Scutari, Richard (1947–)

The head of security for the white supremacist group the Order, Richard Scutari was the last to be brought to justice after an FBI investigation led to the group's downfall.

Born on April 30, 1947, he lived in Port Jefferson, New York, until 1956, when his family moved to Florida. He dropped out of high school to join the Navy, where he learned how to dive. After leaving the military, he worked as a diver until 1979 when he started a construction business with his brother. He joined the American Pistol and Rifle Association (APRA), a survivalist gun club, and while attending a national meeting in 1980, was introduced to the race-based theology Christian Identity.

Scutari started his local unit of the APRA unit, and throughout the early 1980s taught shooting and combat in Port Salerno, Florida. In 1982, he was invited to the compound of the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA), a survivalist group that practiced Christian Identity, to teach hand-to-hand combat. That same year, his construction business failed; in 1983, when Andrew Barnhill offered him a month's salary to come to Washington State and join him in the Order, he accepted.

The Order's founder, Robert Jay Mathews, used Scutari's knowledge of the voice stress analyzer to interview potential recruits and screen for informants. Mathews assigned him the code name “Mr. Black” and made him the head of internal security. Although Scutari joined the group relatively late, informants later testified that he participated in much of its criminal activity, including the June 1984 assassination of Denver radio talk show host, Alan Berg. Scutari and Mathews served as lookouts while Order member Bruce Pierce [Page 325]did the actual shooting and David Lane drove the getaway car. Scutari also took part in the robbery of an armored car in Ukiah, California, that netted the group $3.8 million.

As head of security, Scutari developed a system of rules, code names, and contact telephone numbers. With his share of the Ukiah robbery money, he purchased sophisticated equipment, including a second voice stress analyzer, surveillance equipment, and telephone scramblers. Often ridiculed by other Order members because of his swarthy complexion, he eventually became Mathews's most trusted confidant and adviser.

Scutari tried to convince Mathews to drop Thomas Martinez as a member when Martinez refused to take a voice stress test. Martinez claimed it was too dangerous to meet with Scutari and Mathews because he was under surveillance; in fact, Martinez was cooperating with federal agents and feared he would not be able to pass the test. Mathews, however, did not take Scutari's advice. Martinez later played a crucial role in the downfall of both Mathews and the Order.

In November 1984, with the FBI on their trail, Scutari, Mathews, and other members of the Order fled to Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington State. Although Mathews was killed during a standoff with authorities on the island, Scutari and other members had earlier managed to escape the FBI's net. Eventually making the FBI's “most wanted” list, Scutari was the last Order member to be taken into custody (March 1986)—all the others had been arrested by April 1985. Scutari was traced through an alias while working as a garage mechanic in San Antonio, Texas. Although Scutari had previously vowed that he would not be taken alive, he was arrested without incident.

Scutari pleaded guilty to most of the charges, but denied any involvement in the Berg assassination. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison for robbery, racketeering, and conspiracy. In 1987, he was found not guilty of violating Berg's civil rights. A federal crack-down called Operation Clean Sweep brought Scutari and 13 other defendants, some of them members of the Order, to trial in 1988 on sedition charges; they were found not guilty.

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