Identified! TX - Houston, BlkMale 77UMTX, 23-40, found strangled, Jul'86 - N/W

[Bobby88]

Given that this man was wearing a multiple earrings, nail polish, and that he may have been strangled with pantyhose, could this have been a gay hate crime? Could the victim have been gay or transgendered?

DoeNetwork Case 77UMTX

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/77umtx.html

Unidentified Black Male Located on July 10, 1986 at 2500 Wentworth at Live Oak, in Houston, Harris County, Texas.
Estimated Date of Death: The victim died the same day that he was located.
Cause of Death: Homicide by strangulation, possibly with pantyhose.

---

Vital Statistics

• Estimated age: 20-30 years old
• Approximate Height and Weight: 5'7-5'9; 155-165 lbs.
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Short, black, kinky hair; brown eyes. His ears were both pierced four times and he wore four earrings in each ear. He wore gold nail polish on his fingernails. He had needle marks on both arms.
• Clothing: He was wearing pink pants; a gray t-shirt; a black leather belt with studded spikes; a silver chain; silver ring and a gold ring with a clear stone.
• Tattoos: He had a tattoo of a heart with a scroll on inside of his left forearm.
• Fingerprints: Available.

---

Case History
The victim was located in the 2500 block of Wentworth near Live Oak on the south side of Houston, Texas on July 10, 1986.

 

[Donamena]

How did they find him so quickly?

 

[Bobby88]

How did they find him so quickly?

I don't know. I'd really like to know if this victim had ties to the local gay community or anything. Could he have been a transgenderedwoman or nightclub performer? Perhaps even a prostitute?

 

[Bobby88]

Possible match? Even though he went missing almost four years before the murder in California.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/g/goolsby_relman.html

 

[FiveFelines]

My immediate thought was that he was a transsexual prostitute killed by an angry John--not uncommon. But I'm basing that on nothing other than his clothing, really. That looks like a residential area, so perhaps he was dumped there and that's why he was found so quickly? Also, it's pretty close to a highway.

https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=UTF...9,2500+Wentworth+Ave,+Houston,+TX+77004&gl=us

 

[FiveFelines]

Also, there is a bar called the Esquire Lounge on the corner of that block. It looks like it's only been there for a few years, but I'm guessing it might have been another bar or club before that. I wonder if that's where he was found.

 

[FiveFelines]

This flier has more pics and mentions that he was wearing rolled-up socks for false breasts:

http://www.harriscountytx.gov/CmpDocuments/21/UDF 2014/1986-07-10-4174.pdf

Also:

The decedent was found by a passerby and transported to Hermann Hospital Emergency Room where he was pronounced dead.

 

[Murkywaters]

I don't know. I'd really like to know if this victim had ties to the local gay community or anything. Could he have been a transgenderedwoman or nightclub performer? Perhaps even a prostitute?

Did the descendant have a weave, wig or any hair extensions at all? It says he was found with short hair... It's kinda hard to determine if he was in fact transgender or just a gay man who happened to dress in drag from time to time.

 

[FiveFelines]

Not to nitpick about semantics, but "transgender" and "gay" are not mutually exclusive: one involves gender identity and the other involves sexual orientation. He also could have been a straight man who liked to occasionally dress in drag. (Most gay men I know only occasionally dress in drag if they are drag queens, it's Halloween, etc.)

I wonder if he was wearing a wig and it was either removed by the killer or fell off in the struggle. The track marks lead me to believe he might have been a sex worker/hustler, althoight I realize that not all sex workers are addicts.

 

[FiveFelines]

Here's his Namus profile. Note that it says he was found in cardiac arrest--nothing about strangulation specifically. https://identifyus.org/en/cases/4241

 

[cvaldez1975]

if he was at the younger end of the age range, its possible he ran away or was reported missing by family who had no idea he was gay or transgender.

 

[dotr]

Here's his Namus profile. Note that it says he was found in cardiac arrest--nothing about strangulation specifically. https://identifyus.org/en/cases/4241

From the link..

 

[margarita25]

This sounds familiar to me...marking my spot...

 

[madamx]

BUMPING!!! Someone out there knew this person and missed this person!!!!!

 

[MarziPanda]

The best way to identify them (as we don't know how they identified it's best to use gender neutral pronouns imo) would likely be through friends rather than family. At the time many people in the LGBTQ+ community were rejected by their family, especially POC. The documentary Paris is Burning gives a good insight into this. The LGBTQ+ community, especially POC, banded together in large cities to form their own families.

Sadly, that might also be a dead end for identifying this Doe. Most of these communities have died out because of the AIDS crisis and because LGBTQ+ (again, especially POC) are targets of violence and murder. According to the TSER, trans women have a 1 in 12 chance of being murdered in their lifetime. That statistic is 1 in 8 for trans women of colour. In statistics for the year 2011, 87% of murder victims of anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime in the US were people of colour, and 45% of all murder victims of these hate crimes were trans women. The statistics from 1986 would likely be worse. A lot of this person's friends are probably no longer with us. It's very, very sad.

 

[Nancy Drew RN]

It says s/he was found near Live Oak, which I assume in this instance is the cross street that Wentworth dead-ends into. There’s currently a green space of some kind on the northwest corner, with older smaller apartments along most of the southern side of Wentworth. The northern side has some newer looking condos/apartments, so, hard to say what would’ve been there thirty years ago.

Information about the neighborhood indicates that it was poor and black at that time period, no particular LGBT connection (that community was/is centered in Montrose, although segregation would have possibly been an issue—great article on racism and transphobia in the gay community by a Houston native). The police, etc, in Houston at that time were no great friend of the LGBT community, see the murder of Paul Broussard, where it is alleged that emergency response was fatally delayed due to fear of HIV. Someone else was seeking information about black Houston LGBT clubs pre-1990 online, and didn’t get a ton of help.

I think this UID would have stood out in this, and for that matter, most communities. People at that time would have had some idea of the UID’s identity, unless possibly they were brought or came there or dumped (immediately?) after death. Possibly they could have come to get drugs.

 

[Nancy Drew RN]

I found this article about a woman who is heading up an oral history project on the history of HIV/AIDS in Houston, and she specifically mentions transgender women and the black community being disproportionately affected. There is also an archive of GLBT history located in Houston. I think it would be worth reaching out to groups like this, as well as the Trans Doe Task Force, to see if they could publicize the case.

 

[KaylaraOwl]

Not a lot of info to go on, but I sent Donald Ray Jones into Malcom Nance to check as a possible match to this UID. mpDetails

 

[dotr]

Not a lot of info to go on, but I sent Donald Ray Jones into Malcom Nance to check as a possible match to this UID. mpDetails

Will keep my eyes open for Donald Ray Jones, at only 5'2'' he might ( paradoxically) stand out!
"Height: 5' 02"
Date of Birth: 10/03/1960"

 

[Nancy Drew RN]

I did end up contacting the Trans Doe Task Force, who told me they were already on their radar. Today, they made a new release, including new illustrations:

The Trans Doe Task Force has been attempting to research this case in hopes of putting in a recommendation for forensic genealogical analysis by the DNA Doe Project.

New Forensic Illustration of Live Oak Doe (Texas, 1986)