Michael Sandy‘s alleged killers may more bent than they’d like to admit. Or, at least their statements to police are. The three boys – John Fox, Ilya Shurov and Anthony Fortunato – appeared in a Brooklyn court house yesterday to watch their video confessions about their October 13, 2006 attack on the 28-year old Sandy.
Sandy met at least one of the men online and was lured to Sheepshead Bay, where Mr. Fox told him to drive toward a fictitious gay beach “where gay people have sex and stuff”. Once there, the men punched Sandy, who then ran into traffic and got hit by a car. The men are accused of then pulling Sandy’s tattered body to the side of the road, where the rummaged through his pockets and left him.
He died five days later, one day after his 29th birthday.
In his confession, Fox maintained that Shurov punched Sandy, thus sending him into the busy road. Shurov, however, claims that Fox also punched Sandy. He also claims that Fox and Fortunato were the ones who lured Sandy to the beach in the first place. Fox, however, claims Fortunato headed up that dastardly committee.
At the end of his tape, Shurov followed confessional directional and apologized for his role in Sandy’s death:
How about we take this to the next level?
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I apologize to his family; I know my words can’t help, but I’m just really sorry for what happened. Is this going to be shown to his parents?
Sandy’s mother did, indeed, see the footage and later said that she accepted Shurov’s apology. The prosecutor, however, has hate crime conviction on his mind. No trial date’s been set and the investigation’s still wrapping up. Hopefully they can get this show on the road.
Defendants, on Video, Point Fingers in Death of a Gay Man [NY Times]
