Tampa Bay Coalition
Eye on GLBT Crime & Justice News Archives 2003
 
January, February, March & April
 
April 2003
 
Gay Politician's Assassin Sentenced To 18 Years
April 17: Volkert van der Graaf, the man who confessed to killing Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Van der Graaf, an animal rights activist  told the court he regretted the killing but said that he believed he had prevented suffering by stopping Fortuyn's rise to power, which he compared to that of Adolf Hitler.
Related News Articles:
Mar 28: Trial Begins For Openly Gay Dutch Politician Pim Fortuyn Murder Suspect.
Mar 28: Murder Suspect Says Gay Politician Killed 'To Protect Muslims'.
Nov 25: Gay Politician's Killer Finally Breaks His Silence.
May 6: Dutch Far-Right Leader Shot Dead and Pim Fortuyn Obituary.
Video Clips News Reports: Gay Dutch Politician Pim Fortuyn's Life and Aftermath Death Caused.
 
Trio Charged In California Gay Killing, But, Hate Crime Charges Delayed
April 15: Police have charged three people with kidnapping, torturing and killing a northern California man because he was gay. But, prosecutors have withheld laying hate crime charges against, Jeanne Soja, Daymon Schrock and Dominique Daniel England, the three men accused in the brutal slaying of Robert Alan Maricle, 30.
 
Frank Calls On Gays To Oppose 'Brutal Regime' in Egypt
April 14: Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass) accusing the Egyptian ambassador to the US of lying about the treatment of gays in that country. The out congressman released a letter sent to Ambassador Nabil Fahmy that says Frank believes that the ambassador lied to him last year when he told Frank and other congressmen that Egypt was not targeting and persecuting gay men. The congressmen had complained to Fahmy about the arrests and subsequent trial of 52 men in a gay club on a Nile riverboat, but, Fahmy coninues to deny that Egypt authorities are involved in a crackdown on gay men.
Related News Articles:
April 10: Amnesty Intl. Calls For Appeals To Egypt Over Gay Entrapment.
April 3: Cairo, Egypt Once 'The Scene,' Now Cracks Down on Gay Men.
May 27: Egyptian Police Uses the Internet to Snare Suspected Gay Men.
Mar 21: Twenty-One Allegedly Gay Men Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison.
Eye on GLBT News "Egypt's Persecution of Gay Men" Archives 2001~2002
Eye on GLBT Special News Report "Gay in Egypt".
 
New Investigation Launched In Philly TG Murder
April 7: After months of inaction by Philadelphia police District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham has announced an investigation into the killing of a transgendered woman. Nizah Morris, 47, was found unconscious on a downtown street last December.  She died of massive head injuries two days later in hospital.
*April 6: DA to Investigate Morris Death and Editorial ~ Investigation Lauded. ~ PGN Article & Editorial ~
 
Arrest In Gay Activist Slaying
April 4: Police have arrested and charged 21-year-old Kenneth Stephens Junior with murder in the stabbing death of well known Pennsylvania gay activist Michael Pierson. The two men had been romantically involved for about six months. Friends said the relationship was often stormy.  
Related Mar 15th News Article: Pennsylvania Activist Accused Of Stabbing Partner Found Murdered.

Lesbian Judge Must Stand Trial in Domestic Violence Case
April 3: Santa Barbara County judge, Diana Hall, is accused of pulling a gun on her domestic partner during a drunken confrontation was ordered to stand trial on criminal charges that could end her legal career. Hall was arrested Dec. 21 on suspicion of drunk driving after 911 call fromher domestic partner, Deidra Dykeman, who told officers Hall had pulled her hair and threatened to shoot one of their two cairn terriers. Jan 8: Lesbian Judge Investigated For Spousal Abuse.
Same-Sex Domestic Violence: A Map to Safety.
April 3: Victims of same-sex domestic violence face many obstacles on their road to safety, but
local domestic violence advocates want them to know that help is only a phone call away.
Terror at Home: Domestic Violence in Gay Lives
Mar 29: Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered survivors of domestic violence face additional challenges. Such as, the threat of being "outed" to an employer or family members, homophobia in police departments or criminal justice system; or threats of being stripped of custody and visitation rights to children.
 
New South Wales Coroner's Court Inquest Into Suspected Murder of Three Gay Men in Sydney
Convicted Gay-Killer Wishes 'Closure' For Dead Man's Family
April 8: A man who spent 12 years in jail for a gay-hate murder shook the hands of family members attending an inquest into the death of their own gay son and the disappearance of two other men in Sydney. Matthew Thomas Davis told the family of John Russell, whose death at the foot of cliffs at Marks Park, Tamarama, in 1989, "I admit I was an angry young man but I did not do it. I will even take a polygraph test. I had nothing to do with your brother and your son's death," during the inquest being held by the deputy state coroner. The inquest continues.
Police Flaws Not Because Victim Was Gay: Says Former Sydney Police Detective
April 3: The former detective in charge of investigating the disappearance of WIN newsreader Ross Warren denied he had "fobbed off" a proper inquiry because Mr Warren was gay. But, the coronial inquest, also heard that basic policing, such as canvassing the area and taking crime scene photographs, was not carried out, and in one case vital DNA evidence was lost.
Gay Hate Gang Faces Justice At Inquest Into Suspected Murder of Three Gay Men in Sydney
April 1: NSW Coroner's Court has begun an inquest into the suspected murder of Wollongong news presenter Ross Warren, French national Gilles Mattaini and Bondi local John Russell. Who police believe were thrown into the ocean off cliffs in Sydney's eastern suburbs, in the 1980s. Sean Cushman, could be a member of the gang responsible for the deaths of three gay men. Cushman is a person of interest after he was identified in connection with the bashing of another gay man, David McMahon, in Dec 1989, five months after Mr Warren went missing.
 
March 2003
 
Killer of Gay Couple Gets 29 Years, More
Mar 28: White supremacist, James Tyler Williams, 32, who admitted killing a gay couple was sentenced to 29 years to life in prison. Williams will serve the sentence after he completes a 21-year federal sentence for fire bombing three synagogues and an abortion clinic. Superior Court Judge William Gallagher essentially denied a defense request that Williams be released from state to federal custody so the 21-year, three-month federal sentence takes precedence. Williams, who admitted fire bombing three Sacramento synagogues and a building housing an abortion clinic, had pleaded guilt to killing a gay couple in February of this year.
 
Gay Politician Killed 'To Protect Muslims'
Mar 28: Volkert van der Graaf, is on trial for killing Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn said he did it to to defend Muslims. That he alone was responsible for the killing, his goal was to stop Fortuyn exploiting Muslims as "scapegoats" and targeting "the weak parts of society to score points" to try to gain political power.
Gay Politician's Killer Breaks Silence
Nov 25: The man charged with the murder of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, virtually silent since his arrest,
has made a full confession. Volkert van der Graaf said that he killed Fortuyn because he considered him a danger to society.
May 6: Dutch Far-Right Leader Shot Dead and Pim Fortuyn Obituary. View the video video clips of the
News Reports on Openly Gay Dutch Politician Pim Fortuyn's Life, shooting and aftermath his death caused. [Video Clip Index].
 
Egypt Uses Web to Snare Suspected Gays
Mar 27: Egypt continues to aggressively seek through Internet chat rooms and punish men who are suspected of being gay. Wissam Abyad, 26, was entrapped on a gay Web site by an undercover agent. Abyad agreed to meet the man and then was arrested. He was charged with "debauchery," advertising "against public morals" and inciting others to debauchery. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison. On March 15, at a court in Cairo three young judges entered the room and without even hearing the cases of the 21 alleged gay men on trial, delivered their verdicts within two minutes: guilty. Each now face the maximum three years in prison, followed by a further three years of nightly sojourns in custody at the police station. TBC Eye on GLBT International News has comprehensive news coverage, from the very first arrests made as the witch hunt of gay men by the Egyptian police began, to the early morning raid of the Queen Boat Disco is available in TBC's Eye on GLBT Special News Report "Gay in Egypt".
 
Killed His Partner Now He Wants His Estate
Mar 6: A British man serving six years in prison for the murder of his partner is suing to inherit the dead man's $400,000 estate. Dominic Dalton was convicted in July 2001 for strangling Bernard Murphy with a dressing gown cord at their home in Brighton, after a late-night argument.
 
Judge Reduces Money Award to Ex-Manager in Helmsley Gay Bias Suit
Mar 5: A jury's award to a former hotel manager allegedly fired by Leona Helmsley because he was gay was reduced Tuesday from $11.17 million to $554,000. State Supreme Court Justice Walter Tolub said Helmsley is not a multibillion-dollar pinata "to poke a stick at in the hopes of hitting the jackpot."
 
Gay Bashed Man Marks Attackers With His Blood
Mar 5: New York City prosecutors are following through on a gay-bash victim's brave effort to mark his three attackers with his own blood. Raymond Spreng, 53, intentionally wiped his own blood on the three Queens men who punched, kicked and struck him with a bicycle frame.
 
February 2003
 
Remaining Williams Brother Pleads Guilty to Killing Gay Couple
Feb 28: A white supremacist who admitted fire bombing three Sacramento synagogues and a building housing an abortion clinic pleaded guilty to killing a gay couple. A plea agreement with prosecutors, 32-year-old James Tyler Williams will be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for 1999 killing of Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder in their Happy Valley home. Williams brother, Benjamin Matthew Williams, was also charged with killing Matson and Mowder, but, he killed himself in November in the Shasta County jail
 
Boys Coach Charged With Lewd Acts
Feb 20: Michael E. Phelps, boys basketball coach at Bishop O'Dowd H.S. Oakland, is scheduled to be arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court on charges that he molested a boy more than 30 years ago. Police had presented the case to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office in December and prosecutors charged Phelps with two counts of a lewd and lascivious act on a child under the age of 14. News article includes a link to view Video Clip KRON4 News Report "Boys Coach Charged With Lewd Acts"
 
Scotland Yard Sets Up Gay and Ethnic Minority Unit
Feb 20: Scotland Yard is going to set up a specialist pool of gay, lesbian and ethnic minority officers to be deployed on investigations to win the confidence of all communities. Police officers will be asked voluntarily to submit details of their sexual orientation and ethnic origin to a force database. Gay and lesbian officers will be called in to deal with homophobic crimes such as, the 1999 Soho nail-bombing and murders of gays.
 
Call to Get Tough With Gay Attackers
Feb 19: Lothians Green MSP Robin Harper launched a bid for tougher sentences for attacks on gays, disabled people, older people and women. He wants Scottish Parliament to extend the proposed anti-sectarianism legislation to cover other hate crimes.
 
No Death Penalty in Killing and Dismembering of Two Gay Men
Feb 18: Police said that Richard Rogers killed and dismembered businessman Thomas Mulcahy in 1992 and rent boy Anthony Marrero in 1993. He is alleged to have dumped their bodies in plastic bags on the Jersey shore. Three other men were killed in similar circumstances. The former nurse will not face the death penalty.
 
Lesbian 'Raped in Workman's Hut', Court Told
Feb 5: A Lesbian women was raped by a security guard in his bothy on a building site, a jury heard. The High Court in Edinburgh heard Kenneth Blyth attacked the 34-year-old woman after they started chatting in a pub.
 
Custody Battle Leads To Gay Murder Charge
Feb 5: An Illinois man has been charged in the 22 year old murder of his gay sex partner. Joseph Wenglarz has been charged in the 1981 slaying of Patrucinio Laspinas, 40, a Philippines native and factory worker who had become a U.S. citizen in 1975.
 
January 2003
 
Gay-Bashing Fugitive in Jail
Jan 31: Fugitive, Jonathan Bell, fled a six-month sentence for beating a gay man outside a San Francisco bar in 1995 has turned himself in to police, officials say. He also failed to make restitution and apologize to his victim, and apologize to the gay community, which were other requirements of his sentence. 
 
Bath Raid Divides Calgary Gays
Jan 25: Seven of the 18 men charged after policed raided Calgary's only bathhouse have pleaded not guilty.  The others entered guilty pleas in a court appearance this week.  They'll be allowed to take part in alternate measures and avoid criminal records.
Related News Articles:
Calgary Bathhouse Raid Angers Gays
Dec 18: Calgary's gay community is outraged over a police raid that shut down the city's only gay bathhouse, the episode raises painful memories of times when police habitually raided homosexual haunts.
Fifteen Charged In Bathhouse Raid.
Dec 14: Police raided the city's bathhouse, 13 patrons, were charged with "being inmates of a common bawdy house", and wo employees were arrested and charged with "keeping a bawdy house". 
 
Variety, Longtime Editor Are Sued by Gay Employee Who Was Fired
Jan 25: The longtime editor of the entertainment trade publication Variety was sued by Ramin Zahed, former editor, who alleges he was fired after complaining about being harassed because he is gay.
 
Lesbian Mother Convicted of Sex Attack on Schoolgirl
Jan 9: A married mother-of-three who had a lesbian affair with a teenager has been told she will be put on the sex offenders' register after being found guilty of indecent assault. A jury at Birmingham Crown Court found Susan Beesley, 39, guilty of three counts of indecent assault and one of child abduction.

Lesbian Judge Investigated For Spousal Abuse
Jan 8: Police arrested Santa Barbara County judge, Diana R. Hall on suspicion of drunk driving and have begun an investigation into spousal abuse after she allegedly brandished a pistol during an argument with, Deidra Dykeman, her domestic partner.
 
Gay Taunts Not Discrimination Judge Rules
Jan 8: A British Columbia Supreme Court Judge has ruled that homophobic taunts repeatedly hurled at a North Vancouver high school student is not discrimination based on sexual orientation because the victim is not gay. Justice Allan Stewart quashed a 2001 B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ruling that the North Vancouver school district had discriminated against Azmi Jubran based on his perceived sexual orientation when it failed to stop schoolmates who tormented and assaulted him.

Beach Hate Crime Condemned
Jan 6: Gay and civil rights groups denounced the New Year's shooting of a gay man in South Beach as one of the worst hate-crime attacks in the county in years. Two men, Adrian Miller, 19, of Long Branch, N.J., and Billy Ledan, 19, of Miami are facing attempted murder-hate crime charges.
Transvestite Shot; Men Charged With Hate Crime
Jan 3: Upon learning the object of his attention was not a woman, a New Jersey man pulled out a gun on South Beach and shot a transvestite in the shoulder on New Year's Day, police said. the men propositioned the victim, who told them: ``I think you know what you're getting into. I'm a man.'' Incensed, one of the men pulled a gun, cursed at the victim with an antigay slur and fired. [Read Jan 6 & 3 News Articles]

Texas Sets Execution Date For Gay Man's Killer
Jan 3: A Henry Dunn, 28, convicted in the gay-bashing murder of Nicholas West, Tyler, Texas, will be put to death by lethal injection at  6 p.m. on Feb. 6. Dunn and two other men kidnapped Nicholas West on Nov. 30, 1993.  West was  forced into a pickup, driven to a remote gravel pit and shot nine times as the killers took turns using him for target practice.
 
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