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A Dangerous Deal for Gay Men
Gay men are being attacked with increasing frequency by casual sexual partners
by Chris Duncan
Just wearing a condom doesn't make sex
safe for gay men anymore. According to police
and community activists, 1989 showed a dra
matic rise in the number of reported attacks on
these men by their casual sexual partners.
Metro Atlanta police are aware of at least
four murders and one vicious assault on gay
men by men they picked up for sex in 1989.
Using sex to lure victims away from public
view and in some cases into the victim's home
is an old trick, but this blueprint for crime is
becoming more common as the community’s
visibility grows and more criminals become
aware of the vulnerability inherent in the sexual
habits of some gay men.
"There is an epidemic of violence against
gay men," acknowledged Cathy Woolard, presi
dent of the Georgia ACLLTs Lesbian and Gay
Rights Chapter, "particularly surrounding the
gay pick-up spots.”
Thomas Germain (a pseudonym) lived a
quiet life in Atlanta until several months ago,
never a part of the organized gay community
and never dreaming he would ask for its help.
Seeing himself a law-and-order conservative,
Germain could not have imagined the way his
belief system would be turned topsy -turvy after
being attacked by a man he picked up at a local
bar last fall.
* The same man that fit Germain’s image of
the perfect partner - tall, handsome and well-
spoken — brutally slashed and stabbed him,
without provocation or warning, over breakfast
the morning after they met
Germain's memories of the night he met
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his assailant at the now defunct Pharr Library
are clear. 'T wanted to meet Tony (one of sev
eral aliases)," recalled Germain. "He was very
handsome and looked out of the ordinary. He
was the type of person I like: About 6'2”,
weighed 190 lb., had a tan, wavy hair and a
nice smile. He was very masculine looking, I'll
say that."
The two men decided to leave the bar
shortly before midnight, stop at Germain's
home to pick up some prescription sleeping
pills, go to a private party and then head their
separate ways. Their decision to remain at his
apartment has left Germain scarred for life and
wrecked havoc with his previously placid exis
tence.
According to Germain, the two fell asleep
about 2 a.m. after a quiet evening that included
a tour of his antique collection. His attacker
expressed a particularly keen interest in a 200-
year-old "very sharp" ceremonial knife.
As Germain continues to relate his story,
his voice lowers and tightens to control the sea
of emotions apparent in his eyes.
"(The following morning while we were
eating breakfast) I went back into the kitchen to
get some more (food) and when I came back
(into the living room), ... he had the blade in
his hands.”
His attacker lunged across the room, and
Germain staggered backwards while raising his
arm in self-defense.
"He slashed my whole hand," Germain
remembered. "Two of my fingers were hang
ing down like chicken bones, my wrist was cut
open, my elbow was broken and I was in a
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404/524-1427
state of shock.
"He had not gotten mad, it wasn't like (he
was) yelling 'you're a fag' or we had had a fight
There was no anger," Germain said. "(He had
an) almost Manson-like look in a sense of just
doing it." As he attacked, the man bragged in
vivid detail of having killed 158 other people.
"He was very descriptive about how he did it"
Germain suffered stab wounds to the head
and chest in two other parries with his attacker
before he finally escaped.
Richard S. Shannon, Jr. (photo is 10 years
old) is accused of trying to murder a gay
man. He has failed to appear in court and is
wanted by Atlanta Police. Call Lt Horace
Walker 658-6818 if you have information
or knowlege of his whereabouts.
About an hour and a half after they
received the first call for help from Germain's
neighbor, Atlanta police arrested the man they
have charged with the attack. Richard S.
Shannon, Jr., 32, was apprehended getting out
of a Yellow Cab in front of the Pharr Library,
where Germain had warned police he might be
returning to retrieve his car. Shannon's shirt
was reportedly covered in blood at the time of
his arrest.
Shannon was released on $5,000 bond
shortly after his arrest but has failed to appear at
any other court proceedings. At the time of his
release, police knew that he had previously
lived outside of Georgia, had an arrest record in
three states and had bragged in detail of killing
others to Germain.
Repeated attempts by Southern Voice to
contact Shannon have failed. Both his mother
and attorney stated that they have no way of
locating him. "(Richard) is on the road all the
time and I don't know how to get in touch with
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him,” his mother said. "He hasn't lived here (at
home) for years." She also said that Shannon
had proclaimed his innocence to her and added
that he "really didn't know (Germain)."
Since his failure to appear in court, a
bench warrant has been issued for Shannon's
arrest and his bond raised to $100,000. Police
now consider him a fugitive, and there appears
to be no immediate hope of his apprehension.
Atlanta Police Lieutenant Horace Walker eval
uates the situation with these words, "If he's
around in his normal habitat we'll get him
eventually."
According to Kevin Berrill, director of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Anti
Violence Project, similar attacks are common,
and apparently increasing.
"It is an opportunistic crime ... motivated
by the perception that the victim is an easy tar
get and unlikely to report the crime to police,"
Beirill said.
"The prerpetrators go into gay bars, repre
sent themselves as gay, try to make friends and
then the victim may invite them back home,"
Berrill explained. "Some may do it just for the
money, some may be deranged and some are
deeply disturbed about their own sexual identi
ty and act out on their fears in violent ways. A
person can even engage in sexual relations with
a member of the same sex and still have a deep
and abiding hatred of gays."
It is just this pattern that local activists fear
is appearing in crimes throughout the metro
Atlanta area. In addition to Germain's assault,
they are aware of at least four murders that
seem to fit the pattern, and they're unwilling to
hazard a guess about the number of similar, un
reported incidents. Woolard feels that the
known crimes are "only the tip of the iceberg."
In late April of '89, the ACUJs Police
Advisory Committee became aware of the
murder of David Paul Thompson in his aprart-
ment at the Darlington. He was found in his
bed, nude, with a kitchen knife stuck in his
back. Thompson had last been seen at the
Cove the night before his death.
Germain says he found a kitchen knife in
his bed after returning from the hospital, but
the police have ruled out the possibility of a
connection between the crimes because of dif
fering physical evidence in the two cases.
Other murders the Police Advisory
Committee is looking at include: Ezra Collins,
who was found smothered with a pillow in his
bed June 8, 1989 at the Berkley Square
Apartments in DeKalb County; Michael
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4/Southern Voice • January 18,1990