Racist Leader, Four Neo-Nazis Give Up, Ending Tense Siege in Ozark Mountains

The leader of a white supremacist commune and four neo-Nazis he was harboring walked out of a heavily wooded Ozark mountain compound Monday and gave themselves up, ending a tense, three-day siege by more than 70 state and federal law enforcement officials.

The surrender of Jim Ellison, leader of the racist, paramilitary cadre calling itself the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord (CSA), averted a possible shootout at the 224-acre compound, located in the rugged mountain terrain of the Missouri-Arkansas border. Ellison was wanted on federal charges of conspiracy to illegally manufacture automatic weapons and silencers.

Two of the other four men arrested were indicted in Seattle earlier this month on federal racketeering charges stemming from their participation in a neo-Nazi operation that allegedly committed murder, robbery, arson and counterfeiting.

Linked to Killing

The two men, Randall Evans and Thomas Bentley, were named as being members of The Order, a radical, right-wing group favoring violent overthrow of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has linked The Order to the murder of a Jewish radio talk-show host in Denver and the robbery of two armored cars that netted more than $4 million.

The two other men arrested, James Wallington and Jefferson D. Butler, were arrested on federal firearms violations but were not named in the Seattle indictments.

With the arrest of Evans and Bentley, only one of the 23 persons named in the indictments has eluded capture. He is Richard Joseph Scutari, who federal officials believe was one of the killers of Alan Berg, the Denver radio personality. Berg was often highly critical of right-wing groups before his murder last June 18.

The arrests Monday marked the end of a strained week for people of the central Ozarks near the Missouri-Arkansas border. It began April 15, the same day the Seattle indictments were announced, when Missouri Highway Patrolman Jimmie L. Linegar was killed and his partner, Allen Hines, was wounded while making routine license checks on a side road near the border.

Huge Manhunt

Hines identified the man who shot him as David C. Tate, one of The Order members indicted in Seattle. The highway patrol brought in hundreds of officers, dogs, planes and helicopters for a huge manhunt that ended Saturday with Tate’s arrest near rural Forsyth, Mo.

As the manhunt went on for Tate, officials from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Arkansas state police surrounded the CSA compound Friday and began negotiating for Ellison. As the days went on, a number of women and children left the compound, while Ellison negotiated the terms of his surrender.

“Ellison asked for time to pray to decide what he should do,” said Dot Koester, a federal spokeswoman. “The agents did not want to go into a compound where there might be innocent women and children.”

Happy It Worked Out

“We’re very happy it worked out the way it did,” said Arkansas state police director Tommy Goodwin, referring to the negotiated surrender.

Law enforcement officials, however, did close in on the perimeter during the siege and found a number of weapons, ammunition, explosives and detonators, including a machine gun.

U.S. Attorney Asa Hutchinson of Fort Smith, Ark., said in a telephone interview that the siege of the compound had been planned for some time, and the manhunt for Tate was only coincidental. He said it was only after the negotiations began that authorities realized Evans and Bentley were inside.

“Ellison said they were in there,” he said.