Nathan Gale was a 25-year-old Marine Corps veteran who murdered heavy metal icon "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott in front of hundreds of fans as he performed at an Ohio nightclub in December 2004 — but his exact motive remains unclear.
RedditNathan Gale, the 25-year-old heavy metal fan who murdered “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott.
On Dec. 8, 2004, a 25-year-old man named Nathan Gale went to a heavy metal concert at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio — but he wasn’t there to watch the show. The lead act of the night was Damageplan, a new band formed by the Abbott brothers “Dimebag” Darrell and Vinnie Paul after their former group, Pantera, broke up in 2003.
Gale had reportedly been obsessed with Pantera, and he was upset when the band split. However, it’s unknown if this had anything to do with his decision to rush onstage and murder Dimebag Darrell as Damageplan performed their opening song.
After shooting the guitarist several times, Gale killed three other people and took a man hostage. Then, three minutes after the attack began, a police officer fatally shot Gale, bringing an end to the grisly massacre.
The resulting investigation into Dimebag Darrell’s death revealed some hints about Nathan Gale’s motives, but to this day, nobody knows exactly why he decided to take the life of one of his favorite musical artists.
Who Was Nathan Gale?
While little is known about Nathan Gale’s early life, his troubles seemingly began in earnest during high school, when he began struggling with substance abuse. By the time he was 22, however, he’d completed a drug rehabilitation program and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
His mother, Mary Clark, was so proud of him that she purchased him a Beretta pistol after he finished basic training. But Gale’s stint in the military lasted just 18 months, and he was discharged in November 2003.
The Secret Lives of Women/We TVNathan Gale was discharged from the Marine Corps after 18 months.
As reported by the Plainview Herald in 2004, Clark said that her son was discharged due to paranoid schizophrenia. Others who knew Gale noted that he was a troubled young man, but he didn’t seem violent.
Gale returned home to Marysville, Ohio, with medication for his schizophrenia, but his mother wasn’t sure if he continued to take it. Indeed, his behavior became more and more erratic throughout 2004, and some of his friends even began distancing themselves from him.
Lucas Bender, the manager of a tattoo shop that Gale frequented, told Rolling Stone in 2004 that Gale “came in on a daily basis. I tried to keep him away from the clientele; he kind of gave everyone a weird impression.”
The Secret Lives of Women/We TVNathan Gale (left) with his mother, Mary Clark.
Bender also added, “Nathan was infatuated with guitarists.” Gale was particularly obsessed with the band Pantera.
By late 2003, Gale had begun laughing and talking to himself. He showed up at a friend’s house with lyrics from Pantera songs written on a sheet of paper. He said that the band had stolen them from him and he planned to sue them because of it.
Then, in April 2004, Nathan Gale had his first troubling encounter with “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. Eight months before he murdered the guitarist, he attended a Damageplan show in Cincinnati, Ohio. As the band played, he jumped onstage and began destroying lights and other equipment, resulting in $1,800 in damage. He was eventually dragged away, and one of the band members allegedly quipped to the audience, “I’d like to introduce you to the fifth member of the band.”
Damageplan ultimately decided not to press charges because they didn’t want to return to Cincinnati for court proceedings. Of course, if they had known then what Nathan Gale would do less than a year later, they may have reacted differently.
The Tragic Massacre At The Alrosa Villa Nightclub
On Dec. 8, 2004, Damageplan was set to perform at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio. Several other bands took the stage before the group, but Nathan Gale wasn’t among the crowd inside. Despite the cold winter night, he was standing in the parking lot. The club’s manager, Rick Cautela, told Rolling Stone, “He was just a crazy fan trying to talk to members of the band. One of my guys who helps to set up the bands eventually told him to leave.”
Paul Soth/Wikimedia CommonsThe Alrosa Villa nightclub where Dimebag Darrell was killed in 2004.
Gale didn’t listen. When Damageplan began playing just after 10 p.m., he jumped over a six-foot-tall fence, entered the venue through a side door, and rushed onto the stage. One man who watched him come in recalled, “He was on a mission. He looked angry. He was walking like he was going into battle.”
As Dimebag Darrell headbanged to the band’s opening song, Nathan Gale walked right up to him and shot him in the head. The crowd’s initial reaction was a mix of shock and confusion. Some people thought it was a hoax, but Darrell’s brother, Vinnie Paul, immediately stopped playing the drums and stood up. Jeffrey “Mayhem” Thompson, the band’s head of security, tried to tackle Gale and was fatally shot.
RedditDimebag Darrell with Damageplan at a concert in Toronto just days before his murder.
Nightclub employee Erin Halk also tried to restrain Gale, but he was killed as well. So was Nathan Bray, a fan who jumped on the stage in an attempt to help Dimebag Darrell. Three other people were wounded in the rampage.
As Gale took drum technician John “Kat” Brooks hostage, a police officer named James Niggemeyer walked into the room and fired at him from 20 feet away. Nathan Gale instantly fell to the ground dead.
Gale had carried out his attack using the Beretta pistol his mother had bought him two years earlier. Clark later lamented, “I’ll never, never be able to live that part down.”
The Aftermath Of Dimebag Darrell’s Death
Rob Watkins / Alamy Stock PhotoDimebag Darrell Abbott of Pantera and Damageplan was a renowned metal guitarist.
In the wake of Dimebag Darrell’s death, investigators set out to determine Nathan Gale’s motive. Many people knew Gale to be eccentric, but few thought he was the sort of person to resort to such horrific violence.
The police chief in Marysville, Ohio, Floyd K. Golden, told idobi Radio in 2004, “[T]here were no real serious problems with him. He was not the kind who drew a lot of attention… [T]his is a shock to the community.”
“He seemed like a really good guy,” said local bartender Teresa Speakman. “He was just real quiet and he never bothered anybody.”
The Secret Lives of Women/We TVA home photograph of Nathan Gale.
Others, however, were less surprised. Autumn Bender, Lucas Bender’s sister who also worked at the tattoo parlor, remarked that Gale gave the staff “the creeps,” and Lucas recalled that he once told friends to stay away from Gale.
“I said he’s like those Columbine kids,” said Lucas, “and you never know if he might mow somebody down some day.”
Some people believe that Gale was so angry about Pantera splitting up that he took out his frustrations on Dimebag Darrell. Others think he simply stopped taking his schizophrenia medication and experienced a paranoid delusion that turned deadly.
While police officers did reportedly find two handwritten notes in Gale’s house, they were cryptic, with no real clues about why he may have carried out his murderous rampage. The truth about his attack remains a mystery to this day.
After reading about Nathan Gale and the death of Dimebag Darrell, discover how Robert John Bardo’s obsession with Rebecca Schaeffer led to murder. Or, learn about the “Dexter Killer,” Mark Twitchell.
