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Death Sentence Averted, Thill Faces More trials

Following a mistrial on charges of first-degree murder, a Denver Skinhead who once boasted publicly of slaying a West African man at a bus stop has pleaded guilty to the killing in return for avoiding the death penalty.

Following a mistrial on charges of first-degree murder, Denver Skinhead Nathan Thill — who once boasted publicly of slaying a West African man at a bus stop — has pleaded guilty to the killing in return for avoiding the death penalty.

Thill is now serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole in the killing of Oumar Dia and the shooting of a woman who tried to help Dia. Jeannie Van Velkinburgh, a nurse's aide, was paralyzed from the waist down.

Thill has not done well since he was jailed for the November 1997 attack.

He has been charged with three counts of second-degree assault for allegedly attacking a jail official and two sheriff's deputies; and with two counts of illegal possession of weapons and a handcuff key.

This summer, he faces five separate trials.