Free Republic

White supremacist groups have been on the decline in the Midwest lately, with key leaders jailed or stepping down and membership in disarray. But experts warn the hate movement could actually become more violent under those circumstances, as angry "lone wolf" extremists take matters into their own hands. It's a theory that might be tested soon in Chicago, as authorities probe last week's execution-style shootings of the husband and mother of federal Judge Joan H. Lefkow. Lefkow came home on Monday to find the bodies of her husband, Michael F. Lefkow, 64, and her mother, Donna G. Humphrey, 89, in...

When I heard that President Bush was being blamed for not caring if federal judges lived in fear, just 72 hours after the mother and husband of federal Judge Joan Lefkow were found slain, I wondered if I had time. Time to call detectives and tip them to this explosive new angle about White House insensitivity so soon after the terrible tragedy. Instead, I thought I'd write a column. Lefkow has said she believes the killings may have been a deliberate hit in retaliation for her rulings. The slayings shocked the city, all federal judges and anyone with a heart....

As authorities investigate the killings of a federal judge's family in Chicago, a Roanoke white supremacist on Wednesday applauded the murders as justified violence against Jews and the federal government. "I don't feel bad that Judge [Joan Humphrey] Lefkow's family was murdered," William A. White, editor of The Libertarian Socialist News, wrote in an essay Tuesday on his Web site, Overthrow.com. "In fact, when I heard the story I laughed. 'Good for them!' was my first thought." In his essay and in a phone interview Wednesday, White said he looked forward to further killings of Jews and their sympathizers. He...

Men sought for interviews after slayings of judge's relatives Chief of Detectives James Molloy described one of the men as white, with a medium build, in his mid-20s, with strawberry blond hair and between 5 feet 8 inches and 6 feet tall. The second man was described as white, 50 to 60 years of age, from 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall, with hazel eyes and a large build. Molloy said the man was wearing dark green coveralls, a black watch cap and a gray-green coat.

Investigating a report about two suspicious looking men who were seen in the neighborhood near Judge Joan Lefkow's home hours before the murders of two of the judge's family members were discovered, police released a composite sketch of the men Wednesday night. Investigators were also looking into the source of several phone calls Lefkow and her family received Sunday night that may have come from a correctional facility. NBC 5 learned more about the private ordeal that Lefkow is going through from some people who are close to her, and the Chicago Sun-Times published the first interview with the grieving...

A joint federal and local task force is working around the clock on the investigation into the execution-style murders of a federal judge’s husband and mother. CBS 2's Mike Parker reported that Chicago police acknowledge they found a good deal of evidence at the murder scene. Although the slayings appeared to be a classic execution-style hit, the killer or killers did a poor job covering their tracks. Two men with military-style haircuts were spotted outside the North Shore Baptist Church about a block from the Lefkow home on the morning of the murders. They were in a red Ford Escort...

U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow originally ruled in favor of Matthew Hale and his white supremacist church when a trademark infringement case filed against the World Church of the Creator first came before her in January 2002. But when an appeals court overturned Lefkow's decision and she tried to enforce the new ruling later that year, Hale became angry and plotted to kill her, a federal jury ruled last year. The jury of six whites, five blacks and one Hispanic convicted Hale on April 26, 2004, of soliciting his security chief to murder Lefkow. The security chief, Anthony Evola,...

CHICAGO - A federal judge who was once the target of a failed murder plot by a white supremacist found two bodies in a pool of blood in her basement, and a source said the victims were her husband and her mother. U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow, 61, found the bodies about 6 p.m. Monday when she returned home from work, police spokesman Pat Camden said. The source close to the investigation told The Associated Press the victims were Lefkow's husband, attorney Michael F. Lefkow, and her mother, Donna Humphrey, 89, who was visiting from Denver. Michael Lefkow, 65,...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Authorities said Tuesday they are investigating whether the shooting deaths of a federal judge's husband and her frail, 89-year-old mother were the work of white supremacists out for revenge. The killings came a month before white supremacist Matt Hale was scheduled to be sentenced for trying to have the judge, Joan Humphrey Lefkow, killed over her handling of a trademark dispute involving his hate group. Police said they were looking at the possibility the crime was committed by hate groups but cautioned that it was ``but one facet of our investigation.'' Still, from the federal courthouse to...

CHICAGO - A U.S. District judge who was once the target of a failed murder plot by a white supremacist was under federal protection Tuesday as authorities investigated the shooting deaths of her husband and her mother. U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow found the bodies of Michael F. Lefkow, 65, and the judge's mother, Donna Humphrey, 89, about 6 p.m. Monday when she returned home from work, according to authorities and her friends. Authorities gave no indication that the deaths were related to the case of white supremacist Matthew Hale, who was convicted in April 2004 of soliciting an...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A federal judge who was the target of a death plot by a jailed white supremacist returned to her home on Monday to find two people dead inside, police said. Chicago police spokesman Pat Camden would only say there was a "death investigation" under way and released no names. But the Chicago Tribune on its Web site said the dead were the husband and mother of the U.S. District Court judge, Joan Lefkow, and that their bodies were found lying in blood. Last year a jury convicted Matthew Hale, founder of the "World Church of the Creator,"...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Authorities found two bodies at the home of a federal judge Monday night, and Chicago police and the FBI were investigating. The bodies were found at the home of U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow, but the judge was uninjured, police spokesman Patrick Camden said. He declined to elaborate. FBI agents were assisting police but would provide no details.