Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Guilty!: Second Defendant in Ryan Skipper Hate Murder Case

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William D. Brown on the way to jail

Bartow, FL – William D. “Bill Bill” Brown has been found guilty of first degree murder and burglary with a deadly weapon today by a jury in the Polk County, FL, county seat.  Skipper was slashed and stabbed to death in March of 2007 on a lonely, rural road in Wahneta, FL.  A woman who discovered his body beside the road ditch said that it seemed to her that someone had turned on “a sprinkler of blood.”  The 25-year-old college student had been stabbed with knives 19 times, according to the Polk County Medical Examiners Office, causing him to die of blood loss and trauma.  His murderers attempted to fence his automobile after trying in vain to remove blood from the interior of the vehicle.  Unable to find a buyer, they set the car afire at a boat ramp in Auburndale, but frustrated their own attempt by shutting the doors after kindling the blaze.  In a personal communication Lynn Mulder, Ryan Skipper’s step father, said, “William Brown was convicted today of first degree murder, burglary with a deadly weapon and he confessed his guilt in arson and tampering with evidence. Responsibility and accountability has been established and protection for society will occur on 1 Dec when he will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.”  More will be forthcoming from Ryan’s parents and friends as statements to the press outside the Bartow Courthouse become public.  Brown, who elected not to testify in the trial, contended in a pre-trial confession in 2007 that he had “blacked out” and could not remember if or how Ryan Skipper died.  Witnesses reported that he and his accomplice, Joseph “Smiley” Bearden, said they wanted “to rid the world of one more faggot.”  The Skipper case suffered in the media because of the irresponsibility of Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who merely repeated the defendants’ unsupported allegations concerning Skipper’s character and activities.  Judd prejudiced the media against Skipper, painting the victim as a person who in some way deserved his fate.  Though each unsupported claim made by the Sheriff’s Department has been systematically debunked, and the public communications director for the county has declared Skipper guiltless of any wrongdoing in any of these particulars, Sheriff Judd himself has never explained or apologized to the public or to Skipper’s parents and friends.  In February of this year, Bearden was found guilty on all counts, and was sentenced to life without parole.  As Mulder has suggested, Brown’s sentence is expected to be similar.  For further information and developments in this case, see the Ryan Skipper Documentary web site, and One Orlando.

November 3, 2009 Posted by | Anglo Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Blame the victim, Florida, gay men, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Law and Order, Media Issues, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Politics, Slurs and epithets, stabbings | , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Guilty!: Second Defendant in Ryan Skipper Hate Murder Case

Georgetown U’s Second Bias-Related Attack

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Washington, D.C. – According to Vox Populi, Georgetown’s most widely read blog, in the wee hours of November 1, a second anti-LGBT assault took place near the Georgetown University campus.  The university’s Department of Public Safety issued this Public Service Announcement concerning the attack: “Incident summary: On November 1, 2009 at 1:32 a.m., witnesses reported to DPS an assault on a student by an unknown male in the area of 36th & N Streets, NW. Prior to the physical assault, the suspect asked the victim several times, “Are you a homo?”  On November 1, 2009 at approximately 1:32 a.m., witnesses reported to DPS that a student walking in the area of 36th & N Streets, NW was assaulted by an unknown male. Immediately prior to the assault, the suspect asked the victim several times, “Are you a homo?” The suspect fled the scene after physically assaulting the victim.  DPS and GERMS responded to the scene. GERMS transported the victim to Georgetown University Hospital for treatment of the injuries sustained in the assault. DPS gathered information from witnesses and notified MPD. The investigation is ongoing.  Victim(s):The victim suffered injuries in the assault that were treated by GERMS and in the hospital emergency room.  Victim(s) status:GERMS responded to the scene and transported the victim to Georgetown University Hospital where the victim was treated and released. Appropriate University resources are being offered to the victim.  Witness description of suspect(s):The suspect is described as a white male, 6’2″ tall, with red and white face paint, wearing a black leather jacket. (This description was updated on November 2, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. to reflect a witnesses description that included an estimated height.)”  End of PSA.  Last week’s assault involved a woman perceived to be lesbian by her assailants on October 27. This second assault on a student assumed to be LGBT took place in spite of a rally decrying anti-gay violence on the campus by the LGBTQ Center and GU Pride, the LGBTQ advocacy organization, on Friday of last week.

November 3, 2009 Posted by | Anglo Americans, Beatings and battery, harassment, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Law and Order, Lesbian women, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Protests and Demonstrations, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, Unsolved LGBT Crimes, Washington, D.C., women | , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Georgetown U’s Second Bias-Related Attack