The Murder of Dimebag Darrell – Former Pantera Guitarist and Vocalist – by Nathan Gale

One of Ohio’s most famous cases is the murder of former Pantera guitarist and vocalist, Dimebag Darrell by Nathan Gale.

Anytime a celebrity is assassinated, which Dimebag’s murder can definitely be called that, it is guaranteed to make the news and go down as a historical event.

During a concert at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot 3 times and killed instantly while on stage.

Because the nature of Pantera’s content and field of music, people in the audience at first thought that this was part of the entertainment and that it was staged. Once the gunman continued to fire rounds though, there was a quick realization that this was no act of entertainment.

The head of Pantera’s security, Jeff Thompson, attempted to subdue the perpetrator, but unfortunately was killed while tackling him, Alrosa Villa employee, Erin Halk, was also killed while trying to bring the gunman down.

A drum technician for another band that was performing with Pantera was shot while attempting to take the gun away from the shooter and then was taken hostage.

A group of police entered the venue, several from the front and one from the back. As the shooter was distracted by the group in front, the lone officer from behind was able to get a shot off on the gunman while being able to avoid harming the hostage.

The officer’s bullet instantly killed the shooter and found a large remaining quantity of ammunition on the attacker’s person.

Who was the attacker

The attacker was identified as former Nathan Gale. There have been several attempts to understand the actions that he took that day. Some say that he was angry at the fact the Pantera was breaking up the band.

A separate theory was that Nathan Gale had the thought that Dimebag had stolen a song that he had written.

One other fact worth noting is that he previously got in trouble at the other band’s concert about half a year earlier. Perhaps a combination of these events spurred his rage, but the motivation still hasn’t been thoroughly determined.

Further Reading:

Read more about the murder in RollingStone magazine