Shenandoah Valley Friends
Reprinted from: The Washington Blade
Friday, June 6, 1997
Virginia Men Get Stiff Sentences for Brutal Attack
Victim was kidnapped, tortured
by Colleen Marzec and Jane Ferguson
| Judge says, "I cannot recall a more brutal beating under more brutal circumstances than this ..." |
A Charlottesville, Virginia, judge on May 24 delivered 50-year sentences to three men for their roles in the kidnapping, robbery, torture, and beating of a man they perceived to be Gay.
Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Jay T. Swett told the court, "I cannot recall a more brutal beating under more brutal circumstances than this one," according to The Daily Progress, a Charlottesville newspaper. Swett suspended all but 20 years of each man's sentence.
Chad Turner DePasquale, 23, Joseph Cain Breeden, 17, and Billy Ray McKethan, 17, are each expected to spend at least 20 years behind bars without chance of parole for their Nov. 2, 1996, beating of the man they perceived to be Gay. The attorney for one of the men felt the sentence was too severe.
"I thought that a midrange guideline sentence would have been appropriate," C. James Summers, DePasquale's attorney, told the Blade this week.
The victim, a 33-year-old employee of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, suffered broken bones in his face, broken ribs, bruised lungs, and cigarette burns to his hair and face. The assailants urinated on him and locked him in the trunk of his car, where police found him about two days later.
"The severity of the penalty is good," said Shirley Lesser, head of Richmond-based civil rights group, Virginians for Justice, "... but [the judge] neglected to send the message that hate violence against Gays is bad."
After five hours of testimony during the May 24 sentencing hearing, the judge reportedly said he still did not have a reason for the men's actions.
"The question that simply has not been answered is, 'Why?'" said Swett, according to The Daily Progress.
The Progress reported in November that Breeden said in his statement that the three men on the night of the crime had "wanted to go fag-bashing." Asked during the November hearing what that meant, Breeden said, "You get a Gay person and you basically beat them up."
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Claude Worrell, who prosecuted the case, on May 24 characterized the attack as a Gay-bashing, according to the Progress. But McKethan and DePasquale's attorneys disputed that in the sentencing hearing, saying the men came from troubled homes, that drugs and alcohol had played a role in the crime, and that they had suffered sexual abuse from other men.
The three men may file appeals, which would have to be done within 21 days of the sentencing. McKethan's attorney indicated that he and his client had not yet decided whether to file an appeal. DePasquale's attorney concurred.
"We're considering all options at this point," said Summers. "We're considering an appeal, we're looking at everything."
The three men were indicted on robbery, malicious wounding, and abduction charges on Dec. 1 by a Charlottesville grand jury. All three later pleaded guilty to the charges.
The incident began on Nov. 2 when DePasquale, Breeden, and McKethan abducted the man after he dropped off a friend outside the Moondance Cafe, an establishment that attracts a Gay clientele. According to Breeden's confession as reported in The Daily Progress last year, the three men got into the victim's car after approaching him to talk about a possible sexual liaison. After the man let them into his car, the three kicked and punched him until he was unconscious. They then threw him into a ditch and urinated on his clothes and face.
The three decided to get cash using the victim's ATM card. Breeden said that DePasquale pulled the beaten man up by his hair and McKethan proceeded to burn his face with a lit cigarette until he divulged his ATM code.
Upon learning the number, the three beat the victim back into unconsciousness and threw his body into the trunk of his car, where he stayed approximately 43 hours while the men drove around, bought chips and soda, and then abandoned the car on the road when they thought it was having mechanical troubles. Police found the victim after receiving an anonymous phone tip.
The University of Virginia hospital treated the victim for eight broken ribs, an almost-collapsed lung, and facial fractures, according to The Daily Progress.
Current Virginia law does not allow for enhanced sentences for crimes directed against a person because of their real or perceived sexual orientation. Gay civil rights groups have sought to expand the definition of Virginia's "hate crimes" statutes to include the victims of Gay-bashings.
"Virginia hate crimes law, as it stands right now, is penalty enhancement, so individuals charged with a hate crime [receive] an additional 30 days to six months," added Lesser "... The point of having increased penalties in hate-motivated crimes is to let individuals know that hate violence is not to be tolerated."
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