A Missouri man who was among the most prominent neo-Nazis at the infamous Charlottesville rally in 2017 shot himself on the alleged first day of his drug trafficking trial.
Teddy Joseph Von Nukem, a 35-year-old father of five young children, was found dead by his wife on January 30 outside of their spacious $400,000 home in Rolla, Missouri.
He was due to appear in court in Arizona that day, charged with smuggling 15kg of fentanyl pills in his car as he crossed into the United States from Mexico in March 2021.
Von Nukem admitted he was paid $215 to ship the drugs.
Von Nukem first became interested in Nazi Germany during high school, and as an adult he changed his name from Teddy Landrum in 2012 in reference to his German heritage and the video game character Duke Nukem.
He traveled to Virginia for the 2017 Unite the Right march that shocked the nation, and was among the tiki-torch-carrying white supremacists who marched through town chanting, “Jews will not replace us.”
Teddy Joseph Von Nukem, 35, is pictured in a black shirt at the rally August 11, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia
Von Nukem is seen at far right in a black t-shirt and holding a tiki torch on August 11, 2017
Counter-protester Heather Heyer, 32, was deliberately mowed down and killed during the rally, and then-President Donald Trump sparked outrage by saying there were “good people on both sides” at the August 11-12 rally .
Von Nukem was among a group of white supremacists who nearly beat a black man, Deandre Harris, to death, The Daily Beast reported.
Heather Heyer, 32, was hit and killed by a speeding car in Charlottesville in August 2017
He told his local newspaper, The Springfield News-Leader, at the time of the rally that he supported Trump and had embraced the white supremacist worldview that whites were now “disadvantaged.”
“I don’t mind showing solidarity with them,” he said.
“You have to choose a side. You must throw your support behind the army fighting for you.’
He said his wife, who did not attend the Charlottesville rally, was “hardcore” and “further right” than him.
“Politics is violence. Period. End of the story. And women should not be involved in violence,” he said.
“You should leave that to the people who are best at using violence, namely the men.
“If something happened to me, it would be pretty bad. But if something were to happen to both of us, it would be catastrophic for our children.”
A car driven by James Alex Field Jr. crashes into crowds in Charlottesville. Fields was sentenced to life in prison for murder in June 2019
Von Nukem was found dead outside the home in Rolla, Missouri (pictured) that he shared with his wife and five children
When von Nukem failed to appear in court for his January 30 hearing, US District Judge Rosemary Marquez issued an arrest warrant for him.
Almost at the same time, von Nukem’s wife found his body, still warm, outside their home in the snow and called the police.
“Suicide letters left for law enforcement and his children were found at the scene, but the handwriting was somewhat inconsistent,” said the coroner’s report, obtained by The Daily Beast.
His obituary states that he is “a different type of person”.
“Some people knew Ted and knew he was a different guy and had different views on things, but he would give the shirt off his back if you asked or needed it,” his family wrote.
“He will be truly missed and loved. May he watch over his friends and family forever and ever.”