A former Army lieutenant and member of white-supremacist bands like End Apathy and Definite Hate recently walked into a Sikh temple with a 9 mm gun in hand and multiple magazines of ammunition ready. The man looked more like a rocker than an army lieutenant with his heavily tattooed body and bald head. At 40, he was deeply steeped in the white supremacy movements and described by many as a “Neo-Nazi.” But no one knew the extent of Michael Page’s hatred until he burst into a Sikh temple on Sunday and murdered six people. His roommate, who had allowed him to share rent with him after conducting a criminal background check and coming up with nothing, was floored to hear that he had been sharing his apartment with a murderer. Page did not mention his intent to obliterate the occupants of the Sikh temple before the actual crime. Now, Page and six other Sikh temple attendants are dead, while another three victims lie in hospitals, critically wounded from the exchange.

The murderer was shot by police at the scene of the crime when he refused to stop his tirade. Page was a part of the Army in 1992, and was extensively trained in psychological warfare. He was described be the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “frustrated Neo-Nazi” who had long been active in white supremacist music. Many of the songs he performed regularly praised genocide, especially among Jews and other minorities. In an interview with a white supremacist music website, Page said that he started the band End Apathy in 2005, and became involved with the underground scene in 2000. He told the website that he was frustrated at America’s potential to accomplish so much more as a society and as a whole if the nation would eliminate certain minorities.

A man named Joseph Rackley was located by ABC News in Tennessee and said that Page used to live on his property with his son. The two would play music in the home where they were living, and Rackley often had to call them to turn down the volume. Page was a repairman for the Hawk missile system at one point in his life, and then become one of the Army’s psychological operations specialists at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was never deployed overseas. The lieutenant was later demoted in the Army when he was caught getting drunk on duty and going AWOL. The soldier was also given extra duty as a punishment and fined for his actions. In 2007, Page allegedly bought a brick home in Fayetteville, N.C. with the help of a Veteran’s Administration Mortgage. He later lost the home to foreclosure, and contacted a man on Craig’s List who was looking for a roommate in Wisconsin. The renter conducted a criminal investigation on Page, but he came out clean. After he confirmed that Page was working at an industrial metal company and would have the finances to pay rent, he allowed him to move in.

According to the roommate named Weins, Page moved in with only a television set. He explained that he had recently broken up with his long-time girlfriend and needed a place to stay. Weins said that the two of them never had a meaningful conversation, but Page seemed like a down-to-earth guy. Eventually, Page moved into a duplex across the way where he only possessed an inflatable mattress, a computer desk, and a chair. Online records show that Page had a minor criminal history in other states but had never been convicted of a serious or violent crime. Now, he has been declared the criminal of domestic terrorism. The man burst into the Sikh temple without warning and started firing. One man in the temple was able to stab him with a butter knife before being shot twice. It is still not certain whether Page had an express hatred towards Sikhism as a religion. The faith is a monotheistic, South Asian religion that has about 500,000 in the United States. Investigators still want to determine Page’s motive for the shooting, and interview a suspicious character that was spotted outside of the temple when the shooting was taking place. People think that this man might be a co=conspirator in Page’s crime, because the two allegedly have matching tattoos. If you have been charged with a hate crime, terrorism, or another violent crime, then you need a criminal defense lawyer on your side. Find a local criminal defense lawyer using the information on our website today!