindset and trauma on the child, if he didn't understand the gravity of what he's done.

"It breaks your heart. This is not a scenario of a cold-hearted 10-year-old. It's someone who killed a member of their own family, it's not a random act of violence," Nanda said. "Ultimately these charges are to protect the public and rehabilitate the youth to make him a functioning member of society again."

Comment:

This is not at all surprising, especially since it was made clear that the shooting was not connected with Hall's activities with the NSM. After all, anyone, much less a ten-year-old doesn't just up and shoot his father for no good reason. The boy was probably abused for years before he had had enough.

As the story said, we'll find out in two weeks what will happen next. I doubt there will be anything else until then, so tomorrow we can get back to more important things than the death of this professional provocateur.