White man arrested in slaying of two black men
BATON ROUGE, La. — A 23-yearold white man was arrested Tuesday and accused of cold-bloodedly killing two black men and shooting up a black family’s home in a string of attacks last week that police say may have been racially motivated.
A law enforcement official said authoritiesfoundahandwrittencopy of an Adolf Hitler speech at Kenneth James Gleason’s home, and investigators said surveillance footage and DNA on a shell casing link him to thecrimes.
Authorities said he would be charged with first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of a homeless man and a dishwasher who was walking to work.ineachcase,thekiller opened fire from his car, then walked up to the prone victim andfiredagainrepeatedly.
“I feel confident that this killer would have killed again,” interim Police Chief Jonny
Dunnam said.
Gleason’s attorney, J. Christopher Alexander, said his client “vehemently denies guilt”
Authoritiesfoundthehitler speech during a weekend search, according to the law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Asked whether police suspect the shootings were motivated by race, Sgt. L’jean Mckneely said: “We’re not completely closed off to that.”
District Attorney Hillar Moore said he may seek the death penalty. “It appears to be cold, calculated, planned,” he said.
Authorities also said that just after midnight on Sept. 10, Gleason fired into the home of a black family who lived three houses down from Gleason and his parents.
The homeowner, Tonya Stephens, said her two adult sons were home at the time, but no one was hurt.