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A would-be Aryan warrior who apparently thought he鈥檇 committed the perfect murder forgot one thing: There鈥檚 no mud in North Dakota in the middle of the winter.

It was a pair of muddy boots and coveralls, along with a mud stain on a basement wall, that led investigators to discover the buried, decapitated head of a missing state university researcher in January 2011 in Cooperstown, N.D., Griggs County Sheriff Robert S. Hook told Hatewatch today.

Daniel Evan Wacht, a 31-year-racist from California with a lengthy criminal record, was convicted Tuesday in Griggs County District Court of felony murder in the death of Kurt Johnson, 54, of Cooperstown.

Shortly before the killing, Wacht 鈥渉ad made the statement that he was going to start an Aryan Nations movement by either blowing something up or killing someone,鈥欌�� the sheriff said, repeating testimony from the week-long jury trial.

The remainder of the victim鈥檚 body has not been recovered but an active search is underway in North Dakota and near Brainerd, in Crow Wing County, Minn., about 300 miles away, where Wacht is believed to have made an unexplained trip, the sheriff said.

鈥淲e think the body was taken to Minnesota,鈥欌�� Hook said, 鈥渁nd we鈥檙e still actively looking for it.鈥�

The racist killer decapitated the victim with a heavy sharp instrument, that wasn鈥檛 recovered, either to keep the skull as a 鈥渢rophy鈥� or to hide evidence that Johnson was shot in the forehead, the sheriff theorized.

Johnson, a highway transportation researcher on the faculty of North Dakota State University in Fargo, was last seen alive leaving the Oasis Bar with Wacht in Cooperstown on Dec. 31, 2010, the sheriff said.聽 The two men, who were casually acquainted, had been drinking in the bar on New Year鈥檚 Eve.

On Jan. 4, 2011, when Johnson was reported missing by a relative, attention immediately shifted to Wacht, who was arrested on Jan. 5 after he stepped out of a mini-van carrying a loaded 9mm Glock handgun, the sheriff said.

Wacht initially was arrested on a probation violation warrant issued in California and later was formally charged with Johnson鈥檚 murder. Before the suspect鈥檚 true identity was determined, he was known only as 鈥渕achine gun head鈥� by townsfolk who saw an assault rifle tattoo on the right side of his closely shaved head, the sheriff said.

After a search warrant turned up ammunition in the Wacht鈥檚 van, two additional search warrants were obtained to search the 100-year-old house in Cooperstown 鈥� across the street from the courthouse 鈥� where he was living.

When blood stains were found on two pillows and a cut-out portion of a couch in the home, the third warrant was obtained to search the full basement and an adjoining crawl space under a front porch for traces of the missing man, Hook said.

Investigators found a mud smear on a wall near a small hatch door sealing off the crawl space.聽 They also located a pair of muddy boots and mud-stained coveralls in the basement.

鈥淵ou know, there鈥檚 nowhere to get mud here in the middle of winter,鈥欌�� the sheriff said, referring to the freezing snow and cold that grip his state.

With the muddy clues, the investigators鈥� focus turned to the home鈥檚 walled-off basement crawl space where they found recently disturbed earth.聽 There, using a probe, investigators recovered the victim鈥檚 head buried 18 inches deep and wrapped in multiple plastic bags.

The sheriff, who knew the victim, said he was able to make positive identification, but DNA and dental records confirmed the identity.聽 Fragments of a 9mm slug, believed to be from the gun Wacht was carrying when arrested, were recovered from the skull.

Wacht, who has multiple racist tattoos, admitted to drinking with the victim on New Year鈥檚 Eve, but denied committing the murder.

The guilty verdict was returned on what would have been the 56^th birthday of Johnson, a divorced father of three, the reported.

鈥淢y brother was a good man,鈥� the victim鈥檚 brother, Korey Johnson, who lives in Minnesota, told the newspaper. 鈥淗e has three wonderful kids who he loved dearly. He loved life.鈥�