Demonstration at NY Spanish Embassy Over "Spain's Matthew Shepard's"

New Yorkers Gather in Solidarity Demonstration Against the Acquital of Jacobo Pineiro Rial’s Murder of Gay Couple in Vigo, Spain.

In an act of solidarity New Yorkers will gather in front of the Spanish Embassy, 150 East, 58 Street, on Saturday March 7, 2009 from 1:00 – 2:30 PM.

On the morning of January 13th, 2006, Isaac Ali Dani Peréz Triviño and Julio Anderson Luciano were both stabbed to death by Mr. Pineiro.. “The bodies showed a total of 57 stab wounds, according to forensics…After killing them, Piñeiro took a shower and cleaned himself up. He filled a suitcase with some of their belongings to make it look like a robbery and then spilled clothing all over the place. He poured alcohol over everything, including his victims' bodies, turned on the gas spigot on the stove, and set everything on fire.”, mentions Andres Duque of Blabbeando, the fist site to report the horrific murder and outcome in the US.

Three years after the brutal murder, Julio Pineiro Rial almost walked out a free man. He was acquitted by a jury of both murders on the basis of ‘self-defense’. His sentencing still remains to take place for setting fire to the apartment where Isaac and Julio were murdered. Insiders estimate that his sentence will be around 15 to 20 years.

Crossposted via Queer Justice League.

Stop Early Parole for Sean Kennedy's Killer

In May of 2007, in Greenville, South Carolina, Sean Kennedy, a 20-year-old gay man was leaving a bar when Stephen Andrew Moller called him a homophobic slur and hit him in the face so hard that Kennedy's brain separated from its stem. Moller left him on the sidewalk, unconscious, and Sean died later than night from his injuries.

Sean Kennedy’s family will never see justice done for Sean. Because of the inadequacy of South Carolina murder laws and the lack of hate crime statutes, his killer, Stephen Andrew Moller, could be out of prison as early as February. We must protest this injustice and ask the parole board to make Moller serve the remainder of his sentence.

Moller was plea bargained down to involuntary manslaughter and received a suspended 5 year sentence for his crime. Because of the credit he received for time he served before his sentencing, the longest possible time he will have to serve in prison is until September 2009. Despite the violence of his crime, he could be eligible for parole by this coming February, meaning that he will have served only 8 months since his sentencing in prison.

The parole board is currently conducting an investigation to decide whether to allow him to have a parole hearing, so it is critical that they hear from you that Stephen Andrew Moller violently murdered Sean Kennedy and should serve the remainder of his sentence!

Please consider writing a letter to the parole board and ask them to deny Stephen Moller parole and serve out his sentence. In your letter, please remind the board of the violent and unprovoked nature of Moller’s offense and the pain and suffering it has caused in the lives of Sean Kennedy’s family and friends. If you have the time, please write a personal letter by hand or by computer, as those will be the most effective, and if you knew Sean or his family personally, please include that information.

Also, please let Elke know if you send a letter and if possible, send her a copy of the letter, so she can have copies to take with her to the parole hearing.

Be sure to include Moller’s full name and ID number:
Stephen Andrew Moller - SCDC ID # 00328891.

Send your letters to:
Department of Probation Pardon and Parole Services
2221 Devine Street, Suite 600, PO Box 50666
Columbia SC 29250

For more information on Sean's murder and Sean's Last Wish, please visit www.seanslastwish.org