Date: Wed, 21 Dec 1994 17:22:18 -0500
From: Babngltf@aol.com

*************************************************National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force
NEWS RELEASE

Contact:  Beth Barrett        (202) 332-6483 ext. 3215
                                          (800) 757-7736 pager
               
2320 17th Street NW   Washington, DC   20009
*************************************************

A THIRD GAY MAN FOUND DEAD IN MISSISSIPPI

"More going on than meets the eye," Paras Tells Reno


Washington, D.C. -- December 21, 1994 --  The body of a third gay man was
discovered Sunday, December 11 in Mississippi, just two months after the
brutal killings of Robert Walters and Joseph Shoemake in Laurel.  The body of
Stanley King was discovered near a vacant house in Indianola, Mississippi,
approximately 100 hundred miles north of Laurel.  Within hours of the
discovery, the Sunflower County Sheriff's Department arrested Remus Terrell
Wilson, 17, on charges of armed robbery and murder.

The circumstances of the case are strikingly similar to those of the Walters
and Shoemake murders:  the victim was a gay man, Wilson, an African American
youth, has confessed to the crime and has used the explanation that the
victim tried to rape him as justification for the murder.

In a letter sent today to Attorney General Janet Reno, NGLTF Executive
Director Melinda Paras updated the Department of Justice on the latest
killing and reiterated NGLTF's ongoing request for a separate DOJ
investigation.

"From our point of view," said Paras, "there is more going on in Mississippi
than meets the eye."

Paras said that she is "greatly distressed" by the developing pattern of
deaths in Mississippi and finds it "difficult to imagine that this is merely
a coincidence."

In a November 30 response to previous NGLTF requests for DOJ intervention in
Mississippi, Assistant Attorney General Deval Patrick wrote that while the
DOJ continued to monitor developments related to the murders in Jones County
that federal intervention was not possible on the basis of sexual
orientation.

"As you know," wrote the assistant attorney general, "there are no federal
laws providing criminal civil rights protections on the basis of sexual
orientation, thus we would not be able to respond on that basis.  However, in
the event the investigation indicates that existing federal laws might have
been violated, we will take appropriate action."

In her response today, Paras said, "NGLTF encourages the DOJ to find other
grounds for federal intervention.  What is important is that gay men are
dying and it is time to go in."

"Violence against gay men and lesbians in Mississippi is an out of control
problem that local officials seem unable to handle," Paras said.  "We
strongly believe that the truth of this situation has not yet been discovered
and fear that, without federal intervention, the pattern of violence and
killing will continue."

In his letter to NGLTF, Patrick indicated that the DOJ had contacted the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Attorney's Office for the
Southern District of Mississippi.

Patrick also acknowledged an NGLTF request for a DOJ task force to
investigate the rise in hate crimes across the nation.  He called the
suggestion a "good one" and pledged to explore the creation of a such a
commission.

Lesbian and gay activists in Biloxi, Mississippi have since said that they
were contacted by local FBI agents and as a result have been granted Biloxi
police protection at the G.L. Friendly community center.  They had previously
reported receiving death threats and harassment due to their continued
monitoring of the double murder case in Jones County.

On Tuesday, December 20, Jones County Circuit Judged Billy Landrum heard
arguments in a pre-trial hiring in the case of Marvin McClendon, the 16
year-old African American arrested for the double murders of Robert Walters
and Joseph Shoemake.  The county district attorney argued that the sexual
orientation of the victims and the results of post-mortem HIV tests should
not be admitted as evidence in the January 30 murder trial. Landrum shocked
activists in November when he agreed to a motion by the defense attorney to
conduct HIV tests on the frozen blood of the victims and to consider the use
of those results in court.

In yesterday's pre-trial hearing, Landrum said he would admit information on
the sexual orientation of the two victims in court, but postponed his
decision on the admission of the HIV testing results.  Landrum may announce
that decision on Thursday, December 22nd at 5:00 pm CST, when the court
reconvenes.

Activists fear that the defense attorney may use a gay panic defense and
posthumous HIV testing in an attempt to play on the fears of a potentially
homophobic and AIDS-phobic jury.  In what may be an attempt to pit the people
of color communities against the gay and lesbian community, the defense
attorney has also verbally attacked gay and lesbian activists who have been
critical of the Mississippi legal system.

"The defense attorney is exploiting the evils of racism and the evils of
homophobia in an attempt to cloud justice in support of his client," said
Beth Barrett, NGLTF spokesperson.  "The Task Force wants justice for all
parties and continues to have no confidence in the legal system of Jones
County."

-end-