Gay man murdered and dismembered in Dallas
Richard Hernandez
According to a September article published in the Dallas Voice, gay man Richard Hernandez was murdered in his Dallas apartment and then dismembered in the bathtub. After Hernandez failed to appear at his job, worried co-workers called the police. The police went to Hernandez’s apartment to investigate, and found large amounts of blood in the living room and tissue from the victim’s internal organs in the bathtub.
Purchases made on Hernandez’s credit card led police to a suspect, Seth Lawton Winder, who was then charged with credit card fraud and capital murder. Seth’s father, Robert Winder, has pointed to his son’s schizophrenic history as a possible explanation for the crime, but police have also recovered a digital camera containing images of the suspect inside the victim’s apartment which might suggest a different theory about why the murder occurred.
Friends of the victim say Hernandez was a valued friend. “Rich was probably one of the most sincere, sweet people you will ever meet,” says one friend. “Rich always had a smile and would drop anything to help anybody, and it’s very, very sad what happened to him. It’s a very gruesome, horrible thing to happen to someone so sweet and so generous.”
Richard Hernandez was 38-years-old.
North Carolina arson case is a hate crime
An EDGE Boston article tells the story of Melvin Whistlehunt, whose house was burned down as part of an anti-LGBT hate crime.
On November 7, Whistlehunt received an urgent call at work warning him his house was burning. When firefighters arrived, they discovered signs of arson and an anti-gay slogan spray-painted on the brick of the home. The conflagration reached such severity that 28 firefighters and seven trucks were needed to bring the fire into control.
None of Whistlehunt’s property survived the blaze.
Additional information is available in this article at the Observer News Enterprise of Newton, North Carolina.
About
If you are a first-time visitor to the Unfinished Lives Project website, we invite you to read A Welcome Message introducing you to our project. We are truly grateful for your visit.
The Unfinished Lives Project website is a place of public discourse which remembers and honors LGBTQ hate crime victims, while also revealing the reality of unseen violence perpetrated against people whose only “offense” is their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender presentation. LGBTQ people in the United States are suffering a slow-rolling decimation of terror and murder all across the country. Every locale and demographic of society are affected: First Nations, Anglo, Black, Latino and Latina, South and Southeast Asian, Transgender, Bisexuals, Gay men, Lesbians, disabled, young, and mature. Homophobia has a long, crooked arm, and it is reaching out to snatch the life away from women and men whose tragic stories are under-reported to begin with, and whose memories are swiftly forgotten.
The horror of these killings transcends the shock and bereavement of loved ones and friends. These are not typical homicides; they are not killings for money or drugs, incidents of domestic strife, or crimes of passion. The vicious nature of hate crimes against LGBTQ persons is extremely brutal, grotesquely violent, and egregiously hateful.
Each murder serves the LGBTQ population as a sobering warning about the actual level of danger in our communities. The message these killings send is that freedom and open life for LGBTQ people is a cruel dream. Every time we remember one of these victims, however, the intentions of their killers are frustrated. To remember these women and men is to begin the process of changing the culture that killed them.
Our Project Director
Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle (Keith Tew photo).
Stephen V. Sprinkle is Director of Field Education and Supervised Ministry, and Professor of Practical Theology at Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, Texas, a post he has held since 1994. An ordained Baptist minister, he is the first open and out Gay scholar in the history of the Divinity School, and the first open and out LGBTQ person to be tenured there. Read More…
Recent Social Justice Advocacy Activity By Dr. Sprinkle
Summer 2009 – Dr. Sprinkle responded to the Fort Worth Police Department and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Raid on the Rainbow Lounge, Fort Worth’s newest gay bar, on June 28, 2009, the exact 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. Dr. Sprinkle was invited to speak at three protest events sponsored by Queer LiberAction of Dallas. Here, he is keynoting the Rainbow Lounge Protest at the Tarrant County Courthouse on July 12, 2009. Read More…
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Dr. Sprinkle has given his Unfinished Lives presentation to these and other community groups and organizations. Read More…
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Publisher: Steve Sprinkle (Project Director)
Steve Sprinkle
Unfinished Lives: Remembering LGBT Hate Crime VictimsBrite Divinity School/Texas Christian UniversityFort Worth TXprofessor, minister, author, blogger, LGBTQ advocate
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