Dear Editor:
The recent suburban Cook County jury acquittal of Joseph Biedermann of first-degree murder charges is stunning not only in verdict, but in the dearth of local media attention the case has garnered. The trial was unique in incorporating a "gay panic" defense after a vicious fatal stabbing that was committed reportedly in response to an unwanted sexual advance made by the murder victim, Terrance Michael Hauser, in the early morning hours of March 5, 2008. Biedermann, now 30, had returned with Hauser, 38, to Hauser's apartment in a Hoffman Estates apartment complex where both men resided separately after meeting and drinking together in a local bar.
While in Hauser's apartment, Biedermann claimed he passed out on Hauser's couch only to awake as Hauser, reportedly armed with a sword, threatened to sexually assault him. Biedermann claimed that in the ensuing struggle, he fatally stabbed Hauser 61 times with a 7-inch medieval dagger belonging to the victim. Hauser sustained injuries to his jugular vein, lungs, liver, renal artery, kidneys, pancreas, spine and abdominal aorta, any which could have been fatal, Dr. Ponni Arunkumar testified. There was reportedly no indication of a struggle or theft at the scene, with chairs, wine glasses and video games undisturbed. Biedermann then fled Hauser's apartment and returned to his nearby apartment around 3 a.m., covered in blood. Biedermann took a shower while his girlfriend began soaking his blood-soaked clothing, and was later taken to the hospital by his girlfriend. At the hospital, Biedermann claimed to have been attacked but neglected to mention an attempted sexual assault. Responding police followed the bloody trail in the complex parking lot back to Hauser's body in his apartment, where Biedermann's shoes, wallet and coat were recovered.
While no one will ever know what actually transpired in Hauser's apartment between the two men causing the 61 stab wounds to Hauser, the facts of the case present as a textbook "gay murder" investigation. It is incumbent upon police and prosecutors to recognize these murders as a distinct subset of homicide investigations. Police in every jurisdiction must understand the dynamics of these murders, including extreme violence and abjection. Particular prosecutorial attention must be devoted toward improving courtroom competence, including specific jury strategies aimed at preventing a victim from being portrayed as an insidious gay sexual predator, and in which an offender is transformed into an innocent victim defending himself from an unwanted sexual advance. In this case, prosecutor Mike Gerber reminded the jury of the victim. "Terrance Hauser was a lonely, little guy who lived by himself and wanted companionship. First he ( Biedermann ) covered ( Hauser's ) body in blood and then he came in here and covered it with mud," Gerber said.
In fairness to the Biedermann trial jury, they were only presented with deliberating on a finding regarding the first-degree murder charge, a common practice in the Cook County State's Attorneys Office. Their choice was either a guilty or not guilty finding without option to a lesser charge. While the element of "overkill" present in this case would argue to the intent and deliberateness the fatal attack, a question of premeditation existed.
The truly frightening lesson of this tragic murder and subsequent trial is the message sent to those who seek any excuse to target LGBT people. Anti-gay zealots will seize upon this murder as proof of inherent gay sexual criminality, and will be comforted in knowing that a jury of peers will exonerate future violent offenders from criminal responsibility. As long as parents, preachers, principals and police continue to denigrate gays, these violent criminal offenses will continue to occur.
Bob Zuley
Chicago
