‘Skinhead’ Gets Life Sentence for Fatal Racist Attack
A member of a skinhead group Monday was sentenced to life in prison, with no parole for at least 20 years, for beating a man to death because he was black.
Kenneth M. Mieske, 23, of Portland, was ordered to serve at least 20 years before he will be eligible for parole. (The state parole board could release him earlier only by a unanimous vote.)
Mieske pleaded guilty to felony murder in the Nov. 13 death of Mulugeta Seraw, 27, an Ethiopian national who was attacked with a baseball bat outside his apartment here.
When he pleaded guilty a month ago, Mieske admitted that he killed Seraw “because of his race.”
Mieske also was sentenced to two concurrent five-year terms for two counts of first-degree intimidation, one for the attack on Seraw and another for the stabbing of a black security guard at a grocery store.
At his sentencing, Mieske offered an apology to Seraw’s uncle, but added: “I don’t blame you if you don’t accept it.”
“I hope I can come out and be a good citizen instead of a right-wing radical and hate monger,” Mieske said.
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