Some people are mentally disturbed. And then there is Michael Anderson (pictured), a 19-year-old North Carolina man, who called 911 and told the dispatcher he had taken Mucinex cough medicine and then hacked his gay roommate to death with an axe after shooting him.
Facing murder charges in the death of Stephen Starr (pictured below), Anderson can be heard telling the 911 operator at 4:45am Monday, “I took some pills and, um, the pills made me go mad and I murdered my roommate. shot him three times and then I used an axe and mutilated his body.” While being taken away from the home the two men shared, Anderson told reporters he loved (“as a friend”) his slain roommate. But during the 911 call, Anderson says, “I was straight and I wanted to go bisexual just to experiment and I went to a gay club and I met him and I went to his house. And he took me in and I turned straight again and he wanted to touch me and stuff and I wouldn’t let him and he kept trying and I waited until he went to sleep and then I shot him 3 times and then I mutilated him very badly.” Yes, that’s the sound of his defense attorney mounting a gay panic-by-medicine defense.
As for Starr, his lifeless body was found shot (by both a handgun and shotgun), stabbed (with the side of his body carved with a word), and torn up with the axe. Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid says it’s “probably one of the worst scenes I have seen in my 30 years of law enforcement.”
Anderson’s Facebook postings, however, indicate he may have planned the murder. Two successive posts on the site — where his status was listed “in a relationship” — declare his intent (“my killing starts tonight”) and then appear to announce what he did (“i finally cracked guys i really did it this time”).
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In the middle of the 911 call (full recording below), Anderson says: “Oh lord, I don’t know why I did this. … I can’t believe I killed my roommate.” He then tells the operator that when the police come they won’t even recognize Starr’s body. “The axe is inside his stomach.”
cybernoelie
Did you see what the psychopath wrote on his Facebook page before the slaughter?
Michael Anderson Shoots, Hatchets Adopted Father Stephen Starr to Death – True Crime Report http://bit.ly/gRiUOd “God forgive me of my sins of which I have done plz let your holy name be with me as I go to the heavenly place they will not take me alive my killing starts tonight I kill one by one hopefully I kill more than one though you it seems that I would rather want to kill a lot more you know but oh well one will do I guess but if you get in my way you will be next.”
Kev C
He took some mucinex, turned straight but went crazy and killed his roommate he just met at a gay club. Sorry, not buying it.
But you know what annoys me is how nice the 911 operator is to him. Hey, I’ve called 911 many times. Some have even hung up on me. None have ever told me to calm down, take deep breaths, we’ll get you some help. Wtf?
kayla
This incident and the incident in New York should give these older men pause….but it won’t….Please middle aged men out there, try going after persons your own age…Leave these young men alone!!
Master John
TRADE GONE WRONG!
cybernoelie
@ Kayla
Really?
It’s the fault of older men?
Really?
Young men never prey on older men?
Wow!
(That’s all I’m going to say otherwise my comment will be deleted).
Charlie
@kayla: I mean… I was surprised by the apparent age difference as well but I don’t think most older men should worry their boy toy is an axe murderer. They should probably lock up their credit cards and laptop… but I mean…. an axe murderer?
Cough medicine? The “twinkie defense” has gotten an update?
betsy
The guy willingly lived with this man and listed himself as in a relationship. (presumably w/ the “roommate”?) You can’t blame the victim here. And you also can’t really trust the ramblings of a deranged axe murderer. Whether the guy was making unwanted advances on a younger guy is completely irrelevant at this point. This guy is a psychopath and would have eventually killed just about anyone. There is no way to justify what he did. It was simply fucked up and wrong.
boi_in_boystown
“it’s a double wide”
justiceontherocks
The kid sounds awfully calm for someone who just reenacted a scene from “Fargo.”
Ryan
Kev C–
911 operators are trained to do that so the guy doesn’t start firing on the cops when they arrive. (I want to ask why you’ve called 911 “many times”, but I’ll resist the temptation).
Kayla–
What does this have to do with “young men” or old men? The guy was his roommate, and he’s obviously lying about the whole “he hit on me” thing, since he planned the kill beforehand.
Kev C
@Ryan: Ryna, I’ve called 911 many times because I’ve been gay bashed many, many times. One operator didn’t like my language after I was assaulted and so she just cold hung up on me. Another told me to “Stop Calling Us” because I would call twice a month.
Ryan
Where do you live? You should move! There are many many places where people don’t care if you’re gay.
Francis
Clearly a tragic story of a drug addicted self-loathing hustler and older sugar daddy. My the victim RIP.
Francis
Oh, and I forgot to add, mentally ill. A mentally ill, self-loathing, drug addicted male hustler who snapped. Very sad. Have to wonder where the parents were in this situation or if this kid was abused as a youth. Whatever the case is, he better get ready for prison, because he’s going to be there for a long time.
Shannon1981
Ok…just…I want the real story. This kid is lying. And fucking crazy. I mean sure, we all know young gays and lesbians who hook up after a night or so and move in with a sugar mama or sugar daddy. Nothing new, especially if the kid gets kicked out of a house or something of that nature. But NEVER, in my 12 years of frequenting gay bars, have I heard of anything like this. No, I didn’t know either the psycho kid or the poor dead man, but I would sure like some answers to this one. Just too fucked up.
Kev C
@Ryan: Thanks Ryan, I did move. Didn’t get much better because America is pretty much the same. And remember, not everyone has money, esp. young people who aren’t loved by their parents, so moving isn’t always easy.
Anyway, I can think of better ways of ending a relationship than using an Ax. Poor guy didn’t deserve to be mutilated.
Oprah
Oh poor guy. That 911 call was heart wrenching. I feel sorry for the killer,i truly do. As a gay person, i can see myself in him. This deathly refusal to accept the reality that you are gay. I think he snapped.I feel sorry for the guy killed, and hope the killer gets his time in prison, but i hope he also gets psychiatry help.Manslaughte charge is appropriate for this crime.
Dino
Who did the gun belong to?
Dolly Knockers
Shame he didn’t just suck a cough sweet.
cybernoelie
@ Oprah
Remember, being gay used to be a psychiatric disorder – being a cold-blooded killer isn’t a psychiatric disorder (unless people like you get to write the DSM).
You’re being conned by a psychopath – they frequently play on people’s emotions and use all kinds of psycho-tools to fool people. I don’t know what age you are but when you’re older I hope to don’t feel sorry for a stranger who manipulates your ‘bleeding heart’ and then slaughters you.
Beau Colby
You just don’t “turn”. You are confused to begin with…BC
justiceontherocks
@ron: Excellent point. Homicides never occur among breeders.
BTW, I’m willing to bet that the “ugly old overweight predator” is one hell of a lot better looking than you.
Go troll elsewhere.
greenmanTN
Just as soon as heterosexuals fully explain why the #1 cause of death for pregnant women is murder by the father of their child, not to mention the whole “starter wives” and “trophy wives” thing, then they can start casting stones. Until then, STFU.
That said, for your own safety don’t take anyone into your home without having a good idea who they really are. That goes for Internet hook-ups too because the truth is you’re only as safe as they are sane and you have no clue based on a photo or online profile.
Stark
Some of you people are disgusting excuses for human beings. I’m ashamed to share a species with you let alone a sexuality. Just because the internet is anonymous doesn’t mean that you should immediately start typing the most vile, hateful things you can think of the instant a news article is released. I don’t believe that any of you would ever say these things to the faces of your family and friends, so why is it right to say them online? You are a poison on our society. Go spread your hate elsewhere please.
Jimbo
@Stark: Welcome to the internet!
B
No. 2 · Kev C “But you know what annoys me is how nice the 911 operator is to him. Hey, I’ve called 911 many times. Some have even hung up on me. None have ever told me to calm down, take deep breaths, we’ll get you some help. Wtf?”
Sounds like the right thing for the 911 operator to do – the call was obviously from a mental case and being reassuring and trying to calm him down would reduce the risk to police officers sent to his address – remember he told them he had used a gun.
Michael
Creepy story. For those worried about this murderer getting off light due to “insanity” – don’t. This guy will never see daylight again, and chances are strong, he himself will die a violent death behind bars.
Enufothis
Michael : Or he’ll kill somebody else behind bars.
Kasen
@Oprah: Manslaughter is not an appropriate charge. Was it done in self defense? Clearly NOT! I don’t believe in the death penalty but internal struggles with sexuality does not merit decreasing a full murder charge to “manslaughter”. The murdered could have LEFT the deceased’s house if he felt uncomfortable. This is sad. May God be with the victim’s family.
Shannon
THIS is what I mean when I say being desperate…..always get you into trouble! ALL YOU GUSY SAYING SOMEONE IS “STRAIGHT” AND “HOT” GETS YOU BASHED…AND KILLED…WAKE UP DUDES
Josh
America really is a fxcked up country! Kudos to the 911 operator for handling the situation.
mattgmd
Murders by homosexuals can be far more brutal than heterosexual murders. The shooting and chopping went far beyond just a basic self-defense kill-or-be-killed event. Since he said he waited for the guy to fall asleep to start shooting and chopping, then a ‘gay panic’ defense is going to be very hard to sell. Hope he gets a tougher sentence than that Kovarbasich kid in Ohio last year: 5 years probation.
Glenn Beck
The age difference gave me a huge red flag right away. The 36 year old victim picked up this unstable, sexually confused 19 year old up in a gay club, brought him home thinking he will score with a twink. According to other news articles, the 36 year old victim was embarrassed that he brought in such a young guy to sleep with and told his friends and neighbors that the 19 year old is his “adoptive son.” That doesn’t get any more creepier if he tried to make sexual advances on this confused 19 ear old psycho who probably had history of abuse in his childhood. The 19 year old was not ready and could not follow through with the sexual expectations of the older victim “roommate.” Moral of the story older guys should stop chasing young twinks who tend to be desperate, vulnerable and sometimes confused about who they are. Stick to your own age groups. You won’t have to call your twink an “adoptive son” because you know it’s embarrassing. Another reason to avoid the gay scene. If not psychos the STDs will do you in.
Enufothis
GlennBeck : Older rough trade can be dangerous too, though. The killers of Alan Shalleck were 29 and 54. Let’s face it, all rough trade is dangerous. That’s part of the appeal. I guess we can say the victim was acting recklessly in bringing this bruiser acne-faced kid home, but I’d never say it was his fault for what happened.
Enufothis
Mattgmd : I’d say everyone of all sexual-preferences has an equal percentage of gruesome murderers. Gays certainly don’t have a higher percentage than their straight counterparts. But here’s another strange case going on. http://articles.philly.com/2011-02-09/news/27328786_1_patrick-michael-brady-murder-hearings-murder-trial
Master John
It does happen the other way around too, remember this story?
http://rodonline.typepad.com/rodonline/2009/04/suspect-had-relationship-with-young-gay-man-found-in-dumpster.html
I cant believe that creep did this to him.
Master John
This is the dude that killed Lashon Lee Douglas, he looks crazy!!
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/19002087/detail.html
Enufothis
No. 38 : I don’t know. He looks pretty normal to me.
Master John
He looks like Mike Tyson…
Oprah
@Cybernoelie
You might have a valid point. He might be a psychopath. But judging from the 911 call, and the killers own words– i sensed a tone of self loathing and a psychological nervous break down. All gay people can relate to the initial struggle of sexuality, and the internal woes that comes with it.The kid had an enormous self loathing rage that exploded in a tragic manner.different people have different ways to express their rage. I put my rage in my studies,I will graduate high this summer, i will study psychology to further channel my internal conflicts. 🙂
@Kasen
I know it was not self defence, but if his lawyers are good–they have a very valid point of incapacitated insanity plea.
Kev C
I agree with Cybernoelie. Psychopaths can be very charming and emotionally manipulative, and you can hear how the operator is reacting to him. You can hear him fabricating and spinning the story. The victim probably felt sympathy for the kid, and sincerely believed he was helping him. And he’s made to look bad, like he’s a predator or something.
Danny
I feel sorry for the victim’s family and friends.
As for the killer, his rant sounds like religion f*cked his head up.
CeCe
@cybernoelie: she is not saying its their fault. She is saying they should be careful dating these younger men. I think that some not all younger men look at the men as sugar daddies but i’d take caution at any age.
stephens
read tell me what you guys think
Oprah
Glen Beck you are silly and hilarious. I am a fan. he he he he
Gigi
@Glenn Beck: Wow! You sound just like the real Glenn Beck. What a load of crap! You’re saying a person shouldn’t go after someone who is younger and if he/she does they should expect to be murdered? They kid was more than legal. I was 19 and confused once as well. I slept with someone older and felt conflicted after. But – and here’s the difference – I didn’t freak out, kill the person I’d slept with & try to blame it on a cough syrup overdose. Your suggestion is not only perverse it’s utterly insane. Perhaps that’s why you feel you can understand how Junior ended up doing what he did. Please go back under your rock and leave us alone. Thanks so much!
Gigi
@ron: Do you work for NOM? When did this site become overrun with homophobic shills?
Nathan
Why in the world would anyone care about the age difference? What two consenting adults get up to is up to them. Very sad for both victims. The teen was a victim as well, a victim of the shame society has saddled him with and the inadequate mental health services available to the average american.
ajsp6818
@Dino:
The guns belonged to the victim.
ajsp6818
@Glenn Beck:
So many incorrect ASSumptions. You don’t know what you’re talking about and you don’t know the truth.
ajsp6818
So many foolish assumptions, conjecture and speculations. I have been reading these websites for days on this subject and it astounds me that strangers who know nothing of these two people personally can judge and decide what was really going on here.
I knew the victim…personally. I knew the situation…personally.
In this world every single day HETEROSEXUAL people can and do live together and are NOT sexually involved. Just room mates. But this is not possible for gay people? They are not capable of this?
Well, here is a news flash for all of you who think you know what the situation was. You’re WRONG!
This was NOT a sexual relationship.
The MURDERER was an obviously troubled young man who CLAIMED that he had no place to live. He was in a bad situation and had been kicked out of where he had been living for drug abuse and fighting. And he had no where to go…or so he said.
The VICTIM offered to help him get on his feet and get some forward motion. Why? Because that was the kind of man he was. Bad judgement? Probably. Did he deserve to die for it? NO!
If you listened to the tale that the murderer spun on the phone with 911, it was blatantly obvious he was making it up as he went along. And it was obvious that he is a psychopath.
And his Facebook postings prove it was premeditated.
I knew Stephen Starr. He was a magnificent man in more ways then some of us can ever hope to be. The other people that knew him would tell you the same. He has spent most of his life helping others.
I can’t help but wonder how you all would feel if someone that you knew and cared about was murdered and then wrongly bashed in a public forum, how you would feel to read that. People jumping to conclusions, making speculative statements and asinine.
The killer was a psychopath, that much is obvious. Do any of us really know in our day to day travels who we will meet or what impact they will have on our lives. No. So if any of you encountered a killer or was a victim of violent crime, does that have some bearing on you and what you have done in your life? If you had a three-way at some point in your life, or went to a swingers club, or had kinky sex at a party….and then you were a victim of crime down the road…does it have some bearing on your what you did in your past? No.
The bottom line is that a nineteen year old killed a man in his sleep. If he was allegedly upset about something that was said or happened, he needed to leave. His Mucinex defense, his *I used to take ADD medicine and now I don’t* defense has nothing to do with what he did. It’s just a load of BS. He said he would kill that night…and that one would not be enough. So was he going out to kill others that allegedly made sexual advances on him? Or just general killing was going to suffice?
This was not about medicine, it was not about sexual preferences, it was not about unwelcome sexual advances, it was not about anything other then that this guy was a psychopath. If not Stephen, it would have been someone else.
And as for the 911 operator, your comments amaze me about that too. Unless you have BEEN a 911 operator (I WAS!!!) then how would you know how they are supposed to handle a call like this? (You wouldn’t!) That woman was sending police officers in to a crime scene where the caller just said he MURDERED someone in cold blood, had weapons and mutilated his body! Is this someone you would like to piss off a bit more? The dispatcher did exactly what she was supposed to do and said exactly what she was supposed to say. And she did a great job! She is not going to get in to a pissing match with an obvious psychopath…she is only interested in ONE THING…and that is the safety of her officers. That’s her job. To control and diffuse as much as she can until the officers get there and gain control. Her personal feelings and emotions about the person she was speaking to cannot enter it to it. She needs to gain the trust of the caller…and that is what she did.
Maybe some of you need to rethink your comments before you post them. SOME of you make yourselves look very ignorant.
That said…Stephen Starr was buried yesterday. All of us that knew and loved him were there. The world has lost so much with his passing. I hope that each of you are lucky enough in your life to meet someone like him and have them touch your life.
OneOfTwins
re. post # 36 : I’m surprised that the victim and the alleged killer had a relationship going on, but it’s the act of bringng others to the room with a body there, for sex, that’s the most shocking.
B. Allan Ross
@Glenn Beck: You’re aptly self-labeled as an ignorant het freak. Anyway, using your lack of logic, you had better get your supply of red flags restocked. Ever hear of Hugh Hefner? Do you know how old he is? Do you know how old his new wife is? Red flag! Do you have some belief that he is the only old het male hooking up with a much younger female? You’re wrong of course. It also happens so often with older women and younger men that they have new shows about “Cougars”. Red flags! You are bogus.
Kev C
@ajsp6818: I was one of the few who saw that it was a non-sexual friendship. So maybe I’m also right about the operator going too far. If it was me, I’d get the address, send the police, and tell the cops that the suspect is armed and dangerous. Nuff said. Sorry for your loss, AJ. He sounded like a very decent man who was taken advantage of by a psychopath.
iKNOWwhatSTEPHENwasLIKE
Without actually knowing all the details and people involved, all we hear is what the media grasps hold of and reports. I happen to know a bit about the “other side of this story” which seems to be greatly unreported. How do i know this?. . Well, i was actually a roommate in Stephen s house. I did NOT meet Stephen at a gay bar nor did i ever want anything sexual with Stephen. I was just barely beginning to re-establish my life with a finding a new job, school, and a new home in Hickory, NC. I had only planned to be stayin in a room or renting with roommates till i could afford a place of my own. Stephen constantly sexually assaulted me forcefully and was very abusive verbally and physically to selected individuals. . Especially those who turned down his advances. I saw it many times and experienced it as well. Between that and threats to my life by Stephen, i simply up and left one morning in fear for my safety and unable to bear any more of the rest. Yes, it was that bad. Funny, how Stephen also tried telling me the same exact thing he said about Michael “i will make him a better man, or will die trying” etc. Now i was stable, but take some1 like Michael Anderson who was unsure about sexuality, had been through some tough stuff, and was already unstable PRIOR to meeting Stephen and then had Stephen do to him what he did to me which i am certain of; and this young man went over the edge. I DONT justify the brutal murder that happened, BUT strongly believe he was provoked. Michael Anderson is sick and needs help, and so was Stephen. I really wish the police would have came the day i called&left and caught Stephen bein violent and i could have proven the sexual assault. The murder is not my fault. but maybe if someone would have listened to me, it would have prevented 1, Stephen s murder and 2, a young man getting help and becoming a success in life rather than going over the edge and ruining his life. Guess we will never know now. God have mercy on both of them.
Bill
@kayla: Well, or get better at spotting the crazies.
right on eh
that s like some brotha lynch hung style ish right there man . crazzzzzzy
snowisfun
For all those sympathising with Stephen Starr, fact is that the 19 year old boy was mentally retarded & Stephen Starr knew it. It wouldn’t surprise me if Stepen Starr had a past history of sexually abusing teenage autistic boys only that this time, the mentally retarded boy shot & kille him & then mutilated him. Retarded people can’t agree to have sex. If a 36 year old man ‘adopted’ a 19 year old retarded girl who he says was his daughter but instead had sex with him, I wouldn’t sympathise with him if the 19 year old retarded girl kills him. Stephen Starr committed sex abuse against a 19 year old retarded boy. I believe the boys story & way I see it, Stephen Starr committed crime by sexually abusing this retard incl. putting drugs in his Mucinex & the 19 year old retard killed him.
jay
@snowisfun: Actually a retarded gay man lives around my townhouse complex. There are different degrees of retardation, they all are able to do different things.