Charles Manson-obsessed neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division linked to 5 killings

A neo-Nazi group that idolised serial killer Charles Manson have been linked to five alleged murders across the United States within the last year.

Hate group Atomwaffen Division, who were formed online in 2015, have also been linked to an alleged bomb plot as well as murders in Florida, California and Virginia.

The group has an estimated 80 members and claims they are: "revolutionary national socialist organisation centred around political activism and the practice of an autonomous fascist lifestyle".

Most-recently, Atomwaffen Division has been linked to the killing of gay, Jewish 19-year-old student, Blaze Bernstein, who was stabbed to death and buried in a shallow grave earlier this month.

Bernstein had been stabbed 20 times before his body was found buried in a public park in California's Orange County.

ProPublica reported that the suspect, 20-year-old Samuel Woodward, is a member of Atomwaffen Division, having joined in 2016 and attended a three-day training camp in Texas.

The Washington Post reported that six current and former members of the violent hate group are believed responsible for deaths in three states.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, cells have been "reported in multiple states, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, Massachusetts, Washington and Wisconsin."

They added that group's "vile propaganda often promotes violence against minority communities, including LGBT people, Jews, Muslims, and African Americans."

The website for the group was filled with tributes to Charles Manson, calling him "a great revolutionary", a "warrior of truth", and "a hero"

Atomwaffen, German for "atomic weapon", supported Manson's attempts to spark a race war and the group have reportedly held "hate camps", according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The group is also linked to the killings of Jeremy Himmelman and Andrew Oneschuk, in Tampa, Florida, in May last year.

Devon Arthurs is alleged to have killed his roommates with police saying "all of them had been friends with a common Neo-Nazi belief," the Post reported.

Police believe that another roommate Brandon Russell, 21, was stockpiling guns and homemade explosives that he planned to use to attack power facilities and synagogues.

Russell, a Florida National Guard member, has since been jailed for five years for stockpiling the explosives.

It was reported that Russell and Arthurs were co-founders of Atomwaffen, while Himmelman and Oneschuk were also members.

Another alleged Atomwaffen member, Nicholas Giampa, allegedly killed his girlfriend's parents in December last year after they told their daughter to lesave him due to his obsession with fascism.