Judge Refuses To Separate Trials Of Aryan Peoples Republic Men

Three men charged with plotting to overthrow the government and replace it with a white nation will be tried together, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Eisele declined to sever the cases of Faron Lovelace and Danny Graham from that of Chevie Kehoe.

Kehoe and Graham, also known as Daniel Lee, each face seven charges, including racketeering and three counts of murder in aid of racketeering in the 1996 deaths of William Mueller, Nancy Mueller and her 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Powell. The bodies of the family members were found in a bayou in Pope County.

Lovelace is charged with a single count of racketeering.

All three are accused of participating in a group called the Aryan Peoples Republic to foment revolution and create a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest.

Kehoe and his brother, Cheyne Kehoe, both from Colville, Wash., were convicted in a high-profile shootout with police in Ohio.

Graham, of Yukon, Okla., had asked that his case be severed from that against Lovelace and Chevie Kehoe. Lovelace made a similar request, seeking separation of his case from the other two.

U.S. Attorney Paula Casey has said she will try to prove aggravating circumstances that would justify a death sentence for Chevie Kehoe and Graham if they are convicted.