Conductor’s killer is jailed for life
mainThe rent-boy lover of a Scottish musician in Argentina was jailed ‘in perpetuity’ today for bashing his head in with a dumbbell.
Alan Torres was convicted by a jury of the murder of Finlay Ferguson, 60, a gentle musician who led a youth orchestra in Cordoba. Torres will serve at least 50 years in jail.
More here.
It’s not exactly a life sentence. He’s only 21 and could be out in 50 years. One article I read said he was “a teen sex worker whose short life was summed up in court as ‘a string of trauma, abuse and abandonment.'”
Reminds me of the situation of Ramon Novarro, the famous silent screen and singer and later stage and TV actor who played the original silent screen Ben Hur in the 1920s. He did a lot to promote Mexican music and drama in Hollywood. He was also killed by a rent boy in the 1960s. In his case the rent boy got into his home by lying by saying that he (the rent boy) was recommended to Novarro by someone whom Novarro knew.
Actually this unfortunately happened to someone I knew. A gay psychologist at the drug rehab where I used to work called in sick on New Year’s Eve. He was like a magician at calming people down. However, he was found dead in his apartment several days later. We found out because the police found a work ID and the police were able to inform his family only because his personnel records listed his parents as an emergency contact.
On the advice of a gay friend I contacted the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti Violence Task Force. The person I spoke to there over the phone was familiar with the situation and it was assumed that the psychologist was murdered by someone he had either hired or picked up. He told me that there are SIX to EIGHT murders of this type in the New York City area ALONE EACH YEAR! He said that these murders are not reported in the straight press, they are seldom reported in the gay press, and the killers are almost never found.
I have another gay friend who was brutally gang raped by people he met through answering a personal ad.
Gay or straight one cannot be too careful.
I am not saying that prostitutes have not hard very difficult backgrounds but the only excuse for killing or seriously injuring someone is genuine self defense. However those who are objectified for ex. through prostitution, might tend to objectify others.
Would legalization of prostitution help? Possibly only if it was restricted to supervised brothels and/or bath houses but there would be plenty of prostitutes as well as others who would still have anonymous or paid sex outside a supervised setting.
What a shame!
Freud’s conclusion that civilization is built upon suppression of farm animal instincts seems to be an apt one.