Neil Sigurd Wampler, one of the militants who joined the armed occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge early on, insisted that he is allowed to carry a firearm even though he was convicted of murdering his father.
An investigation by The Oregonian revealed this week that Wampler, 68, had been convicted of second-degree murder in 1977, when he was 29.
According to police reports, Wampler hit his father in the head with a 16-inch rod, and then hitchhiked to a liquor store, where he called police to confess. He later pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in 1981.