Arthur Tunney was a white supremacist serial killer who shot four African-Americans living in his neighborhood.
History
Tunney developed white supremacist beliefs after his mother was killed by an African-American mugger. He projected blame onto the entire black race for her death and began subscribing to white power magazines. Eventually, Tunney began prowling around his predominately African-American neighborhood with a shotgun, killing three people and injuring a fourth. Detectives Briscoe and Logan tracked him down through his subscription to a racist magazine and found that he fit a profile developed by Dr. Elizabeth Olivet of a loner who lives in the neighborhood, blames African-Americans for his problems, and owns a shotgun.
They brought Tunney in for questioning and arrested him when the surviving victim identified his voice from a voice lineup. While in jail, he was stabbed by an African-American inmate, further fueling his racism. Tunney went to trial, represented by African-American lawyer Horace McCoy. When someone committed a copycat murder, McCoy drafted a motion to have Tunney released on bail due to reasonable doubt about his guilt, which was granted. Once Tunney was out on the street, he tried to shoot an African-American woman, who shot and killed him in self-defense. (L&O: "Profile")
Known Victims
- 1993:
- Ruben Calzada (killed with a shotgun blast)
- Hector Duvall (killed with a shotgun blast)
- Ashita Khan (killed with a shotgun blast)
- Lionel Jackson (attempted, managed to survive)
- An unnamed african american girl and her father (both survived, the girl shot Tunney with a handgun, killing him in self-defense)