articles
 

back

contact

top

1

Copyright 1997 Star Tribune  

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

February 27, 1997, Metro Edition

SECTION: News; Pg. 7B

LENGTH: 525 words

HEADLINE: Man accused of tying up, robbing gay man;

Police say suspect could be connected with two killings

BYLINE: Chris Graves; Staff Writer

BODY:

    A 28-year-old man has been accused of tying up and robbing a gay man in a case that has similarities to the Minneapolis robberies of two other gay men that resulted in their deaths.

The suspect was charged Monday with stealing electronic equipment from the man's apartment, which is three blocks away from where the body of Gregory Barnes was found Jan. 6 in the same complex.

Barnes, 35, had been strangled and was found on his bed. He was partially clothed and his hands and feet were tied behind his back. Police say they believe the killer escaped with Barnes' electronic gear, including a TV set his father had given him for Christmas.

Five months earlier, Wally Lundin, 31, was found asphyxiated in his northeast Minneapolis apartment. Lundin, who was last seen at the Gay '90s bar in downtown Minneapolis, also was found on his bed partially clothed and gagged, hands and feet tied behind his back.

In that case, police were looking for a black man in his mid-to-late 20s who was seen leaving Lundin's home carrying a boombox and a navy blue duffel bag or bowling bag.

There were no signs of forced entry in any of the cases, police said.

The suspect, who is black, is not being named because he has not been charged with the deaths of Barnes and Lundin. Police have declined to discuss specific details in the three cases nor will they say whether they have any physical evidence linking the suspect to the killings.

"Yes, he's considered a suspect," said Sgt. Robert Tichich, the primary investigator in the Barnes case.

The suspect was charged this week with robbing the 43-year-old man in his apartment in the 1700 block of Stevens Av. S. on Jan. 29. The victim, whose name was not released, was alone when the suspect - a man he described as a friend for two years - and another man introduced as "Randy" stopped by to visit, according to court documents.

According to the documents, the victim said that when he went to prepare frozen dinners for the two men, they grabbed him and the suspect put him in a headlock. The men forced the victim into the bedroom, and pushed him onto the bed. They gagged him with a washcloth and bound his wrists and ankles together behind his back, using masking tape, electrical cord and clothing. They put a pillowcase over his head, threatened to kill him or poke out his eyes with a screwdriver, according to court documents.

When the victim finally was able to free himself, he discovered that his TV set, answering machine, telephone, belt pack and a small amount of cash had been taken, according to the documents.

Investigators were asking anyone with information about the suspect or "Randy" to call 673-2941.

The suspect also was charged Friday with assaulting a 30-year-old man while they were drinking together, according to the criminal complaint.

The suspect is being held in the Hennepin County jail in lieu of $ 75,000 bail.

Constance Potter of the Gay and Lesbian Community Action Council said that the council has been working with police to identify similar cases of robbery or attacks on gay men.

 

 

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: February 28, 1997

 

 

back

contact

top

2

 

Copyright 1997 Star Tribune  

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

January 12, 1997, Metro Edition

SECTION: News; Pg. 7B

LENGTH: 387 words

HEADLINE: Suspect was in prison when killing occurred

BYLINE: Chris Graves; Staff Writer

BODY:

    A 20-year-old man suspected in the killings of two gay men in Minneapolis in the past six months was in a Wisconsin prison and on home arrest when they occurred.

Police said Wednesday that the man was a suspect in the death of Greg Barnes, whose body was found Monday, and in the August killing of Wally Lundin. Both cases are similar to the 1992 strangulation death of Howard Liebhaber. The 20-year-old suspect, then a juvenile, was accused in that killing, but the charges were dismissed.

Records show that the man was imprisoned in Wisconsin from June 1996 until September 1996, nearly a month after Lundin was killed. Records show that he has been in an "intensive sanctions" program since then.

The man said from his home in Wisconsin that he went from prison to a halfway house and then to house arrest. He said he wears an electronic transmitter around his ankle that sends a signal to authorities if he leaves his house.

If he had come to the Twin Cities last weekend, police would have been notified immediately and he would have been arrested, said a spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Under the terms of intense sanctions, an agent is to contact the man several times a day. The man's agent declined to comment.

Minneapolis police said Saturday that they spoke with the man Friday and are trying to set up a time to interview him at length. They are still working to confirm his whereabouts on the dates of the two recent killings.

Although police believe the right person was convicted in the Liebhaber killing, they think that he didn't act alone.

"I may have done some bad things in my life, but I could never, never kill someone," the 20-year-old said, adding that he didn't know he was a suspect in the two recent killings.

Police are trying to determine whether the similarities in the three cases are coincidental.

The victims were white, gay men in their 30s found in their homes partly clothed, tied up and robbed. Liebhaber and Lundin also were gagged and had last been seen at the Gay 90s bar in downtown Minneapolis the Saturday before their bodies were found. Police know Barnes went there on occasion, but they are still trying to determine whether he was there the Saturday before he was found dead.

$ TEMP$

GRAPHIC: Photograph

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: January 15, 1997