Richard Snell (criminal) Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth and Family

Snell was held at the Tucker Maximum Security Unit until April 15, 1995, when he was transferred to the execution site. Snell’s death sentence was carried out on April 19, 1995 at the Cummins Unit in Lincoln County, Arkansas.

Snell watched televised reports of the Oklahoma City bombing on the day of his execution. Reports of his reaction varied, and Snell was either appalled at what he saw or was “smiling and chuckling and nodding.” One theory holds that Timothy McVeigh committed his bombing in retaliation for Snell’s execution. McVeigh, however, said that his primary motivation for the bombing was retaliation against the government for its Waco Siege that took place exactly two years prior on April 19, 1993 and the government’s handling of the Ruby Ridge crisis. McVeigh never testified as to why he chose the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

In exchange for leniency, Thomas testified against Snell and pleaded guilty to a federal racketeering charge and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He did not face state murder charges and was released from prison in the 1990s. Scott pleaded guilty to a non-capital charge of first degree murder.

On June 30, 1984, Snell killed black Arkansas State Trooper Louis P. Bryant near DeQueen, Arkansas. Snell then left the scene and drove across the Oklahoma state line. A truck driver who witnessed the killing of Officer Bryant followed him and contacted the Broken Bow police department. The police officers there set up a roadblock, where they engaged Snell in a shootout that resulted in Snell being wounded six times in the abdomen, knee, and ankle, and arrested. Snell was then returned to Arkansas for trial, where he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Bryant and death for the murder of Stumpp. Snell never denied the allegations made against him, or the crimes he was accused of having committed.

In 1983, Snell, accompanied by CSA members William Thomas and Steven Scott, attempted to dynamite a natural gas pipeline near Fulton, Arkansas, unsuccessfully. Scott was eventually captured and convicted of that crime, while several other CSA members were arrested on various other charges, mostly weapons violations. By 1985, the CSA had essentially fallen into inactivity due to most of its members having been either killed or incarcerated.

On November 3, 1983, Snell, accompanied by Thomas and Scott, shot and killed pawn shop owner William Stumpp, who he mistakenly believed was of Jewish descent, in Arkansas. Thomas waited outside while Scott followed Snell inside.

He was executed on the same day that Timothy McVeigh carried out the Oklahoma City bombing, which destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Snell had been accused of plotting to bomb the Murrah Building in 1983. Snell abandoned his plan after the rocket launcher he’d been practicing with exploded in his hands. He took this as a sign that God didn’t want him to go ahead with the plan. Snell had repeatedly predicted there would be a bombing on the day of his execution.

Richard Snell was a member of the white supremacist group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (known as the CSA), which was started in 1971 in the small community of Elijah, Missouri, by polygamist James Ellison. He was also a believer in the Christian Identity religion, and frequented Elohim City, a private community located in Oklahoma. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) had ongoing investigations into the organization. By the end of their operations, the ATF obtained 155 Krugerrands (gold coins), one live light antitank rocket (LAW), 94 long guns, 30 handguns, 35 sawed-off shotguns and machine guns, one light machine gun (a Japanese copy of the World War I Lewis, in .303 caliber), and three and a half bars of C-4 explosives. Much of this arsenal had been stolen.

Richard Wayne Snell (May 21, 1930 – April 19, 1995) was an American white supremacist convicted of killing of two people in Arkansas between November 3, 1983 and June 30, 1984. Snell was sentenced to death for one of the murders, and executed by lethal injection in 1995.