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Copyright 1996 Southam Inc.
The Gazette (Montreal)
August 22, 1996, Thursday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A6
LENGTH: 452 words
HEADLINE: Killing was hate crime: gay activists: Want
designation that would lead to tougher sentence
BYLINE: ANDY RIGA; THE GAZETTE
BODY:
Gay activists want the recent killing of a gay Montreal
man to be treated as a hate crime, a designation that could lead to a
tougher sentence for the killer.
But police say they have no evidence the killing of
REal Halde, 54, was motivated by hatred toward gay men.
Haldes nude body was found in his St. Sulpice St.
apartment on Aug. 8. His throat had been slashed.
Police arrested AndrE Lortie, 28, in connection with
the slaying on Friday and say he will be charged with second-degree murder.
We believe that the aggressor has a problem with homosexuals,
Michael Hendricks, a spokesman for the Committee on Violence Against Gays
and
Lesbians, told a news conference yesterday. This person
decided that this was a basis for murder.
Hendricks said the details of the case fit the pattern
of crimes inspired by hate toward gay men.
He said victims of such crimes are usually law-abiding
men who invite their killer into their homes and are then viciously attacked,
usually with a sharp instrument. Little if anything
is taken from the victims home.
Montreals gay and lesbian community has been rocked
by the slaying. Hate crime, by its very definition, affects the entire
community of the minority targeted, Hendricks
said.
If a Hasidic man was walking down the street and was
murdered in a hateful fashion because of his costume or because of his
religious behavior, all of the Hasidic community,
all of the Jewish community, would be touched, he said.
In this case, were all touched by what happened. Mr.
Halde was just like every other gay man, pursuing an innocent life minding
his own business.
But Det.-Lt. Claude Lachapelle, of the Montreal Urban
Community police homicide squad, said the investigation didnt turn up
anything to support Hendrickss contention that
Haldes killer hated gay men.
We have no indication it was a hate crime, he said.
Im not saying it was or wasnt, but I have no indications that would permit
me to place a value judgment in one sense or
the other.
There have been precedents in which judges have imposed
stiffer sentences because a crime was hate motivated.
Last year, the House of Commons passed legislation
to force judges to consider imposing sentences toward the higher end of
the punishment allowed when a crime is motivated
by bias, prejudice or hate,
A spokesman for Justice Minister Allan Rock yesterday
said the provisions will come into effect only early this fall.
Until then, it will continue to be up to prosecutors
to decide whether to ask a judge to consider higher sentences.
The prosecutors office isnt commenting on the case
against AndrE Lortie. A prosecutor will only be assigned to handle his
case on Monday.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: August 23, 1996
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