A.K.A.: "Wood"

Victim profile: Stephen Anderson, 60 (corrections officer)

Curtis Michael Allgier (born August 25, 1979) is a white supremacist skinhead who is being held in the Utah State Prison in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the murder of corrections officer Stephen Anderson.

Prior arrests and convictions

Allgier's criminal record begins in 1998 with convictions for theft and reckless driving in South Dakota. He was charged with felony burglary, forgery and theft in Utah during October 2000, after he burglarized a neighbor's apartment and made out a stolen check to himself for $300. That month, he was also charged in another county with carrying a concealed handgun and sentenced to 180 days and probation.

Allgier fled Utah in August 2001, which led to a one-to-15-year sentence. Paroled in May 2003, he then was arrested and sent back to prison in July 2004 for traveling to California without authorization, and possessing two knives. He was paroled in October 2006, serving another 27 months in prison.

Then in November, he became a fugitive on a parole violation for two days before a Salt Lake City SWAT team arrested him at a local hotel. Allgier, armed, barricaded himself for a time inside a room but was captured after falling through the hotel's ceiling, where he had tried to hide. On June 14, 2007, he was sentenced to 104 months in prison for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. It was during the course of this incarceration that the 2007 Salt Lake City murder occurred.

Murder

On the morning of June 25, 2007, Anderson escorted Allgier to the University of Utah, where Allgier was scheduled for an MRI, because he had been complaining of back problems. While waiting with Anderson in an examination room at the university's orthopedic center, Allgier was unshackled. He then overpowered and disarmed Anderson and shot him in the head, although Allgier later stated that the gun went off accidentally during the struggle.

After fleeing the clinic on foot, Allgier carjacked a Ford Explorer, and led police on a high-speed chase. Allgier was captured at an Arby's restaurant a few miles away, where he tried to shoot an employee but the gun malfunctioned. Eric Fullerton, a former Army paratrooper, tackled and held him until the police arrived.

Trial

Allgier's murder trial was initially set for June 2012. In March 2012, the judge granted a motion postponing the trial.

On October 3, 2012, Allgier unexpectedly pleaded guilty to murder and several other charges, and also pleaded no contest to three charges of attempted murder. He is expected to avoid the death penalty and be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Tattoos

Allgier is noted for numerous tattoos expressing his white supremecist beliefs. His ex-wife, Jolene, claimed that he had the “courage to put his beliefs on his entire body.” The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Allgier's face as the "Face of Hate". The meanings of each of these tattoos are explained as:

• Crucified skinhead (right cheek): Symbolizes the persecution of working class skinheads by the upper class.

• Three intersecting triangles (right jaw): Known as a valknut or volknut, symbolizes the afterlife and binding of the soul to Odin, who is considered chief among the Norse gods, among non-racist Pagans. However, among racist Pagans, it signifies “that one is ready to be taken into the ranks of Odin’s chosen warriors.”

• 5150 (under the right eye): A likely reference to California statute 5150, which requires commitment to psychiatric hospitals for people declared to be a danger to themselves or others.

• Hatebreed (upper lip): An American hardcore/metalcore band popular among racist skinheads.

• Iron Crosses (forehead temples): Military decoration used by Nazi Germany. Originally from a symbol, typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem.

• SS Lightning Bolts (jawbones): A symbol of the Schutzstaffel (translated to Protection Squadron or defence corps), abbreviated as SS or with stylized "Armanen" sig runes), which was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, and a Nazi police force that administered death camps, in addition to staffing mobile killing units known as Einsatzgruppen. The Nuremberg judges declared the entire SS a criminal organization after World War II.

• Blood, Honor, and Loyalty (collarbone): A heavily-used phrase by white supremacists as well as other neo-Nazis in clothing, lyrics, and tattoos.

Wikipedia.org

Curtis Allgier Gets Life Sentence For Killing Utah Prison Guard Stephen Anderson

HuffingtonPost.com

December 5, 2012

SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah inmate covered in neo-Nazi tattoos was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole Wednesday for killing a prison guard during a doctor's appointment five years ago, then leading police on a high-speed chase that ended at a fast-food restaurant, where a customer wrestled a gun from him.

Curtis Allgier offered a rambling statement that mixed apology and a tribute to his victim with a rebuttal of the evidence against him, while cursing and ranting against the court system and his lawyers.

"I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I didn't want to hurt anybody. It was an accident," the 33-year-old inmate said at the hearing.

He added, "Just because I've got tattoos on my face and I'm proud of my race, I'm not some violent monster."

Prosecutors said the June 25, 2007, shooting was no accident. Allgier wrestled a gun from Stephen Anderson of Bluffdale after being unshackled for an MRI scan at a University of Utah medical clinic, they said. He then fled on foot and stole a vehicle before leading police on a highway chase at speeds exceeding 100 mph.

His freedom lasted 45 minutes.

Allgier pleaded no contest in October to aggravated murder. He pleaded guilty to additional charges of disarming a peace officer, aggravated escape, aggravated robbery and possession of a firearm by a restricted person.

The plea deal spared Allgier a trial and the death penalty if convicted.

Third District Judge Paul Maughan opened the sentencing hearing to family members of Anderson, a 22-year employee of the Utah Department of Corrections. Anderson, 60, was survived by a wife, five adult children and 18 grandchildren.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that a daughter of Anderson's said it was "impossible to replace a man like my father."

The chase ended after Allgier got a flat tire and ran into an Arby's restaurant, where Eric Fullerton, 59, had just ordered a ham-and-cheese croissant and orange juice for breakfast.

Fullerton "went into action," grabbing the much larger Allgier by an arm and forcing him to drop the gun. Allgier punched Fullerton and then slashed his throat with a knife before finally surrendering to police.

"I didn't feel pain," Fullerton said at a 2010 court hearing. "I did feel the coldness of the blade, and I heard the sound."

In court Wednesday, prosecutors called Fullerton a hero.

Allgier pleads guilty to killing Utah prison officer during escape attempt

By Aaron Falk - The Salt Lake Tribune

October 4, 2012

Curtis Michael Allgier stood surrounded by attorneys and armed officers, dressed in shackles and prison orange, his arms and head as much green ink as skin.

In a half-decade of courtroom appearances, the heavily tattooed 33-year-old showed himself unafraid of making brash outbursts, but on Wednesday morning, his voice broke, if only for a second.

"I just want to make clear, the reason I'm doing this is for those people right there," Allgier said, turning his body slightly and flicking his handcuffed wrists toward the rows of people sitting on one side of a 3rd District courtroom.

The family of Stephen Anderson sat quietly, some holding hands and others holding babies too young to have ever been cradled by the slain Department of Corrections officer.

More than five years after Allgier shot and killed the 60-year-old Anderson during a brazen escape, the fallen man's family listened intently as Allgier said the word.

"Guilty."

The plea deal reached between defense and prosecution, made official Wednesday, will spare Allgier the possibility of death. Instead, when he is sentenced by Judge Paul Maughan on Dec. 5, he will be imprisoned for life, without the possibility of parole.

In pleading guilty to aggravated murder and four other felonies (Allgier also pleaded no contest to three counts of attempted aggravated murder), Allgier said he hoped to "give the Anderson family closure."

According to the charges against him, Allgier shot and killed Anderson with the officer's own gun on June 25, 2007. Allgier, who at the time was serving a state prison sentence for burglary and forgery, took Anderson's gun from him after being unshackled for an MRI scan.

Defense attorney Dusty Kawai said Allgier has always been willing to plead guilty, but prosecutors offered to take death off the table for the first time only three weeks ago.

"That's something he's been willing to do since June 28 of 2007... Death was on the table since '07,"Kawai said. "If they're going to invite you to dance, you've got to dance. You can't just plead to a death sentence."

Prosecutor Robert Stott said that after more than five years of court hearings, Anderson's family wanted closure rather than having to endure a trial and years of potential appeals that make for "constant, relentless uncertainty, strain and stress, publicity and a constant reminder of their loss."

"They want to get it over," Stott said. "They want it resolved now, not 25 years from now."

Outside the courtroom, Kawai read a statement Allgier had written by hand.

"Mr. Allgier did this out of respect for Millie, Shawn, Michelle and the rest of the Stephen Anderson family, not for his own behalf," he wrote.

After the shooting, Allgier stole an SUV outside the clinic. He changed clothes at a girlfriend's home and led police on a high-speed chase. During the chase, Allgier tried to run over a sheriff's deputy waiting outside his car to disable Allgier's stolen vehicle with a tire ripper.

When a rear tire went flat, Allgier ran into an Arby's restaurant near 1700 South and Redwood Road, where Eric Fullerton had just ordered a ham-and-cheese croissant and orange juice for breakfast.

According to testimony at a 2010 preliminary hearing, Allgier pointed the gun at Fullerton and then grabbed an employee, Alejandro Gomez, around the neck and put a gun to his head.

"I thought, 'This is it,' " Fullerton said.

Allgier dragged Gomez into the kitchen area. Gomez either tripped or struggled and Allgier fired a shot that barely missed the employee's head. Then Allgier beat him with the butt of the gun.

Fullerton, then 59, who is 5-foot-6 and 140 pounds, "went into action," grabbing the much larger Allgier's arm and trying to pry his fingers from the weapon. Allgier punched Fullerton and then slashed his throat with a knife.

"I didn't feel pain," Fullerton has said. "I did feel the coldness of the blade and I heard the sound."

Moments later, the Vietnam veteran said he pried loose the fingers of Allgier, a self-described "white-power skinhead" and member of the white-supremacy gang Aryan Empire Warriors. The gun dropped to the floor and Fullerton grabbed it.

Fullerton testified in court: "He's got the knife, I've got the gun — contest over."

Soon after, police found Allgier in an office in the restaurant.

His freedom had lasted just 45 minutes.

At the time of his escape, Allgier was serving a state prison sentence for burglary and forgery while awaiting federal incarceration for weapons violations. He had previously absconded from parole in August 2001 and May 2003. While on parole in October 2006, he was charged by federal prosecutors for possessing a 9 mm handgun.

As Allgier was brought into the courtroom, Maxine McNeeley stood out of respect for the prisoner. A slight woman in her 70s with long white pigtails, McNeeley met Allgier through letters the two have exchanged since his arrest and, aside from his defense team, has been his lone supporter in court.

"I'm happy they took the death penalty off the table," McNeeley said. "Life in prison in a little box is suffering enough. I'm sorry for the Anderson family, for their loss. And I'm going to miss Curtis. He's been a joy to me. He's lifted me up when I've been down, and I've just seen him through different eyes."

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said there were "competing interests" that pushed for a death penalty, but Anderson's immediate family wanted life without parole.

"When you have a case like this, which is so important, which is so tragic in the experience of our community, it's understandable why that's there," he said of those who wanted the death penalty for Allgier. "But there is no way a third-party or fourth-party interest should ever be able to trump the needs of the family, of the victims who are here. If we start doing that, we will start to completely lose any measure of justice we can retain. The system isn't perfect, but today, in this courthouse, with this family, we retrieved the best measure of justice we could, and justice was served."

In a prepared statement, Anderson's family said the plea deal will mean Allgier "can never hurt another innocent person again."

"Stephen Anderson's influence and example are missed every day by his family and those who knew him, and these memories will never be lost," the statement said. "Stephen was a kind and generous man who served his family, his church, and his community with kindness, dedication, and honor. This has been a trying time for everyone who knew Stephen. This senseless act of violence is a constant reminder that we live in a less than perfect world with less than perfect people."