A Superior Court jury in Mays Landing, New Jersey, has convicted Walter Dille Jr., 40, of felony murder. In December 2005, Dille, a member of the racist Atlantic City Skinheads (AC Skins), murdered an African-American woman during a botched carjacking in a shopping center parking lot in Hamilton Township.
On February 2, 2009, after 11 hours of deliberations, the jury found Dille guilty of all 11 counts, including felony murder, murder, robbery, carjacking, weapons offenses, hindering prosecution, and evidence tampering.
According to authorities, Dille approached the victim as she was getting out of her car, ordered her to get back in, and then fatally shot her in the head. New Jersey police officers captured Dille later that night hiding in nearby woods.
During the trial, which began on January 21, Dille's ex-girlfriend Amanda Hull testified about his white supremacist associations, in particular his membership in the Atlantic City Skinheads.
Other prosecution witnesses included one of Dille's cellmates, who testified that Dille admitted to killing the woman, and a Department of Corrections gang investigator who testified about Dille's racist ties and tattoos and read explicit letters written by Dille while in prison to fellow AC Skins. In the correspondence, Dille called Hull a "filthy race traitor," penned the letters "ACS" for Atlantic City Skinheads and drew swastikas by his signature. The letters also included racist comments Dille made describing the individuals present at his preliminary court hearing.
A computer crimes investigator was also brought in to testify about Dille's now-defunct online MySpace profile to further illustrate his white supremacist beliefs. The profile included photos of Dille with guns and money, as well as a photo of weapons and ammunition captioned, "stuff i keep in the house...tools of the trade."
Although the prosecution stated that they believed Dille targeted his victim in part because of her race, no hate crimes charges were added.
At the time of his arrest for this crime in January 2007, Dille was wanted in Seminole County, Florida, on charges of aggravated assault with a weapon and simple battery.
Dille faces life in prison at his April sentencing.
