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  WINDY CITY TIMES

New York Murder's Gay Roots
by MICK MEENAN, Deputy Editor of Gay City News
2003-07-30

This article shared 8809 times since Wed Jul 30, 2003
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NEW YORK—A stream of news media reports on July 24 began detailing the troubled past of Othniel Boaz Askew, who gunned down City Councilmember James Davis in the balcony of the Council chamber the day before.

Askew, 31, a gay man, lived on a quiet, tree-lined street in Fort Greene in a row house he purchased last summer after returning from a hiatus in North Carolina. A Long Island native, Askew reportedly was HIV-positive, according to police investigators who discovered his medications at the home at 59 S. Elliot Place.

After firing seven rounds into Davis, Askew was shot by Officer Richard Burt, a police officer in the security detail of Council Speaker Gifford Miller.

Beginning in the early 1990s, Askew cut a figure as a handsome model and a fixture at some of New York's most popular gay nightspots after graduating from Long Island's C.W. Post College.

In the decade between college and Wednesday's shootings, there were indications that Askew's life was taking a downward spiral.

Some of the most bizarre details about Askew emerged on the morning of July 24. Errol Louis of the New York Sun wrote about a midnight encounter with Askew at the Davis campaign office in Brooklyn. According to Louis, Askew introduced himself as Aaron. 'He was supposed to be challenging Davis, but here they were, hanging out together,' Louis wrote.

Louis then added that he, Askew, and Davis piled into Askew's 'fancy SUV' and drove to a female campaign volunteer's home in Harlem.

'Along the way I talked to Askew, who looked like a Black man but said he was an Orthodox Jew, a Yale Law School graduate, and a real estate developer in Fort Greene,' Louis continued.

A Yale Law School spokesperson later said that no one fitting any of the various names Askew used has graduated from the school.

The reports that surfaced the night of Davis' death about Askew phoning the FBI hours before the shooting to complain that Davis was harassing him were trumped by a dramatic New York Times revelation the following morning that the specifics of the complaint involved Davis telling Askew that he learned he was gay and that this fact could hurt the younger man's political career. According to The Times, Askew saw the conversation, which took place in Fort Greene Park, as a threat.

But sometime around noon, several hours after calling the FBI, Askew arrived at Davis' district office and then accompanied the Councilmember to City Hall. Video footage shot by security cameras show the two avoiding the magnetometer devices that screen for weapons and walking together into City Hall. Askew was thus able to smuggle a .40-caliber pistol into the Council chamber. Askew had purchased the gun in North Carolina.

Askew had arrest records in both North Carolina and New York that, in the aftermath of Wednesday's violence, offered insight on the path he traveled from young model and bon vivant to the killer of a City Councilmember.

Most recently, in April 2001, Askew was issued a speeding ticket in North Carolina where he held a driver's license and gave an address in Powellsville as his residence.

Last August, Askew appeared in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn driving an SUV with North Carolina plates and purchased the South Elliot Place row house.

He referred to himself as a real estate developer and reportedly worked day and night on rehabbing what subsequently served as his campaign headquarters, according to New York City Campaign Finance Board records.

Shortly after returning from North Carolina, Askew began positioning himself to contest Davis' seat in the upcoming Democratic primary election.

On the New York City Board of Election's website for the 35th Council District, Askew's name, however, is not listed.

After meeting sometime in June, Davis, 41, and Askew apparently made a political deal which inaugurated Davis' role as a mentor of sorts to the political newcomer.

Before escorting Askew to the balcony of the chamber, Davis introduced Askew to a number of his Council colleagues as a former opponent who now supported his incumbency.

Askew waited until he and Davis arrived at the balcony where the two briefly observed the formal opening of the Council session before producing the pistol and firing.

In 1993, Askew was pulled over on Long Island and arrested for driving under the influence. In 1996, he was arrested in New York City for assaulting with a hammer his then-boyfriend, Mario Romero, who had worked as a bouncer at the Sound Factory, a popular mid-'90s gay nightclub. In 1999, Askew was arrested for larceny after a male sex partner reported him to the police for stealing a leather valise.

Nothing, however, pointed to the level of violence that occurred in City Hall July 23.

Victor Carnuccio is a professional photographer who snapped a series of photos of Askew in the summer of 1992.

'Neil was new on the scene,' said Carnuccio, using the name Askew called himself at the time. 'We met through friends at the Sound Factory.'

Carnuccio, 52, indicated that he took the photographs for free as a series of portraits he collected of various men on the gay nightlife circuit. The artistic 1992 photos, which range from nearly nude shots to Askew wearing a suit and tie, reveal a handsome young man with a lithe athletic physique.

Carnuccio said Askew was appreciative of the photographic work and the two struck up a platonic friendship that lasted on and off for several years.

'He always wore a suit and was immaculately dressed,' said Carnuccio. 'He had an office job at the time.'

Carnuccio said that it was not until he heard a radio report identifying Askew as Davis' murderer that he realized he had photographed the killer more than 10 years before.

Carnuccio, who is white, recalled an indident around the time he first met Askew: 'In 1992 we were crossing the street to have dinner and a car nearly hit him. His reaction was very peculiar—freezing up and not saying anything for a long time. When he finally spoke he indicated something——that there was something racial about the incident.'

Over the years, the two maintained an acquaintance via emails and phone calls. Around 1999 Carnuccio sponsored Pageant Party, an exhibition of his work that included a slide of one of Askew's photos. He invited Askew to attend the event and recalled that Askew showed up with a white man whom Askew introduced as his boyfriend.

'Neil was noticeably different,' said Carnuccio. 'He had gotten really muscular, beefy, like it was clear he could have been on steroids.'

When asked if Askew engaged in any drug use, Carnuccio indicated that back in 1992 Askew was a casual drug user, not unlike other patrons of nightclubs, but that at the 1999 exhibition he appeared to be heavily under the influence of drugs.

'We only spoke briefly,' said Carnuccio. 'Neil called shortly after and said he didn't have to work anymore, that he was doing modeling fulltime and he asked would I take some more shots of him. He asked me, 'Should I do nudes?' and seemed very interested in what my opinion of that was. I said that I would need to charge my standard fee of $100 a roll and he said, 'Oh, I have to pay for them?' and I said, 'Well, yeah. I have to pay the rent, you know.' He was very offended by that and we never spoke again.'Carnuccio also displayed a contact sheet—a photographic spread of thumbnail shots—of XX, who was also a subject of Carnuccio's at the same time he photographed Askew. XX was a roommate of Askew's in the mid 1990s in the West 43rd Street apartment at which Askew was arrested in 1996 for the assault on Romero.

Emanuel Xavier is a gay poet and author who frequented many of the same nightclubs as Askew did back in the 1990s. This past December, Davis honored Xavier and other LGBT activists at the Councilmember's Holiday Pride event at Long Island University. According to Xavier, around 1995, he and XX dated for several months, well before Askew's 1996 arrest.

Xavier recalled frequenting gay venues with Askew where drug use was widespread.

'I do remember Neil experimenting with drugs, but it wasn't unlike what other people were doing and it wasn't like it was indicative of someone with an addiction problem,' he said.

Xavier said that Askew was 'really incredibly attractive and he would take off his shirt and dance at the Roxy and all that on the dance floor.'

Xavier was unable to recall the name of Askew's boyfriend around 1995, but remembers that 'he worked the door at Sound Factory.'

Despite Xavier's positive recollections about Askew, he also recalled signs of a troubled side to the man.

'He had issues with being comfortable within his own skin,' Xavier said. 'He was concerned about his image. We often joked about how he was so white. In connecting with me as a person of color, I think he was trying to be comfortable with himself and always complimented me on being an out artist who was proud of who I was.'

The two men maintained a casual acquaintance. 'I ran into him on and off for the last several years,' Xavier said. 'The last time I saw him was last year at the Roxy. He looked really good.'

Like Carnuccio, Xavier noted that Askew had bulked up, with a noticeably muscular physique.

'It was a very brief conversation. He told me about going into politics,' said Xavier. 'When I read about Councilmember Davis threatening to out him it was so surprising because he was already so out and on the scene.'

___

The New York Post reported that lesbian City Councilwoman Margarita Lopez was a hero the day of the shootings.

Lopez reportedly helped several young children and Council staffer Colleen Maritato get down to the floor. The women held onto one another during the gunfire. The image of the two women was captured in an exclusive Post photo. Maritato pronounced Lopez 'my hero.'


This article shared 8809 times since Wed Jul 30, 2003
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