back
4 comments
Shameful. A good reminder too how much bullshit get's passed off as science in police investigations and forensics in general. Add to it homophobia and police eager to mark a case closed and this is what you get.
God help any of us if the police can use this kind of "evidence" to make us a suspect in a murder:

'Suddenly, the very qualities that had endeared Joe to his community — his demonstrativeness, his warmth, his volubility — were cast in a different light. “Homo tendencies?” one investigator jotted down during an interview. Similar observations were scrawled in notebooks and on scraps of paper that litter the case file: “He gay?” “Feminine acting.” “Absolutely no homosexual advances but Joe is a ‘toucher’ when talking to people.” “Joe would bake pies & cook etc rather than fish, play poker.” One theory that investigators entertained was that Joe killed Mickey because she had discovered his dark secret.'

Consider the context: in 1985 in Texas:

"Until" "2003" "certain sexual acts between persons of the same sex were a criminal offense in Texas, termed "deviate sexual intercourse",[1] The offense was a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.[2]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Texas

Moreover:

"Prior to 1962, sodomy was a felony in every [U.S.] state, punished by a lengthy term of imprisonment and/or hard labor."

Well-written, maddening story. If nothing else, I'm at least glad the death penalty didn't come into play so there's still a tiny chance at a shred of justice if some DNA evidence can absolve him.