Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Christmas Murder of Gay Man in Louisiana Still Unresolved

Houma, LA –  Early on Christmas morning, Robert LeCompte, 39, was found stabbed to death in a prominent gay and lesbian night club he managed.  His body was riddled with stab wounds, suggesting the possibility of a hate crime.  $4,700 was reported missing by the club’s owner, Randall Chesnut, with whom LeCompte lived.  Terrebone Parish law enforcement officers are working to develop clues in the case. When LeCompte did not come home as expected, Chesnut called the police, leading to their discovery of the gay man’s blood-soaked corpse lying in the middle of the dance floor of the Drama Club on Hollywood Road.  Chesnut spoke kind words about his employee to reporters from the Tri-Parish Times: “He had no enemies,” Chesnut said. “The boy was loved by everyone. He wasn’t but 5-foot, 2 (inches), and soaking wet he didn’t weigh but 120 pounds. I’ve probably just lost one of the best friends I’ve ever had, and the best employee, too.”  Initially, the missing money led the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office to communicate to the media that this was a robbery only.  But Chesnut, himself a former detective, is not persuaded.  “I would believe motivation would be definitely robbery, but when you start stabbing the body multiple times, that’s a crime of passion. I’m not ruling out the fact that it could be a hate crime. Whoever killed him was very angry, as far as the police are concerned.”   Major  Malcolm Wolfe, spokesman for the sheriff’s department, said that no strong leads exist in the case yet.  He indicated that sheriff’s officers were working night and day to crack the case.  According to Chesnut, the LeCompte family is unable to finance their relative’s funeral and burial by themselves, so members of the gay and lesbian community have stepped up to the challenge, and donations are coming in.  He told Tri-Parish Times reporter Brett Schweinburg, “The gay community, I’m so proud of them. They’ve stepped up, and they’re pissed. They’re not scared. He has lit a fire in this community,” said Chesnut. “Most of the people in this community, they fear the law or they fear this, but it’s taken the opposite effect. There’s a determination here.”  A vigil for LeCompte was held on Christmas Day at the Drama Club, with over 150 people attending.  Vigils and fund-raisers are planned in Houma, Baton Rouge,and New Orleans with a memorial at the Drama Club set for Saturday, January 2, 2010.  One of the saddest ironies of this possible anti-LGBT hate crime murder is that Christmas Day was his birthday.

January 2, 2010 Posted by | Anglo Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, gay men, Hate Crimes, Law and Order, Lesbian women, Louisiana, Remembrances, stabbings, Unsolved LGBT Crimes, Vigils | , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

   

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