John Patsalos

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

John Patsalos
Patler in 1967, pictured after his arrest
Born	(1938-01-06) January 6, 1938 (age 87) New York City, U.S.
Other names	John Patler (formerly)
Political party	American Nazi Party (formerly)
Criminal status	Released
Spouses	Erika von Gundlach ​ (divorced)​ Alice Evrin ​ (m. 1966)​
Conviction	First degree murder
Criminal penalty	20 years imprisonment
Details
Country	United States
Location	Arlington County, Virginia
Killed	George Lincoln Rockwell
Weapon	Mauser C96

Early life

Patsalos was born in New York City on January 6, 1938. His father, Christ Patsalos, was a Greek immigrant, while his mother Athena Mavroglan was ethnically Greek but born in New York. The elder Patsalos was in his forties, while Mavroglan was newly 20 when they married. Patsalos's younger brother, George, was born in 1939.^[1] His childhood was violent and his father was commonly antisemitic.^[2]

When Patsalos was 5, in 1943, his father shot and killed his mother at their home, believing she was flirting with other men. His father was convicted of manslaughter.^[1] His children were put in their maternal grandmother's custody.^[1] He was released on parole after less than 10 years. Shortly after, Patsalos's grandmother died, after which Christ Patsalos reclaimed custody of his children. Patsalos had grown to despise his father, and after moving in with him turned to a series of petty crimes and acts of destruction.^[1]

Activity in American Nazi Party

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.^[3][4] He joined the American Nazi Party in 1960 and changed his surname to "Patler" to sound more Anglo-Saxon. He married Erika von Gundlach, a German-American woman, and had two sons with her. Their marriage degraded and they divorced within two years, with von Gundlach taking custody of their children.^[5]

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, and he was released five days later. In June 1961, all ten men were found guilty. Patler was sentenced to 45 days in jail and fined $150.^[6] Several years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Louisiana's statute on "breach of the peace" was unconstitutional. In 1963, Patler was arrested and convicted of disorderly conduct for picketing an integration rally in New Jersey. He spent 10 days in jail.^[4][7] Patler met Alice Evrin in 1964, marrying her two years later.^[5]

Patler became a captain in the American Nazi Party and editor and cartoonist for the party's magazine, The Stormtrooper. Patler drew racist and segregationist cartoons.^[8][9][10] Patler's ethnic Greek heritage led to criticism of his presence in the party.^[8] Rockwell liked Patler, whose presence he defended by arguing for a more expanded idea of master race. ANP member Matthias Koehl and the members who agreed with him viewed this change as heretical.^[11] Rockwell's group was already small, and wishing to avoid a schism told Patler to keep himself unobtrusive, but refused to go back on this change despite Koehl's objections.^[11] His presence resulted in several changes to the party in early 1967, including an Americanization of its imagery and a change in name to the National Socialist White People's Party (NSWPP).^[12] These changes came as a result of Patler and were objected to by Koehl.^[13][14] 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,^[10] as well as due to his "unstable character"^[9] and for "spreading dissent between light- and dark-skinned Nazis" within the party.^[15]

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".^[16] Patler viewed Rockwell as a father figure, but blamed him for the problems in his life, including his abandonment of his Greek identity to fit the party's ideal and the failure of his marriage.^[17] From 1966 to 1967, Patler drifted in and out of the party, all the while writing several letters to Rockwell that oscillated between hatred and begging for his forgiveness.^[17] A psychiatrist had previously noted him as having probable "repressed homosexuality";^[18] in several of his final letters to Rockwell, he described him as one would a romantic partner.^[16] Patler was eventually and finally expelled by Rockwell from the ANP in March 1967, which he dedicated to Koehl instead of doing it himself. In addition, Rockwell made his stormtroopers examine his property to ensure he did not leave with theirs. Patler spent the rest of the spring enraged over his treatment, writing letters disavowing Rockwell and the ANP, before again returning to begging for his forgiveness.^[19][14]

Assassination of Rockwell and legal proceedings

On Friday afternoon August 25, 1967, Rockwell was shot and killed while seated in his car, parked in front of a laundromat at an Arlington, Virginia, shopping center.^[20][21] 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.^[22][19]

The police and prosecution argued Patler's motive was to get revenge on Rockwell for expelling him.^[23][19] Another possible motive was anger at Rockwell for not defending him from members of the party who insulted his ethnicity, especially Koehl and Pierce. Author Frederick J. Simonelli, author of a biography of Rockwell, doubted the latter motive, as Rockwell had actually favored Patler in this dispute.^[19] Another theory was vengeance for Rockwell having an affair with Patler's wife, though this was never mentioned at the trial, and after Patler learned of the affair he sent Rockwell a letter telling him he was fine with it.^[19] The prosecution also argued he had been the perpetrator of a prior assassination attempt in June of that year.^[24]

Despite a few unsubstantiated rumors that NSWPP leader Matthias Koehl had organised the assassination over a prior dispute with Rockwell^[25] and Patler's maintaining of his own innocence,^[26] he was convicted of first degree murder on December 16, 1967. The prosecutor requested a death sentence due to the 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.^[22]

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 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.^[27] In June 1972, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously turned down an appeal.^[28]

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;^[29] his trespassing charge was later dismissed.^[30][31] After violating his parole, he received an additional six-year sentence.^[32][27]

Later life

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. He also described his former racism as being due to his thoughts "that [he] was inferior" and that he was "dark and ugly".^{[26][33][34][35]} Hank Burchard commented he was "olive-skinned and beautiful".^[26] In a 1970 article, Patsalos said, "I think [members of the National Socialist White People's Party are] always watching me ... so I never go any place without looking behind me", along with claiming "I think one of them may be the guy who really killed Rockwell".^[36]

In the early 1970s, Patsalos attended art classes at Radford College under a study-release program, although in 1975 a temporary ban was imposed on enrollment of prisoners and parolees, after college officials learned who he was, along with also claiming they did not have knowledge of the program.^[37][38][39] The ACLU disputed the ban, although did not dispute the college's subsequent refusal to give Patsalos a dorm.^[40][41]

In 1978, media outlets reported Patsalos was attempting to get a name change back to his original name.^[42]

In a 2012 book, Nicholas, the son of Patsalos, recalled his father expressing regret for his time in the American Nazi Party, with him saying "I should have been with Dr. King and the Civil Rights people back then. They were truly my people, not those Nazis."^[43] In 2017, The Washington Post described Patsalos as a "staunch online defender of Donald Trump". Patsalos praised the marchers at the Unite the Right rally. He refused multiple interview requests from the newspaper.^[44]