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Skinhead Paratrooper Dies in Federal Prison

A skinhead paratrooper convicted a decade ago of killing two black people in Fayetteville, died Wednesday at a federal prison hospital in Missouri, authorities said.

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James Burmeister
SPRINGFIELD, MO. — A skinhead paratrooper convicted a decade ago of killing two black people in Fayetteville, died Wednesday at a federal prison hospital in Missouri, authorities said.

James Burmeister, 31, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of the December 1995 slayings of Jackie Burden and Michael James.

Burmeister was one of three former 82nd Airborne Division troops convicted in the case.

He was moved to federal prison eight years ago to protect him from other prisoners in North Carolina.

Authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine a cause of death.

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