Fred A. Leuchter
| Fred Arthur Leuchter | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Fred Arthur Leuchter, Jr. February 7, 1943 Malden, Massachusetts |
| Residence | Malden, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Known for | Manufacturer of execution equipment; author of Holocaust denial literature and speeches |
Fred Arthur Leuchter, Jr. (born February 7, 1943) is an American Holocaust denier. In the past, there is some evidence that he had been contracted by governmental authorities of several states of the United States to improve the design of instruments for capital punishment, but he no longer does so, primarily due to his lack of formal engineering experience, but also because of charges of running a "death row shakedown" in which Leuchter threatened to testify for the defense in capital cases if he was not given contracts for his services by the state.
Leuchter became known around the world for his testimony in defense of Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel in 1988. His study for Zündel's trial is referred to as the Leuchter Report after it was published by Zündel with that title. Leuchter's work is often presented by Holocaust deniers as scientifically based evidence for Holocaust denial. However, his research methods and findings were discredited in a 1999 Errol Morris documentary on the controversy, entitled Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr., as well as elsewhere.
He was born on February 7, 1943 to Fred Arthur Leuchter, Sr. in Malden, Massachusetts.
Leuchter received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Boston University in 1964. Leuchter holds patents for a geodetic instrument and an electronic sextant. Leuchter has said he is "unregistered as a professional engineer" because his state of Massachusetts didn't have a state registration program for professional engineers, a claim that was false, as seen by the fact that in 1991 he faced charges of practicing engineering without a license issued by the Massachusetts board which regulates professional engineers. Leuchter signed a consent decree with that board and settled with prosecutors to avoid a trial by serving two years of probation. According to The New York Times, before selling execution equipment Leuchter was a former dealer in military surveillance equipment.
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