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WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Wife and stepson of Frank Ancona, professed leader of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, were charged with first degree murder on Monday, days after the husband and father was shot dead in what law enforcement officials called a "tragic and senseless act of violence" .
Ancona's body was found with gunshot wounds to the head on Saturday on the banks of the Big River in Washington County, Missouri, by a family who went there to fish, according to a report from the New York Times website.
The 51-year-old was killed in a marital quarrel at his home last Thursday, and his body was then left at a remote location, said the report, quoting local authorities. His death was believed with no connections with his membership in the KKK.
On Monday, Ancona's wife, Malissa Ancona, 44, and stepson, Paul Jinkerson Jr., 24, were charged with a range of crimes in connection with the killing, including first degree murder and the abandonment of a corpse, according to the St. Francois County Sheriff' s Department.
In an interview with The New York Times earlier this month, Ancona said he had been a member of the Klan for more than 30 years. He formed the Traditionalist American Knights in 2009 and was identified as the "Imperial Wizard" for the group.
There are at least 29 separate, rival Klan groups currently active in the United States, and they compete with each other for members, dues, media attention and the title of being the true heir to the Ku Klux Klan, which was founded in 1865, said Mark Potok, a researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremism in the country.
Ancona's group was not considered the largest or the most influential iteration of the Klan, said the report.
However, the group's website and fliers contained racist cartoons and violent messages. In a photo on the group's website, Ancona, in a white hood, was standing in front of a burning cross.
"The media will tell you The KKK is dead, gone, irrelevant," Ancona said in a statement on the group's website. "They have tried since the birth of the Klan to downplay the influence and power of the KKK... Let me tell you they are the haters. They have engaged in a campaign to destroy our Race, culture, and heritage."
