(Vancouver, British Columbia)  A small cluster of flowers marks the spot where Aaron Webster's body was found one year ago in a popular cruising area in Vancouver.  Yet despite outrage in the city's gay community there have been no arrests.

Webster was beaten to death with a baseball bat.  No one saw the actual beating, but other gay men in Stanley Park November 17, 2001 said they saw three men get out of a green truck, one of them was carrying a bat.

The 41 year old Webster was discovered by a friend, lying naked in a pool of blood.

Police labeled the killing a hate-crime, and at one point nearly a dozen officers were involved in the search for Webster's killers.  Today, two officers are assigned officially to the case.  Unofficially it is cold, and unless the killers strike again, or there is a significant breakthrough it is doubtful Webster's murderers will ever receive justice.

Since the killing more than 20 hate crimes against gays have been reported to police.  Last summer, two American sailors were charged in the beating of a gay man in West Vancouver.

Jim Deva, who works at Little Sisters bookstore in the city's gay neighborhood says Webster's slaying was a wakeup call for the community.

People are no longer staying silent about bashings, Diva said

"Our community is going no! You can't beat on us anymore. You can't take hatred and throw it at us, without us reacting to it," he said 

Police still believe they will make an arrest in the Webster case.  Officers say they believe someone with pertinent information has yet to come forward.  

©365Gay.com Ltd® 2002

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