The John DiTullio case is the Florida prosecution of John Allen DiTullio Jr., a neo-Nazi who forced his way into a New Port Richey mobile home in March 2006, fatally stabbed 17-year-old Kristofer King, and wounded Patricia Wells. After a first trial ended in a hung jury, a second jury convicted him in December 2010, and he is serving life in prison without parole. The case became nationally known for a judge’s order that the state pay a cosmetologist to cover the swastika and other neo-Nazi tattoos DiTullio had added to his face and neck after his arrest.
The 2006 Attack in New Port Richey
On March 23, 2006, DiTullio burst through the door of Patricia Wells’s mobile home in Pasco County wearing a gas mask.1NBC Miami. Neo-Nazi Accused of Murder Gets Makeover He stabbed Wells in the face and hand and fatally stabbed Kristofer King, a friend of Wells’s son.2ABC News. Neo-Nazi Accused of Hate Crime Murder Gets Makeover Wells survived and later told reporters she still feared retaliation from the white supremacist group DiTullio was tied to.3Corrections1. Jury Recommends Life in Prison for Neo-Nazi Murderer
Prosecutors charged the attack as a hate crime. They said Wells was targeted because she was frequently visited by a Black man, and King because he was gay.4CBS News. Neo-Nazi Convicted of Murder, Sentenced to Life in Prison DiTullio, then 20, was described as a prospective member of a group called the “American Nazis,” which met at a trailer near Wells’s home.2ABC News. Neo-Nazi Accused of Hate Crime Murder Gets Makeover The state sought the death penalty.5New York Times. Neo-Nazi Found Guilty in Florida Murder
Why the State Paid to Cover His Tattoos
While in jail awaiting trial, DiTullio added tattoos to his face and neck, including a large swastika, barbed wire, and a vulgarity. His public defender, Bjorn Brunvand, argued the new markings were “too frightening” and that no jury could weigh the evidence fairly if they were visible. Without concealment, Brunvand said, “there was no way a jury could look at John and judge him fairly.”6Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Extreme Makeover: Criminal Court Edition
Circuit Judge Michael Andrews agreed and ordered the state to pay a cosmetologist up to $150 per day to cover tattoos DiTullio had acquired after his arrest. Older tattoos, including a small cross under his right eye, stayed visible.7CBS News. State Must Pay to Hide Neo-Nazi’s Swastika Tattoos State Attorney division director Mike Halkitis said there was no justification for hiding the tattoos, and victims’ advocates objected to the public paying for it. Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz argued the makeup could actually mislead jurors, because DiTullio’s ideology was central to the state’s own hate-crime theory.2ABC News. Neo-Nazi Accused of Hate Crime Murder Gets Makeover
Two Trials, Two Very Different Verdicts
The first trial took place in December 2009 at the West Pasco County Courthouse. After about nine hours of deliberation, the jury deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of acquittal, and Judge Andrews declared a mistrial.8The Ledger. Man’s Murder Trial Ends With Hung Jury Brunvand had told the jury someone else inside what he called the “Nazi compound” near the trailer park was responsible.7CBS News. State Must Pay to Hide Neo-Nazi’s Swastika Tattoos
The second trial began in December 2010, again with makeup covering the newer tattoos. On the evening of December 15, 2010, jurors returned in less than 30 minutes with a verdict of guilty on first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. The jury recommended life over death, and on December 16, 2010, Judge Andrews sentenced DiTullio to life without the possibility of parole.9The Ledger. Pasco Neo-Nazi Murderer Gets Life in Prison He reportedly refused the concealing makeup for the sentencing hearing.4CBS News. Neo-Nazi Convicted of Murder, Sentenced to Life in Prison
Appeals Through 2025
Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal affirmed DiTullio’s conviction on February 15, 2019, in DiTullio v. State of Florida, Case No. 2D18-225.10FindLaw. DiTullio v. State of Florida
DiTullio then sought federal habeas corpus relief. On March 12, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of his petition in DiTullio v. Secretary, Department of Corrections, Case No. 22-13609. His main claim was that trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for not calling a witness named Samantha Troupe at the second trial. The Eleventh Circuit found the decision was a strategic one that DiTullio had endorsed on the record, tied to concerns about state rebuttal witnesses and Troupe’s own circumstances.11U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. DiTullio v. Secretary, Department of Corrections
He also challenged three trial rulings: allowing a juror question about his “personal beliefs,” admitting testimony that he had attacked a fellow inmate while awaiting trial, and admitting a “Christmas card” he sent from jail to the father of one of the victims. The court held all three procedurally defaulted, because DiTullio had presented them in state court as state evidentiary issues rather than federal constitutional claims.12U.S. Supreme Court. Appendix to Application for Extension – DiTullio v. Secretary
DiTullio remains incarcerated on his life sentence.