Idaho killer had Aryan Nation ties

MOSCOW, Idaho — A search of the home of Jason Hamilton, blamed for fatally shooting three people and himself last weekend, turned up an Aryan Nations membership card and flag, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Jason Hamilton's ties to the white-supremacist group formerly based in North Idaho were found when FBI agents and Latah County sheriff's deputies searched his home here, The Spokesman-Review reported on its Web site, citing unidentified sources.

The 36-year-old janitor, who moved from the Boise area a few years ago, fatally shot himself in a Presbyterian church after killing his wife, a police officer and a church sexton, and wounding three other men, authorities said.

Hamilton had been a dues-paying member of the Aryan Nations since 2000, the newspaper reported. That was four years before the death of Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler.

Aryan Nations headquarters is currently listed on the Internet as a Lexington, S.C., post-office box.

The Latah County sheriff's office referred inquiries Tuesday night to the Idaho State Police, who referred callers to Moscow Police Department.

Moscow Assistant Police Chief David Duke did not immediately return an Associated Press phone inquiry about the report.

Hamilton reportedly had told a mental-health professional he would take a large number of people with him if he were to commit suicide, but later recanted that comment.

He was placed in protective custody on a court-ordered 72-hour mental-health hold after a failed suicide attempt in February, Duke said Monday.

Hamilton had received two mental-health evaluations, and had appeared in a Latah County courtroom May 15, but was released on condition that he get mental-health counseling and not possess any weapons, Duke said.