FBI: Child Porn Found on Holocaust Museum Suspect's Computer

June 18, 2009 — -- FBI agents have found images of child pornography on the computer of the suspected Holocaust Museum shooter, 88-year-old James Von Brunn, ABC News has confirmed with two federal law enforcement officials.

Searches of von Brunn's car and house in Annapolis, Md., also found him to be in possession of additional ammunition, including some hollow-point bullets found at his home, according to paperwork on the search.

Also found in his home were a 30-30 Winchester rifle and several computers.

Agents also recovered a letter mailed to von Brunn from the Ronald Reagan Library and found a "painting of what appears to be Hitler and Jesus," according to a source.

Von Brunn's Ex-Wife 'Despised' His Beliefs

Ever since investigators identified von Brunn as the man who allegedly walked into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum with a .22-caliber rifle on June 10 and began shooting -- killing a security guard and suffering gunshot wounds of his own -- they have been piecing together a disturbing portrait of him.

Writings in his name have been found on numerous racist, anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi Web sites.

One of Von Brunn's ex-wives told ABC News by phone after the shootings that "he was eaten alive like a cancer with his hatred of Jews and blacks." The ex-wife, who asked that her name not be used, said she was appalled by her ex-husband's alleged actions, calling the incident "very, very sad. Horrible."

The woman said she and the shooting suspect were married for a decade, but divorced about 30 years ago because she disagreed with his extremist views, which she said she learned about after they married.

Von Brunn's ex-wife said her ex-husband is an artist, and often painted themes with ducks.

She also said she was not aware of any diagnosed mental health issues or other health problems that he had, "but he was an elderly man, he wanted to go out with his boots on like the John Wayne movie 'The Shootist.'"

Suspect's Son: Von Brunn 'Twisted by Hate'

For the past four years, Von Brunn lived with his son Erik Von Brunn and his son's fiancee in a condo in Annapolis, Md. During that time, Erik Von Brunn said his father was vocal about his racist viewpoints, but he never had any inclination that he would allegedly hatch a plan that would end with a shootout in a Holocaust museum.

Before the incident, Erik Von Brunn told ABC News' "Good Morning America," his father spewed the same hatred he always had: no more, no less. And he said there were no warning signs that his father might act on his hatred of other races.

"I never once believed that he could've done anything like this," he said. "I never believed it was more than just talk."

Although his father was linked online to several hate groups, von Brunn said his actions and motivations were his alone.

"This was just him," he said. "There's obviously a desire to kind of explain why it happened, to label it, 'Maybe he was part of a group.' That just wasn't it. He frequently condemned them. He spoke out against the KKK."

He said his father's racist viewpoints became more extreme when he moved into Erik von Brunn's home in 2005. Erik von Brunn said his father couldn't talk about anything else.

"He was twisted by hate; it consumed him," Von Brunn said. "It prevented him from doing anything normal. There was no normal conversation."

Alleged Holocaust Museum Gunman Tried to Arrest Fed Members

On the Web site www.holywesternempire.org, James von Brunn described himself as "an artist and author who lives on Maryland's Eastern Shore". He also claimed a background as a Midwesterner who became a PT boat captain with the Navy reserves in World War II and later worked as an ad executive and film producer in New York City.

He said he has been a member of Mensa, and he has six chapters posted from a book he authored, "Tob Shebbe Goyim Harog!" which translates as "To Kill the Best Gentiles!" and claims to outline a Jewish plot against society.

Von Brunn's writings also outlined his 1981 bid to "place the treasonous Federal Reserve Board of Governors under legal, non-violent, citizen's arrest."

On the site, he claimed he unjustly received an 11-year jail sentence, of which he served 6.5 years, when he was arrested at the Fed after entering the building where the board of governors was meeting, carrying a camera and with weapons hidden under his trench coat.

Von Brunn argued the Fed was not allowed to exist under the Constitution and claimed it was a Jewish means of controlling the U.S. government.

"It is one of many parasitical Rothschild Central Banks infesting the world stage," he wrote on www.holywesternempire.org. "Its power ascends over every U.S. citizen from cradle to grave. Every dollar in your wallet is a note issued by the FED. The U.S. Government redeems that note (principal and interest) with your taxes. Through its enormous resources and power the FED controls the machinery of the U.S. Government."

A neighbor in Maryland described von Brunn as a standoffish man who didn't socialize with neighbors. The neighbor expressed shock upon hearing von Brunn had been identified as the alleged shooter.

"My God, I live next to that man," Harold O'Lynnger, 82, told ABC News.

O'Lynnger recalled a comment von Brunn had made over drinks three months ago that the media had been giving the Holocaust too much attention.

ABC News' Imaeyen Ibanga, Pierre Thomas, Lauren Pearle, Ariane de Vogue, Jack Date, David Kerley, Lisa Stark, Steven Portnoy, Dean Schabner, Polson Kanneth, Michael S. James and Andrew Miller contributed to this report.