1997 murder in Denver, Colorado, United States
Murder of Oumar Dia| Date | November 18, 1997 (1997-11-18) |
|---|
| Location | Denver, Colorado, United States |
|---|
| Type | Homicide by shooting |
|---|
| Participants | Nathan Thill and Jeremiah Barnum (shooters) |
|---|
| Deaths | Oumar Dia |
|---|
| Non-fatal injuries | Jeannie VanVelkenburg (witness) |
|---|
On November 18, 1997, Mauritanian Oumar Dia was approached by white supremacist Nathan Thill at a bus stop and was shot dead.[1][2] Thill's accomplice, Jeremiah Barnum, also shot and injured witness Jeannie VanVelkenburg, who was left paralyzed after she ran to aid Dia.[1][2]
Incident
Oumar Dia was a father of three who lived in Mauritania until 1989, being expelled from the country by Arab leader due to being black.[3][4] Dia's family remained in Africa while he lived in the United States.[3] On November 18, 1997, Dia was waiting at a bus stop after working a shift as a housekeeper at a hotel.[4] According to testimony, Nathan Thill stated "[I] walked through town with my gun in my waist, saw the black guy and thought he didn't belong where he was at".[4] Thill then said that he thought to himself "How easy it would be to take him out right there, ... Didn't seem like much to me."[4] Thill and his accomplice Jeremiah Barnum then approached Dia, asked him if he was prepared to die and began to beat him while calling him racial slurs.[1][2][4][5] Nurse aide Jeannie VanVelkenburg attempted to intervene, telling the two to stop assaulting Dia.[5] Thill then shot Dia three times in the neck and chest.[4][5] VanVelkenburg was then shot in the spine while fleeing by Barnum, leaving her permanently paralyzed.[5] After his arrest, Thill explained his reason for killing Dia was his black skin, stating "In a war, anybody wearing the enemy's uniform is an enemy and should be taken out, ... I guess I was kind of thinking about him because he was black".[4][6]
Trials
Nathan Thill described himself as a soldier in a race war and admitted to killing Dia.[2] The first trial for Thill resulted with a hung jury.[2] In December 1999, Thill avoided a death sentence after admitting to killing Dia, instead being sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, with Thill stating before his sentencing "I grudgingly accept my life sentence . . . in order to slap the prosecution in their faces. They had the cards stacked in their favor".[2]
Jeremiah Barnum faced a mandatory life sentence, albeit he later made a plea deal that resulted with him being imprisoned for only seven years; from 2002 to 2009.[1][3][7] Barnum was shot and killed during an altercation with the police in 2012.[3]
Response
Protests occurred in the Denver area following the killing while some African American residents reported feelings of fear due to other recent incidents of racial violence occurring in Colorado.[4] President of the United States Bill Clinton visited Colorado in response to the racial violence occurring in the state at the time.[4] Following the incident, a paralyzed VanVelkinburgh stated, "I was trying to help someone who needed help and didn't have any idea I would end up in this situation, ... But I would do it again if I thought there was a chance that I could save someone's life."[4]
References
