A man identified in 2017 viral photos as one of the white supremacists and alt-right protesters at the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally died on Jan. 30, the same day he was set to go to trial in Arizona District Court in Tucson for allegedly smuggling fentanyl across the border south of Ajo.
Teddy Joseph Von Nukem, whose face is shown prominently in viral photos of men holding tiki torches in the alt right rally on Aug. 11, 2017, died at age 35, while a judge and jury waited for him in federal court in Tucson.
The Daily Beast reported Tuesday that Von Nukem died by suicide, shooting himself outside his Missouri home, according to an autopsy report. His death was first reported by independent journalist Molly Conger.
Originally from Phoenix and most recently living in Missouri, Von Nukem was stopped entering Arizona from Mexico at the Lukeville port of entry, driving a 2019 Nissan Pathfinder, on March 17, 2021, court records say.
Customs officers asked him to go to secondary inspection, where a canine alerted to an odor, and officers found 14 packages, weighing 15.08 kilograms, with a white powdery substance that tested positive for βproperties consistent with fentanylβ under the third-row seat and cargo floor compartments, the records say.
Von Nukem told officers he agreed to smuggle contraband into the U.S. and was paid about 4,000 pesos, the current equivalent of about $215, though he denied knowing he was smuggling fentanyl, according to a record in the case.
A jury trial was set to begin the morning of Jan. 30, and when Von Nukem didnβt show up, the court issued a warrant for his arrest. The case was later dismissed due to his death.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2022 seized 379 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl, a highly addictive substance that is 50 times more powerful than heroin.
