White Supremacist Pleads Guilty in L.A. Shootings

Jan. 24, 2001 -- White supremacist Buford O. Furrow Jr. pleaded guilty in Los Angeles today to murder and federal hate-crime charges in the 1999 killing of a Filipino-American mailman and the wounding of five people at a Jewish community center.

He said, "Guilty, your honor," 16 times — one for every count he faced — as U.S. District Judge Nora Manella asked for his plea.

In exchange for his guilty pleas, Furrow, 39, managed to avoid the death penalty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole. The judge set a sentencing date of March 26, although Furrow told her he understood his guilty plea meant he would spend the rest of his natural life in prison.

Prosecutors had said they would seek the death penalty against Furrow, a former Olympia, Wash., resident, had he gone to trial.

Furrow's lawyers, public defenders, have described their client as psychotic and said they were prepared to mount an insanity defense if prosecutors demanded a trial. Furrow has a history of hospitalization for mental problems.

Evidence of Previous Mental Illness

On Aug. 10, 1999, Furrow went on a shooting spree, killing mail carrier Joseph Ileto just hours after he went on a rampage at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in the San Fernando Valley, leaving three boys, a teenage girl and a woman wounded.

The day after the shooting, Furrow surrendered in Las Vegas and allegedly told authorities he wanted his crime to be "a wake-up call to America to kill Jews."

According to the plea agreement, Furrow considered continuing his crime spree in Las Vegas. Furrow went through phone books in search of synagogues there before deciding he had sufficiently spread his message of hate, according to the agreement, and surrendered to the FBI.

At a news conference today, U.S. Attorney Alejandro Mayorkas said prosecutors dropped their push for the death penalty because of extensive evidence indicating Furrow suffered from mental problems in years preceding the rampage. The government has not agreed that Furrow was mentally ill during the attack, however.

Mayorkas said the defense provided material showing Furrow sought psychiatric help for a decade before the crime and said he had homicidal and suicidal thoughts.

As for any message Furrow's crimes may have sent, Mayorkas said: "The only statement he made is he is a pathetic, cowardly man.What he did was remind us that we are all one."

History With Hate Groups

Prosecutors say Furrow initially admitted the crimes and said they were motivated by racial hatred. The U.S. Justice Department added hate crimes to the list of charges against Furrow due to evidence that he killed Ileto because of his race and wounded the others because of their religion.

Despite his alleged admissions of guilt, Furrow initially pleaded innocent to all charges.

His defense attorneys had said Furrow's behavior and statements suggested he suffered from mental illness. His legal team also argued that the federal death penalty statute was unconstitutional and that it was not necessarily justified in Furrow's case.

Furrow's lawyers issued a statement today after theplea, saying they agree with the resolution of the case. "The crimes committed by our client ... were tragic in their consequence to many, many people," they said.

Furrow has been connected to anti-Semitic hate groups in the Pacific Northwest, including the Aryan Nations.He also had a relationship with the widow of the founder of The Order, a white supremacist group, and followed the Christian Identity religious movement, which considers whites superior.