Woman Murdered After Reportedly Witnessing
to Homosexual By Bob Kellogg, correspondent for Family News in
Focus
A killing in Chicago last week could turn "hate crimes" laws
on their head.
A brutal murder in Chicago last week highlights
the double standard surrounding hate crimes. A homosexual killed a woman
that was trying to witness to him. Will authorities call the killing a hate
crime and will the media report it in the same way they did the
Matthew Shepard murder?
Nineteen-year-old Nicholas Gutierrez is
charged with first degree murder in the slaying of 51-year-old
Mary Stachowicz. He allegedly beat, stabbed and hid her body in his
apartment after she told him God would not approve of his lifestyle. The two
were co-workers. Gutierrez allegedly has said he was enraged because
it reminded him of heated debates with his mother. Relatives say
Stachowicz was probably trying to help.
Peter LaBarbera, of Concerned
Women for America, was pointed in his response to this crime.
"This
woman, Mary Stachowicz, was killed evidently because she was sharing the
truth about homosexuality to a gay activist," LaBarbera said. "We will
be waiting to see, now, if the media treats this case like it treated the
Matthew Shepard case."
So far it has not. Laura Montgomery, of Soulforce
- a gay-activist organization - seemed to avoid the hate crime aspect of
the incident.
"Our understanding of the Bible in no way
condemns sexual orientation or the love that two people of the same sex
feel towards one another," Montgomery said.
But, when pressed,
Montgomery grudgingly said she might consider this murder a hate
crime.
"If it was directed at this person and intended to intimidate
Christians, that would be a hate crime in my mind," Montgomery said.
For LaBarbera, this murder was blatantly a hate crime.
"It's
going to be hard for people to say this is not an anti-Christian hate crime
committed by a homosexual activist. But I fully expect the media to not pay
a lot of attention to this case."
Prosecutors say they are considering
the death penalty for Gutierrez.
The Cook County State's Attorney's
office says since Gutierrez is being charged with murder, a hate
crime charge would be irrelevant.
