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3 bodies and man accused of dumping them at New Mexico hospital tied to Aryan Brotherhood, FBI says

Richard Kuykendall, 41, was arrested on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in Albuquerque.

The FBI said it suspects that a man who is believed to have driven three human bodies to a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, last week had been in an Aryan Brotherhood dispute that led to their deaths.

The man, Richard Kuykendall, 41, was arrested on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, according to Bernalillo County inmate records, which show that he was booked early Saturday. Kuykendall is accused of stashing a pistol that came from out of state after a shootout with three men in a Chevrolet Malibu, a federal complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court for New Mexico said.

An FBI agent said in the complaint that security video shows Kuykendall's being shot at after the Chevy pulled up behind him and he tried to get inside the car. Kuykendall ducks as shots continue, the agent said in the complaint, but the video does not show him firing back.

At some point after the gunfire stops, Kuykendall is seen shutting himself inside the car before he gets out and lingers near a dumpster for a few seconds and then returns to the car, the complaint says. Kuykendall is believed to have stashed a Beretta model APX 9 mm pistol, a gun manufactured in Tennessee, in the dumpster, the complaint says.

He then sits on top of the person in the driver's side and drops the car off at a hospital, where he tells a security guard that there are three dead men inside and flees, the complaint alleges.

"All three men were subsequently declared deceased," the complaint says. "The vehicle was riddled with bullet holes. A loaded pistol was found under the driver's seat."

The FBI agent says in the complaint that he does not believe Kuykendall killed all three men but that he believes Kuykendall may be responsible for the death of one of them. Kuykendall has not been charged with the deaths of any of the three men.

Albuquerque police found an empty pistol in a locked-back position and several bullet casings in and around the vehicle, the complaint says.

The three men were identified only as BT, JF and MS, who were all verified members of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, the complaint says.

The Aryan Brotherhood is the country's oldest major white supremacist prison gang and a national crime syndicate, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit group that monitors hate groups. Irish inmates formed the group to fight Black inmates in San Quentin State Prison in California in 1964 as prison systems began to desegregate.

Members of the Aryan Brotherhood participate in crimes in and outside prison walls, including drug trafficking, murder for hire and armed robbery, the Southern Poverty Law Center says.

Kuykendall was seen in the hospital security video as having tattoos with connections to the Aryan Brotherhood, including a shamrock, a Viking warrior, a lighting bolt and "White Boy" tattoos, the complaint says.

"The AB enforces its rules and promotes discipline among its members and associates by murdering, attempting to murder, conspiring to murder, assaulting, and threatening those who violate the enterprise's rules or pose a threat to the enterprise," the complaint says. "The AB also uses murder and the threat of murder to maintain a position of power within the prison and jail systems."

Kuykendall has multiple convictions in New Mexico and Massachusetts as far back as 1998, according to the complaint, including battery with a deadly weapon, identity theft and larceny.

He was being held Sunday, and it is unclear when his next court date will be based on Bernalillo County inmate records. He did not have a case in state court Sunday morning, and no attorney was on file in federal court records.