NY NY - Is a Serial Killer Targeting Gay Men in NY Again?

shadowraiths

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Is a Serial Killer Targeting Gay Men in NY Again? ( link )

Is there a serial killer targetting gay men in New York City? City Council member Daniel Dromm thinks there may be. According to MyFoxNY.com, Dromm reported that two out gay men, both middle-aged, have been strangled and murdered within a week of each other in Queens.

Neither crime scene showed forced entry, so police suspect that the victim went to the rooms willingly with their killer(s). Fox reported that one murder occurred at a private residence on 91st Street on February 3; they next happened "exactly one week later on February 10" at the Crown Motor Inn on Queens Boulevard.
 
http://www.southfloridagaynews.com/...k-city-raises-concerns-in-lgbt-community.html
"Police said they found the body of 54-year-old Joseph Benzinger lying in the floor of a room in the Crown Hotel in Queens. He had been strangled.

The week before, 53-year-old David Rangel was also murdered on 91st street, according to the New York Daily News.

Police are still investigating two other murders of gay men that took place last month. On one of the murders, the victim, Lou Rispolli, a 62-year-old gay activist died after two men hit him in the head with a blunt object.

In the other murder, Charles Romo, 48, was found dead with his hands tied and a plastic bag over his beaten head.

Daniel Dromm, a gay activists and city council member, is urging members of the gay community to be careful when using dating apps like Grindr."
 
Manual strangulation is not easy (unless the victim is much weaker, like a male strangling a female).

Plus one was bagged, not strangled. Doesn't seem like a serial killer to me.

Trapasso also reported that the police say that the cases "don't appear to be linked" but did divulge that "two of the victims may have met their attackers online," something that worries Dromm, a Democrat from Jackson Heights.
 
I found this article, it says that a suspect was arrested in Joseph Benzinger's case: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/02/14/arrest-made-in-death-of-man-at-queens-motel/ .

And this says that arrests (of three people) were made in Charles Romo's case: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/02/16/3-charged-in-robbery-beating-death-of-hamilton-heights-man/ .

So it does sound like they're not related. However it's eerie that all of the victims were older (45+) and not, say, young adults and three of the murders took place in Queens. In any case, I hope that everyone who uses online apps like Grindr to find people is safe.
 
Three men are missing from Toronto's Gay Community, could there be a connection? The men missing are middle aged....

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9555166#post9555166"]CANADA Canada - Police investigating 3 missing men from Church and Wellesley area - Page 2 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community[/ame]
 

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