Spokane Anti-Racist Action

16 Years Later, We Still Don't Forget: Melissa Hack Pleads Guilty, Implicates Others   Republished from the Anti-Racist Action website: Hack pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to murder, and her agreement outlines the following details: Melissa Hack, along with her brother, Ross Hack, John “Polar Bear” Butler, Leland Jones, Daniel Hartung and Mandie Abels were members of various skinhead groups. Hartung’s name surfaced during the state case — with Butler’s defense attorneys trying to pin the murders on him and Ross Hack — but he has never been charged, according to court records. Abels secretly pleaded guilty in federal court in 2012 to one count of conspiracy to murder, according to a later unsealed plea agreement. Melissa Hack said her brother Ross told her and Abels to meet Newborn at the Las Vegas body piercing shop where he worked, and invite him on a date in the desert. Newborn was targeted because he was a member of an anti-racist group and because he was thought to be sleeping with Hartung’s girlfriend. Shersty was with Newborn when the women went to make the date. Ross Hack told his sister if Shersty came along on, he would “have to get dealt with.” The women met the men back at the piercing shop, and Melissa Hack paged Butler a pre-arranged code to give them a heads-up. Ross Hack, Butler, Jones and Hartung were waiting for them when they arrived. The women introduced Newborn and Shersty to Ross Hack and Jones. Melissa then went to get a beer and saw Jones and her brother shoot Shersty. Newborn sprinted into the desert — Butler was on his heels, shotgun in hand. “We just shot the guy, let’s go,” Butler said to his girlfriend when he returned. The next morning Ross Hack told his sister she needed to go back and pick up bullet casings. Melissa Hack went with Butler and one of his friends, but they were spotted by people riding all-terrain vehicles. The prosecution and defense recommend Melissa Hack spend 20 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. She could serve less time if her cooperation proves helpful. Melissa Hack is set to be sentenced on Sept. 8. Her brother and Jones are scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 12. Butler’s whereabouts in the prison system are a mystery, suggesting that he might also be brokering a deal with federal prosecutors.