CHOKED UP

When Sex Kills: How A Kinky Gay Hookup In San Francisco Turned Deadly

viewimage_story“He told me he liked it,” 25-year-old David Munoz Diaz (pictured) testified in a San Francisco court. “He said it excited him and he wanted to cum.”

Diaz was recounting an experience he had with 23-year-old Freddy Canul-Arguello three years ago. The two men met in a taqueria in the Castro at around 2 a.m. on June 10, 2011. Together, they walked to nearby Buena Vista Park, a popular area for gay cruising. What happened next, the defense has argued, was a case of erotic asphyxiation gone very, very wrong.

According to Diaz, Canul-Arguello began performing oral sex on him. Then he asked to be strangled, showing Diaz exactly how he wanted it done.

“He placed himself behind me and he crossed his arm covering my neck,” Diaz testified, holding his right arm across his throat to demonstrate.

Diaz stood behind Canul-Arguello, choking the young man while at the same time rubbing his penis against his butthole. When Canul-Arguello asked to be choked “a little bit harder,” Diaz obliged.

Then, “at a certain point, he stopped moving,” he said.

Diaz let go of Canul-Arguello, whose lifeless body dropped to the ground. He tried to resuscitate him but was unsuccessful. In a flight of panic, he dragged the body next to a nearby recycling bin then lit the can ablaze in an effort to “signal for help.” Then he pulled a fire alarm and called 911 about the fire before fleeing the scene.

The prosecution tried to paint it as a case of a rage-filled, closeted Mexican man who violently turned on his sexual partner, strangling him and then lighting his body on fire in an effort to destroy the evidence, then lying to police about it.

Though the prosecution tried paint Diaz as a crazed killer, a friend of Canul-Arguello’s testified that he had once told her he liked being choked during sex, asking her if she thought it was weird.

Arguments in the trial ended Monday after jurors heard two weeks of salacious evidence. Jurors continue to deliberate today. A verdict is expected very soon.

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated