The murder of Aaron Hall.

[icarus]

Picked up from yin_again: Aaron Hall.

The surprise is that this murder is not getting attention from the press. Then I read this: "Police found Hall's body 10 days after his death wrapped in a tarp in the garage of Jackson County Deputy Coroner Terry Gray, whose son is one of the accused."

Uh-hunh.

I say: Try 'em and fry 'em.

Comments

[skuf.livejournal.com]

The ol' "gay panic defense". Yeah, that makes lots of sense, *nods*.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

The whole town says "Yeah, bullshit, that's a smoke screen -- the guy's not even gay."

I think the judge should tack on extra years to their sentences out of disgust at the ploy.

[aphephobia.livejournal.com]

I don't get that.

Seriously- something as disgusting- and morbid (they took his body home afterwards?) as that usually makes the news. I truly don't understand it.

Why it happened in the first place, why they're using this stupid "gay panic defense" (NOTHING defends torturing someone and leaving them to die like that) and the media not really saying anything about it.

Seriously- it's so sad and horrible. And just... wrong.

[aphephobia.livejournal.com]

I think the judge should tack on extra years to their sentences out of disgust at the ploy.

Agreed.

(Then again, I think the "gay panic defense" is complete and utter bullshit. I mean, so what, some guy hits on you and you don't like it... you don't kill them. I wonder how well that would go down if some guy hit on me/made me feel scared and I did the same thing? "Heterosexual panic defense," anyone? It shits me that "gay panic" even exists.)

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Good lord. Why is this not on national news? That it's downplayed locally, considering one of the perps is in all likelihood the coroner's son, I can understand (not condone, natch); but nobody in LA or New York cares about Jackson County politics.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

It sounds like they've been able to keep it quiet on the local level until now, and the national people just haven't heard about it.

[bruinsfan.livejournal.com]

Seriously, these people perpetrated something akin to Nazi war crimes on the poor victim, the sort of thing that just screams serial-killer-in-the-making to me. Hopefully the judge (their lawyers couldn't possibly risk jury trials now that they've confessed, could they?) will see to it that they're responsible for brown-outs at earliest opportunity.

Also hopefully Gray Sr. will be forced to resign or just booted out of his position of authority. How can someone who's a trained investigator possibly fail to notice a decomposing corpse stored in his own home for a week?

[gyutto.livejournal.com]

I wonder how well that would go down if some guy hit on me/made me feel scared and I did the same thing?

That's exactly what I thought. To me, "gay panic defense" would be like trying to justify in the old south because "omg black men are so scary and caused us to go temporarily insane!"

[gyutto.livejournal.com]

oops, I meant 'trying to justify lynchings'

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

How can someone who's a trained investigator possibly fail to notice a decomposing corpse stored in his own home for a week?

Oh shit. I mean, no one expects their kid to bring home a dead body -- it's not the first thing you think of! -- but after a week?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing that the locals have been pretty tight-lipped and it's gone unnoticed ... and now it's starting to slip out.

We'll see what happens as this rises through the blogosphere.

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I read that article, and call me a cynical Maryland expat, but when I got to the point where the last time the "gay panic" defense worked was in West Virginia... well, I'm sure West Virginia has many intelligent people and doesn't truly deserve its "Deliverance" reputation. On the other hand, I did snort.

These folks in Indiana don't seem to be buying it.

The "gay panic" defense is about as air tight as any other "temporary insanity" plea. And just as desperate. The fact that these assholes took a picture of the beat up Aaron Hall and sent it to a friend -- with them propping the half-dead guy up?

Fry 'em.

[heliobacter.livejournal.com]

I read the post, and while it sickened me, I am not surprised. I used to live in rural southern Indiana, and this is very reflective of the attitudes of many of my former neighbors. I'm not surprised that there seems to be a cover-up. Folks where I used to live would close ranks very quickly amongst outsiders.

"Gay panic" is exactly the type of thing that would fly where I used to live, and will most likely allow these guys to walk if they are tried by a jury of their peers. I found Indiana to be the reddest of red states, especially along the Kentucky border where I used to live, and pretty much every gay man I knew had been harassed or assaulted at one time or another, and their complaints were roundly dismissed by the local police. One friend was even refused health care by a physician because he is gay, and his appendix burst (this case is currently in litigation). Yup, Indiana is pretty bad, but it is also getting scape-goated. Rural Michigan (which I am more familiar with) is just as bad, and produced its own militia, lest we forget.

I'm with you, babe: FRY 'EM.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Well, let's bear in mind that I'm from Michigan, and I learned to handle a rifle and a shotgun when I was 12 years old. *g* It was part of the curriculum: "hunting safety" it was called.

No one seems to be buying the "gay panic" excuse, largely because the community was so tight they all knew Aaron wasn't gay.

Icarus

[heliobacter.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I'm from Michigan, too, and the only mandatory part of our curriculum was a swimming class *g* The difference between urban and rural, perhaps? (The only thing we're hunting in Detroit is each other, ha.)

Something fishy is still going on. It's hard to believe in a community that small that no one noticed he was missing for 10 days, or that an influential member of that community didn't notice blood splatters all over his house for the same amount of time (if indeed he didn't notice).

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I think it's the difference between 1977 and 2007, though I guess my school was considered rural at the time. It's not rural any more. Whew. Talk about suburban sprawl.

Oh, I believe they closed ranks to protect the local boy who lost his mamma. They should move for a change of venue for the trial.

[bruinsfan.livejournal.com]

By the way, I forwarded this on to a journalist friend of mine in Massachusetts. He said bits and pieces are familiar, so he's heard something about the case recently even on the East Coast. And he figures the national media will start picking it up when the actual trial starts.