Holocaust museum shooter, 89, dies while awaiting trial

WASHINGTON - The 89-year-old white supremacist charged in a deadly shooting last year at Washington's Holocaust Memorial Museum died yesterday in North Carolina, where he had been held while awaiting trial, authorities said.

James von Brunn died shortly before 1 p.m. at a hospital in Butner, said Denise Simmons, spokeswoman for the federal prison where von Brunn had been held. He had chronic congestive heart failure, sepsis, and other health problems, she said.

Von Brunn, who faced charges that carried the death penalty, had been receiving medical care for months at the prison complex in Butner, which is known for its medical facilities for aging and sick federal inmates.

His lawyer, A.J. Kramer, called the death "a sad end to a tragic situation" and declined to comment further.

Authorities say von Brunn carried a rifle as he walked up to the Holocaust museum June 10 and shot security guard Stephen T. Johns, who was black, as he opened the door for von Brunn. The gunman was wounded by gunfire from two other guards.

Officials at the prison hospital had previously said that chronic medical problems had complicated a psychiatric evaluation for von Brunn, who before the shooting had written racist and anti-Semitic screeds on the Internet.

Officials at the Holocaust museum issued a statement saying their thoughts and prayers remained with Johns' family.

"Officer Johns died heroically defending the museum, visitors and staff," it said. "This tragedy is a powerful reminder that our cause of fighting hatred remains more urgent than ever."

Harry Weeks of White Plains, Md., one of the two guards who had fired back at von Brunn, said he had mixed feelings about his death.

"I'm shocked," Weeks said. "I'm glad he's gone. I wish he had his day in court, but it'll never come."

Weeks, who returned to work in August, said he thought often about his slain colleague. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't miss him," he said.

A seven-count indictment against von Brunn charged him with first-degree murder, killing in a federal building, and bias-motivated crime. It also accused him of seeking to intimidate Jewish people at the museum.

Von Brunn had a racist Web site and wrote a book that alleged a Jewish conspiracy "to destroy the white gene pool." He also claimed the Holocaust was a hoax.