Boy in neo-Nazi death: Do 'people get more than one [life]?'

Soon after he allegedly shot his father in the head  with a .357 magnum revolver as he lay sleeping on a couch, a Riverside boy taken into custody asked a police officer if "people get more than one [life]."

The boy, who was 10 years old at the time of the shooting in May 2011, was remorseful over his father's death, Riverside police Officer Michael Foster, a prosecution witness, testified in court this week.

Now 12, the boy is accused of murdering his father, a well-known neo-Nazi leader in Riverside, and could remain in juvenile custody until he is 23 if the allegation is found to be true.

In order for that to happen, the judge must rule that the boy knew his actions were wrong at the time of the shooting.

The boy "is no different than any other murderer," prosecutors argued in opening statements Tuesday. He "would have shot his father if he was a member of the Peace and Freedom Party."

But defense attorneys told the court that the boy was manipulated to kill his father, 32-year-old Jeffrey Hall, by his stepmother who they claim was angry over the possibility Hall was about to leave her for another woman.

"We are not going to suggest she killed him," Public Defender Matthew Hardy told the judge. "She used this young man to kill him."

Hall was a regional director for the National Socialist Movement. The Times is not releasing the name of the boy because he is a juvenile.

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-- Andrew Khouri and Ari Bloomekatz

Photo: Jeffrey Hall in October 2010 near his home in Riverside. Credit: Sandy Huffaker/Associated Press.