COOPERSTOWN, N.D. (AP Apr 24, 2012) – A North Dakota man has been convicted
in the killing and beheading of a university researcher after a
night of drinking.
Thirty-one-year-old Daniel Wacht of Cooperstown was found guilty
Tuesday in the death of 54-year-old Kurt Johnson. He faces up to
life in prison without parole.
Wacht and Johnson, who worked for North Dakota State University,
met and drank together in a Cooperstown bar on New Year’s Eve 2010.
It was the last time Johnson was seen alive. A week later,
authorities said Johnson’s head had been found in Wacht’s basement.
His body has never been found.
A witness in the case testified that Wacht wanted to do
something dramatic because he wanted to start a white supremacist
gang.