John Patsalos

John Patsalos (, born January 6, 1938), formerly known as John Patler, is an American former neo-Nazi who was convicted of the August 25, 1967, murder of American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell.

Patsalos was born in New York City to Greek parents.

When John was five, his mother took him and his younger brother, George, and moved to his grandmother's house.

Shortly after, his father shot and killed his mother.

John's father was convicted of manslaughter and sent to Sing Sing Prison.

He was released on parole in 1953.

After John's grandmother died, he and his brother were sent to the Bronx to live with their father.

Both brothers spent two weeks at the Youth House while their father faced child abuse charges, but were released back into his custody.

Patsalos served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1958 to 1960, when he was honorably discharged on grounds of "unsuitability" after being arrested at an American Nazi Party rally.

He joined the American Nazi Party in 1960 and changed his surname to "Patler" to make it sound more like "Hitler".

On May 24, 1961, Patler, Rockwell, and eight others were arrested on charges of disturbing the peace in New Orleans after trying to picket the movie Exodus.

They went on a hunger strike in jail.

Rockwell was only able to raise enough bond money for himself so he could be released five days later.

In June 1961, all ten men were found guilty.

Patler was sentenced to 45 days in jail and fined $150.

Once more, Rockwell paid his bond, but left his followers in jail.

In 1962, the convictions were overturned on appeal.

Several years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana's statute on "breach of the peace" was unconstitutional.

Ironically, the ruling mainly benefited black civil rights activists.

In 1963, Patler was arrested and convicted of disorderly conduct for picketing an integration rally in New Jersey.

He spent 10 days in jail.

Patler became a captain in the American Nazi Party and the editor and cartoonist for the party's magazine, Stormtrooper.

Patler drew racist and segregationist cartoons.

However, he was expelled from the Party in March 1967 for "Bolshevik leanings" after disagreeing with party leader George Lincoln Rockwell about some of the party's policies, as well as due to his "unstable character" and for "spreading dissent between light- and dark-skinned Nazis" within the party.

Patler described his relationship with Rockwell in endearing terms, stating "I loved him like a father and he loved me like a son".

In his last letter to Rockwell, Patler wrote: "I don't think there are two people on earth who think and feel the same as we do. ... You are a very important part of my life. I need you as much as you need me. Without you there is no future".

On August 25, 1967, Patler shot and killed Rockwell while Rockwell was in his car, parked in front of a laundromat at an Arlington, Virginia, shopping center.

Rockwell was shot with a 7.63 mm broomhandle Mauser pistol.

Patler was arrested half an hour later, about a mile (1.5 km) from the scene of the shooting.

Despite maintaining his innocence, he was convicted of first degree murder on December 16, 1967.

The prosecutor requested a death sentence due to the highly premeditated nature of the slaying, but the jury recommended the most lenient sentence possible, 20 years.

Patler was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Arlington Circuit Court Judge Charles Russell.

Patler was free on bail while appealing his murder conviction.

In 1969, he won a $15,000 libel ruling against an American Nazi Party official who had told the FBI that Patler had stolen the gun used to kill Rockwell.

After losing his appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia for murdering Rockwell, he was sent to prison in 1970.

In 1970, Patsalos was reported as using his old name again, and as contributing to a Spanish language newspaper called El Pueblo, with him condemning racism in an editorial.

In June 1972, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously turned down an appeal.

Patler was paroled in August 1975, having served less than eight years of his sentence.

In 1976, he was charged with trespassing and possession of marijuana; his trespassing charge was later dismissed.

After violating his parole, he received an additional six-year sentence.