Richard Baumhammers

Mass Murderer

Richard Baumhammers: The 2000 Pittsburgh-Area Hate-Crime Murders

Background

Richard Scott Baumhammers was a 34-year-old former attorney when he carried out a racially motivated shooting spree across western Pennsylvania on April 28, 2000. During an approximately two-hour period, Baumhammers traveled through communities in Allegheny and Beaver counties, killing five people, critically wounding another man, attacking two synagogues and setting fire to the home of his first victim. The people targeted during the rampage were Jewish, Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese and African American. Investigators concluded that the attacks were driven by Baumhammers' white-supremacist and anti-immigrant beliefs. Evidence recovered after his arrest included extremist writings and a document associated with a proposed organization he called the Free Market Party. Baumhammers was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 1965. He grew up in the suburb of Mt. Lebanon and later attended Kent State University, Cumberland School of Law and the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law. He practiced law for a period but eventually became unemployed and returned to his parents' home in Mt. Lebanon. Before the murders, Baumhammers had undergone extensive psychiatric treatment. He had been hospitalized and diagnosed with serious delusional and psychotic symptoms. Family members later described his increasingly paranoid behavior, including his belief that federal authorities were monitoring him. However, the prosecution maintained that his crimes were deliberate, organized and motivated by racial hatred rather than an inability to understand his actions.

Extremist Beliefs and Preparation

During the years preceding the shootings, Baumhammers expressed increasingly hostile opinions about immigration and racial minorities. He created a website for his proposed Free Market Party, where he complained that white Americans were being displaced and called for an end to non-European immigration. He also accessed white-supremacist websites and collected extremist writings that promoted violence by individuals acting alone. Baumhammers purchased a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver on April 30, 1999. The weapon was later used during the April 2000 attacks. Investigators said his selection of victims and institutions demonstrated a consistent pattern: he attacked people because of their religion, race or national origin.

The Murder of Anita "Nicki" Gordon

The rampage began at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Friday, April 28, 2000, in Mt. Lebanon. Baumhammers walked next door to the home of 63-year-old Anita "Nicki" Gordon, a Jewish woman who had been a friend of his parents for more than three decades. Baumhammers shot Gordon inside or near her home and then set the residence on fire. Firefighters responding to the property discovered her body. The attack was especially shocking to the Baumhammers family because Gordon was not a stranger. She had lived beside them for years and belonged to Beth El Congregation in Scott Township. After killing Gordon and setting the fire, Baumhammers entered his Jeep Cherokee and began driving through the Pittsburgh suburbs. His movements created a trail of shootings and vandalism extending through two counties. ...

Confirmed Victims: (5)

Anita Nicki Gordon 63 yr old Female

Richard Baumhammers - Wikipedia