The man accused of trying to kidnap the Holocaust survivor and writer Elie Wiesel has been found guilty by a jury in San Francisco of false imprisonment and committing a hate crime. In February 2007, according to various reports, Eric Hunt pulled Wiesel from a hotel elevator to interview the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and force him to deny the Holocaust. Hunt, who had trailed Wiesel across the country, also had faced felony charges of attempted kidnapping and stalking. His defense claimed that he was suffering from a bipolar disorder.
Hunt had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity after being extradited to San Francisco from a New Jersey mental institution. "He has been given medication and now he is restored," his attorney John Runfola said. At his sentencing in August, Hunt faces up to three years in prison.
Wiesel, well known for his memoir on the Holocaust, was 15 years old when his Jewish family was deported by the Nazis to the Auschwitz death camp. He lost his parents and younger sister there.
