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July 5, 1999
Web posted at: 9:00 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT)

(CNN) -- Authorities are attempting to reconstruct the life of white supremacist Benjamin Nathaniel Smith to shed light on a deadly weekend shooting spree that targeted blacks, Jews and Asians and ended with the suspect's death at his own hand.

"I would have thought there would have been a trail -- that he would have told people what he was going to do -- but he didn't," said Skokie, Illinois, police Sgt. Michael Ruth.

Two people were killed and at least nine others wounded over a three-day period before Smith shot himself Sunday night three times as police pursued him in southern Illinois.

The following information is known:

• Smith was 21, stood 6 feet tall, weighed 135 pounds, and bore a tattoo on his chest that read "Sabbath Breaker."

• He was born and raised in Illinois; his parents now live in Northfield, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Police say the parents have been "unable or unwilling to offer any pertinent information." Smith, the couple's eldest son, attended the Chicago area's New Trier High School, one of the wealthiest public schools in the country.

• Until two years ago, Smith, his parents and two younger brothers lived in the posh Chicago suburb of Wilmette -- a country club world full of big houses, expensive cars and influential residents. Neighbors said the family mostly kept to themselves.

• Smith's father, Kenneth, is a doctor, his mother, Beverly, is a successful real estate agent. A former neighbor, Sid Condit, remembers the woman fondly: "She's a fine person, fine citizen, warm-hearted, apple pie, a soccer mom," he said.

• Smith's photo did not appear in his senior yearbook at New Trier. In his class statement he declared, "Sic semper tyrannis," which roughly translated means, "Thus ever to tyrants." That same phrase reportedly was shouted by John Wilkes Booth before he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.

• Smith attended Indiana University from the summer of 1998 through May, when he completed his sophomore year. The criminal justice major would have been a junior this fall. He was not enrolled for fall classes, but school officials say students often wait until late summer to re-enroll.

• The Daily Illini, the student newspaper at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, reported that Smith was a student there from September 1996 to February 1998. A school spokesman said Smith withdrew before he could be expelled. Urbana police said he had several run-ins with campus police. Records show he was reprimanded for marijuana drug possession, fighting in his room -- including one report of domestic violence against a female student, putting up racist posters, allegedly peeping into dorm windows and carrying unspecified weapons.

• The Daily Illini also quoted an ex-girlfriend as saying the timing of the shootings --which began on Friday and continued through the Fourth of July -- was not a coincidence. "This is his Independence Day from the government, from everything," said Elizabeth Sahr on Sunday. She also said Smith was emotionally and physically abusive during their one-year relationship.

• But Smith's African-American neighbor was shocked by the shootings. "There was never really a, 'I don't like you, I hate you because you're black,'" said Tyrese Alexander of Bloomington, Indiana. "He seemed to harbor intense anger, but it was never of a physical nature," Alexander said. "He never lashed out at anybody. He just had an angry look on his face."

• Smith came under the scrutiny of Indiana University officials last year for distributing racist fliers on campus. The fliers bore the mark of the World Church of the Creator, a Peoria, Illinois-based white supremacist group styled as a religion. Smith paid $35 in dues last year to join.

• Matthew Hale, the founder of World Church of the Creator, said Smith did not renew his membership when it expired in May. Nevertheless, Smith's dormitory address is still listed as an Indiana contact on the hate group's Web site.

• Hale told CNN Smith was a nonviolent, "pleasant person who believes in his people, the white people. I can't say anything bad about him." The church says on its Web site it "neither condones violence or unlawful activities, nor do we promote or incite them." Police and the Anti-Defamation League, however, have linked the church to violence. Members were convicted of the beating death of a black sailor.

• During the racist flier controversy on the Indiana University campus, Smith told a student newspaper that the American government favors minorities at the expense of whites.

• Richard McKaig, Indiana University's dean of students, met with Smith to discuss the fliers. "He was a very common type of student, nothing disturbing or unusual about him at that time," McKaig said. "Not his dress or look, except for his racist views, which were pretty abhorrent. He wasn't confrontational in any way. He just said 'I'm just passing out fliers. This is America.'"

• Smith was a regular contributor to the opinion pages of the Indiana Daily Student, penning letters under the nickname "August Smith".

• He was arrested this past April in Wilmette on charges of driving under the influence and illegal distribution of racist handbills. He showed up at a court hearing on June 25. Village Trustee Frank Whitehand said he believes the Wilmette case was pending in court.

• Harlan Loeb, Midwest counsel for the ADL, said that the organization had been tracking Smith's activities for years. "He is representative of the aimless, directionless young adult that is searching desperately for affiliation and tragically has found that kinship with organized hatred and bigotry," Loeb said.

Chicago Bureau Chief Jeff Flock, Correspondents Lisa Price and Gene Randall and The Associated Press contributed to this report. which was written by Jim Morris.

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