Torch-wielding neo-Nazi of 2017 Unite the Right riots commits suicide amid fentanyl trafficking trial

A Missouri man who was among the most prominent neo-Nazis at the infamous 2017 Charlottesville rally has shot himself on what was supposed to be the first day of his drug-trafficking trial.

Teddy Joseph Von Nukem, 35, the father of five young children, was found dead by his wife outside their spacious $400,000 home in Rolla, Missouri on January 30.

He was due to appear in court that day in Arizona, charged with smuggling 15kg of fentanyl pills into his car as he crossed from Mexico into the US in March 2021.

Von Nukem admitted that he had been paid $215 to transport the drugs.

Von Nukem became interested in Nazi Germany during high school and, as an adult, changed his name from Teddy Landrum in 2012 in a nod 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 white supremacists who carried tiki torches and paraded through the city chanting, “Jews will not replace us.”

Von Nukem is seen on the far right in a black T-shirt, holding a tiki torch on August 11, 2017.

Counter-protester Heather Heyer, 32, was deliberately shot down and killed during the rally, and then-President Donald Trump sparked outrage by saying there were “good people on both sides” at the Aug. 11-12 rally.

Von Nukem was among a group of white supremacists who beat a black man, Deandre Harris, to near death. the daily beast informed.

Heather Heyer, 32, was struck by a speeding car and died in Charlottesville in August 2017.

He told his local newspaper, The Springfield News Leaderat the time of the rally that he supported Trump and had embraced the white supremacist worldview that whites are now “disadvantaged”.

“I don’t mind showing solidarity with them,” he said.

You have to choose your side. You have to give your support to the army that is fighting for you.’

He said his wife, who did not attend the Charlottesville rally, was “harder” and “more to the right” than he was.

‘Politics is violence. Period. End of story. And women should not get involved in violence,” she said.

‘They should leave that to the people who do violence best, which are men.

‘If something happened to me, it would be pretty bad. But if something happened to both of us, it would be catastrophic for our children.

A car driven by James Alex Field Jr. is seen charging into the crowd in Charlottesville. Fields was sentenced to life in prison for murder in June 2019.

Von Nukem was found dead outside the Rolla, Missouri home (pictured), which 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 Márquez issued a warrant for his arrest.

At almost exactly the same time, Von Nukem’s wife found his body outside their house in the snow, still warm, and called the police.

“Suicide notes were found at the scene, left for police and their children, however the handwriting was somewhat inconsistent,” states the coroner’s report, obtained by The Daily Beast.

His obituary noted that he was “a different kind of guy”.

“Some people knew Ted and understood that he was a different kind of person and had different views on things, but he would give you the shirt if you asked or needed it,” his family wrote.

‘He will be truly missed and loved. May he always be watching over his friends and family forever and ever.’