John Patsalos (, born January 6, 1938) is an American former neo-Nazi who was convicted of the August 25, 1967 murder of American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell. Early life Patsalos was born in New York City to Greek parents. When John was five, his mother took him and his younger brother, George (born 1939), and moved to his grandmother's house. Shortly after, his father shot and killed his mother. John's father was convicted of manslaughter and sent to Sing Sing Prison. He was released on parole in 1953. After John's grandmother died, he and his brother were sent to the Bronx to live with their father. Both brothers spent two weeks at the Youth House while their father faced child abuse charges, but were released back into his custody. Career Patsalos served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1958 to 1960, when he was honorably discharged on grounds of "unsuitability" after being arrested at an American Nazi Party rally. He joined the American Nazi Party in 1960 and changed his surname to "Patler" to make it sound more like "Hitler". Patler became a captain in the American Nazi Party and the editor and cartoonist for the party's magazine, Stormtrooper. Patler drew racist and anti-desegregationist cartoons. However, he was expelled from the Party in March 1967 for "Bolshevik leanings" after disagreeing with party leader George Lincoln Rockwell about some of the party's policies. Patler described his relationship with Rockwell in endearing terms, stating "I loved him like a father and he loved me like a son". In his last letter to Rockwell, Patler wrote: "I don't think there are two people on earth who think and feel the same as we do. ... You are a very important part of my life. I need you as much as you need me. Without you there is no future". Shooting and sentencing On August 25, 1967, Patler shot and killed Rockwell while Rockwell was in his car, parked in front of a laundromat at an Arlington, Virginia, shopping center. Rockwell was shot with a 7.63 mm broomhandle Mauser pistol. Patler was arrested half an hour later, about a mile (1.5 km) from the scene of the shooting. He was convicted of first degree murder on December 16, 1967. The prosecutor requested a death sentence due to the highly premeditated nature of the slaying, but the jury recommended the most lenient sentence