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When James Edsel Tucker was fatally stabbed at a Winnipeg apartment early Thursday, it was the end of a dark era in Manitoba history, one the 45-year-old had apparently tried to distance himself from by changing his name.

Police confirmed that Tucker was previously known as William James Harcus, whom an expert on racist groups said was the former head of the Manitoba Ku Klux Klan and a defendant in a high profile Winnipeg hate crimes trial.

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Two men have been charged with second-degree murder but there has been no sign the killing was related to Harcus’ secret past as the leader of the Manitoba Klan, which claimed Canada was the “land of the white race.”

The victim’s identity was confirmed by Helmut-Harry Loewen, a retired University of Winnipeg professor. The Anti-Racist Canada blog also reported the murder victim had once been the Grand Dragon of the KKK in Manitoba.

A sociologist who has long studied hate groups, Loewen said Harcus had changed his name after he and two others went on trial for hate crimes in 1992. Harcus, then 21, was charged with distributing pamphlets denigrating blacks.