Published in the May 25, 2017 edition.

By MARK SARDELLA

TAMPA, Florida — The murder last Friday in Florida of an 18-year-old man from Wakefield appears rooted in the alleged killer’s past affiliation with hate groups and his perception of being disrespected after his recent conversion to Islam.

Andrew W. Oneschuk was killed in a Tampa, Florida apartment that he was sharing with three other men, according to news reports. Oneschuk’s friend, Jeremy Himmelman, 22, was one of the roommates and was also killed in the attack.

Another of the roommates, Devon Arthurs, has been charged with two counts of first degree murder and is being held without bail in Hillsborough County Jail.

Oneschuk was born in Winchester and raised in Wakefield, according to his obituary. He had attended Austin Preparatory School and St. John’s Preparatory School. After two years at St. John’s, he left to attend college two years early. He spent a semester at Bard College in Simon’s Rock where he obtained his GED before continuing his education at Bunker Hill Community College.

Oneschuk had traveled to Florida on May 6 to hunt and fish with Himmelman, according to Oneschuk’s obituary.

Immediately following the murders, Arthurs reportedly took hostages at a nearby smoke shop. He eventually freed the hostages and surrendered to police, according to reports, making references to “Allah Mohammed” as he was taken into custody.

According to a story in the New York Post, Arthurs told police that he killed Oneschuk and Himmelman at the Hamptons at Tampa Palms complex after becoming upset about what he perceived as “widespread anti-Muslim sentiment,” saying that he “wanted to bring attention to the cause.”

A police officer wrote in his report that Arthurs said he was upset that America was bombing Muslim countries.

“I had to do it,” Arthurs said, according to a police report obtained by the Tampa Bay Times. “This wouldn’t have had to happen if your country didn’t bomb my country.”

Records show Arthurs was born in Florida, according to the Times.

After his capture, Arthurs reportedly directed police to the unit at the Hamptons where the four men had been staying. Officers entered the apartment and found Oneschuk and Himmelman dead from gunshot wounds.

But the strange circumstances of the case were only beginning to unfold.

Upon their arrival at the apartment, police found Brandon Russell, 21, the fourth roommate, crying outside the door, news reports say. He had apparently just returned from National Guard duty and was still in uniform.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, police found neo-Nazi and white supremacist materials in Russell’s room, as well as a framed photo of Timothy McVeigh, an anti-government militant convicted of blowing up the Arthur P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168.

In the garage, investigators reportedly found a cache of explosives, including a cooler full of an explosive known as HDMT as well as other materials used in making and detonating explosives.

Russell was arrested by the FBI in Key Largo two days later on charges related to the explosives, the Times reported. He reportedly admitted to FBI agents at the time of his arrest that he belonged to neo-Nazi groups. It was unclear why he was in Key Largo or what he had been doing since being seen outside the apartment on Friday.

Arthurs and Russell were friends who frequented online white supremacist chat groups and internet sites, media outlets who spoke to acquaintances of the pair reported.

According to the criminal complaint seen by the Times, Arthurs told investigators that all four men shared neo-Nazi beliefs before he converted to Islam.

But Himmelman’s sister later told the Times that she was aware of Arthur’s and Russell’s white supremacist connections but insisted that her brother and Oneschuk did not agree with Russell’s extreme beliefs.

Both Oneschuk and Himmelman had plans to join the military, according to reports.

Himmelman’s sister told the Times that her brother and Oneschuk had traveled from Massachusetts to Tampa a few weeks ago, where they were invited to live at Arthur’s apartment. But according to Himmelman’s sister, Oneschuk and Himmelman soon realized that something was not right with Arthurs and were planning to move out in Monday, three days after they were found fatally shot.