Ronald Ebens

Ronald Madis Ebens (born October 30, 1939) is an American convicted killer. Ebens, with his stepson Michael Nitz as an accomplice, killed Vincent Chin, a Chinese American draftsman, on June 19, 1982, in a racially motivated assault. This led to a federal indictment for violating Chin's civil rights, but only after public outrage at the probationary sentence and small fine imposed by Michigan Third Circuit Court Judge Charles Kaufman. Ebens was found guilty on one count of violating Chin's civil rights and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but the conviction was overturned on appeal.

Early life Ronald Ebens was born on October 30, 1939, in Dixon, Illinois and raised in Oregon, Illinois. He served 2½ years in Army Air Defense School. On August 25, 1965, Ebens started work at Chrysler Corporation's plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and was promoted to salaried trim foreman on November 8. referring to the Japanese auto industry, particularly Chrysler's increased sales of captively imported Mitsubishi models rebadged and sold under the Dodge and now-defunct Plymouth brands and Nitz's layoff from Chrysler in 1979, despite the fact that Chin was of Chinese descent, not Japanese. It is disputed whether Ebens uttered other racial slurs. Chin was rushed to Henry Ford Hospital and was comatose on arrival; he never regained consciousness and died four days later on June 23, 1982. He was only 27 years old. The United Auto Workers told Chrysler of a plan to strike if Ebens remained employed with Chrysler. As management, Ebens was not a member of the union, and the company placed him on vacation, asking him to leave Warren Truck Assembly later that same day. On July 16, Ebens was placed on unpaid status pending resolution of the case.

On March 28, 1983, Chrysler formally discharged Ebens from his position at Chrysler, citing that his plea entered a felony conviction on his criminal record. A retrial was ordered, and Ebens was acquitted of the final charge, with a Cincinnati jury finding no racial motivation in the killing of Vincent Chin.

A civil suit for the unlawful death of Vincent Chin was settled out of court on March 23, 1987. Nitz was ordered to pay $50,000 in $30 weekly installments over the following 10 years. Ebens was ordered to pay $1.5 million, at $200/month for the first two years and 25% income or $200/month thereafter, whichever was greater. This represented the projected loss of income from Chin's engineering position, as well as Lily Chin's loss of Vincent's services as laborer and driver. However, the estate of Vincent Chin would not be allowed to garnish social security, disability, or Ebens' pension from Chrysler, nor could the estate place a lien on Ebens' house. On September 6, 1990, a decision of no cause of action against the plaintiff, Ebens, and in favor for the defendant, Chrysler, at which point Chrysler attempted to sue for the $10,921.84 ($9,919 labor and $1,002.84 expenses) in legal fees it spent on the case. the Chin estate renewed the civil suit, as it was allowed to do every 10 years. Ebens' homeowners' policy paid about $20,000. Ebens has been attributed with conflicting statements as to whether he ever intends to fulfill his debt, but in a 1987 newspaper interview, Ebens told future filmmaker Michael Moore that he would not give his detractors satisfaction by committing suicide. Ebens stated on a phone interview from his home in Nevada with writer Emil Guillermo, saying that killing Chin was "the only wrong thing I ever done [sic] in my life," though partially blamed Chin for the killing and denied that the killing was motivated by racism.