Father in Apparent Murder-Suicide was 'Congressman' in 'Republic'
Last week, police made a startling announcement in their investigation of a fire that killed a father and son in their rural West Virginia mobile home in January. They revealed that David Hutzler, 56, and his 9-year-old son James, known as 鈥淢ack,鈥� were each shot in the head before the trailer burned. The scene bore all the signs of a murder-suicide.
Investigators found accelerants used to start the fire scattered around the property in Glengary, W.Va. An autopsy later determined that one bullet had grazed the young boy鈥檚 chin before a second bullet took his life 鈥撯�� a detail that left terrifying questions about the young boy鈥檚 final moments.
"Due to the findings in the investigation it is believed that David Hutzler fatally shot his son James 'Mack' Hutzler and set fire to his residence before taking his own life," as they wrapped up their investigation.
A Hatewatch investigation has now confirmed that Hutzler was once a 鈥渃ongressman鈥� in the Republic for the united States of America (RuSA), one of the largest and most organized antigovernment 鈥渟overeign citizens鈥� groups active in the United States today. Led by 鈥減resident鈥� of Ozark, Ala., and with representatives in nearly every state, the group says the federal government is illegitimate and it is 鈥渞einhabiting鈥� the true government.
Adherents of hold bizarre, complex antigovernment beliefs. Sovereigns think they 鈥撯�� not judges, juries, law enforcement or elected officials 鈥撯�� get to decide and which to ignore, and they don鈥檛 think they should have to pay taxes. Hutzler, it seems, was a true believer.
He littered the Internet with tirades that made ludicrous claims and wrote that the Constitution needed a 鈥渞eset.鈥� Laws didn鈥檛 matter anymore, he mused, not when the federal government had become tyrannical.
On Jan. 3 鈥撯�� three days before he died 鈥撯�� he posted a rant on the popular antigovernment forum 鈥淲eekly Geo-Political News and Analysis.鈥� He warned that the federal government was systematically dismantling U.S. currency. It wouldn鈥檛 be long before enlightened 鈥淧atriots鈥� like him had little option but insurrection.
鈥淭he moment the first [person] is picked up, taken into custody or 鈥榙isappeared鈥� by any law enforcement organization or military department (including special ops) 鈥� it鈥檚 gonna be 鈥榞ame on鈥� for a lot of folks,鈥� he warned.
It wasn鈥檛 RuSA driving those fears 鈥撯�撀爊ot directly. At the time of his death, Hutzler had broken away from Turner to form a new sovereign group named the 鈥淰andalia Solution鈥� that was focused on bringing common law courts and citizen grand juries 鈥撯�� typical sovereign methods 鈥撯�� to West Virginia. 鈥淚 David Hutzler divorce myself from the organization known as the Republic 鈥� RuSA 鈥� or Tim Turner and cabinet. I now belong to the Vandalia Solution. A Republic for our times,鈥� he wrote on June 5.
It might have been a different group, but Hutzler took much of the RuSA model with him.
In essays, Hutzler made logic-leaping assumptions about the Constitution. 鈥淭oo many amendments,鈥� he wrote. Elsewhere he proclaimed that the Federal Reserve was systematically pushing everyday Americans into poverty. 鈥淯ntil evil has to match evil I shall continue to rain light on the dark,鈥� he wrote. He also was a tireless proponent of what is known as the 鈥淚raqi dinar scam鈥� 鈥撯�� based on a belief dating to the beginning of the Iraq war that buying devalued Iraqi currency will yield untold riches when the country鈥檚 economy returns.
While there is no indication that his death or his son鈥檚 had anything to do with Hutzler鈥檚 increasingly extreme beliefs, some who say they knew him have on a news website suggesting that investigators are involved in a cover-up to protect the real murderers 鈥� presumably the government.
It鈥檚 probably better to ask if the same delusions that led Hutzler鈥檚 life down the path of government conspiracies and radical solutions had something to do with how it ended.
In some of his last online postings, he seemed paranoid 鈥� certain that the federal government was after him. Among his final words were these: 鈥淚 think I鈥檝e said quite enough to put my life in danger today.鈥�
Sadly, in all probability, the only danger he really faced were the federal bogeymen all in his head.
