Snell, Richard Wayne (1931–1995)

Richard Wayne Snell, a key figure in the far-right Christian Identity movement and one-time member of a right-wing religious paramilitary group called the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA), was executed on April 19, 1995, a significant date among white supremacist and right-wing groups (April 19, 1995, was also the date of the Oklahoma City bombing). At the time of his death, some Christian Identity adherents believed Snell was to be the second coming of Christ.

Snell was on death row for murdering two men—Louis Bryant, a black Arkansas state trooper, and William Stumpp, the owner of a Texarkana pawn shop. In 1984, Bryant stopped Snell for a traffic violation near DeQueen, Arkansas. Snell shot Bryant once as he approached the car, and again as Bryant lay on the ground. Police chased Snell to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, where a gun battle erupted in which Snell was wounded. When Snell was finally captured, police searching Snell's car found firearms, silencers, and hand grenades, as well as the gun used in the 1983 murder of Stumpp, whom Snell had shot after mistakenly identifying him as Jewish. (Stumpp was Episcopalian.) Although Snell later claimed he shot Bryant in self-defense, he was convicted on both counts and sentenced to death for Stumpp's murder.

Snell had a long history of involvement with crime and was deeply connected to right-wing and militia circles. During the 1980s, he acted as an “emissary” who passed information from group to group. During a 1998 trial of 15 white supremacists in Fort Smith, Arkansas, James Ellison, former CSA leader turned government informant, testified about links between Snell, the CSA, and other prominent white supremacist groups, including Posse Comitatus, Aryan Nations, and the Order.

Ellison also testified that Snell and the CSA plotted to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in October 1983, a decade before Timothy McVeigh. After a meeting of white supremacists at the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho, members of the CSA sought to retaliate against the government for the death of Gordon Kahl, a member of Posse Comitatus who was shot to death in a 1983 gun battle with federal agents in Smithville, Arkansas. The plan involved using rocket launchers to topple the Murrah building. CSA members had even scouted the building.

Though Snell and McVeigh had never met, many believe that the date of Snell's execution, April 19 (also known as “militia day”), and the Oklahoma City bombing were intimately linked. Snell's behavior in jail also suggested his knowledge of an attack. He had repeatedly predicted that an explosion or bombing would occur on the date of his execution. The morning of April 19, Snell watched the live coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing from his cell on death row, laughing and chuckling, according to prison officials. According to witnesses to the execution, as Snell was strapped to the gurney later that evening he said, “Governor Tucker, look over your shoulder. Justice is on the way.” Snell was executed by lethal injection at 9 P.M.—12 hours after the attack.

Robert G. Millar, Snell's religious adviser and leader of Elohim City, a right-wing religious compound near the Oklahoma-Arkansas border, witnessed his execution and brought Snell's body back to Elohim City for burial. Millar kept Snell's casket open for three days, in the event the he would rise again as the Christian Identity Messiah.