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White supremacist admits to fatal stabbing, charged with murder

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — An admitted white supremacist has been charged with fatally stabbing a man in the backyard of a near-northwest home in August after he confessed to the slaying to police, according to court documents.

Aaryn Snyder, 31, was charged Friday with murder. Prosecutors said he stabbed 22-year-old Samuel Hardrix to death in a backyard of a home in the 1400 block of Schilling Avenue shortly before 9 a.m. Aug. 21.

Police were called to the yard after a woman spotted Hardrix’s body in her backyard. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Immediately afterward, detectives canvassed the neighborhood in an attempt to find any witnesses and crime scene technicians also collected and photographed evidence. Days later, though, Fort Wayne Police asked for the public’s help to solve the homicide.

According to a probable cause affidavit, on Sept. 19, Snyder confessed to the killing to an Allen County Confinement Officer, saying he stabbed Hardrix seven times because he was in his yard. Synder was in Allen County Jail for failing to register as a sex offender, according to jail records.

In an interview with Fort Wayne Police, then, Snyder said “this is a hate crime” and told a detective that he killed Hardrix because he was black and he is in a “white organization,” according to the affidavit. Synder said Hardrix had a pocket knife but Snyder took it and stabbed him several times, the affidavit said. He also described the knife to police.READ | Aaryn Snyder probable cause affidavit

Synder also told the detective that Hardrix was not the first person he stabbed or killed.

In the days after that interview, Synder repeatedly confessed to the killing to several more officers while in jail and asked if the crime would be considered a hate crime, the affidavit said.