On Wednesday, Long Island resident Marquise J. Utsey was arrested for robbing and assaulting online hookups that he’d met via Adam4Adam. Unfortunately, this is only the most recent example of using online hookup culture to commit crimes against unsuspecting users.
Here are five other gay online hookups that ended in crime:
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, Mark Paling, Richard Thompson, and Ricky Ranger robbed 71-year-old David Maurer after Ranger met him on Grindr. After driving to Maurer’s senior citizen complex to drink, smoke, and have sex, Thompson placed him in a chokehold for 10 minutes while Ranger and Paling robbed him of cash, electronics, and credit cards.
Maurer went immediately limp in the chokehold, and was beaten, punched, and kicked by the three on their way out of the apartment. He died from his injuries, and his body wasn’t found until neighbors reported a smell coming from the apartment. The men were later charged with his murder and are in jail, though attorneys are requesting competency hearings and they won’t be back in court until March 13th.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Just outside of Seattle, Washington the spring of 2013, 32-year-old Leverne Lee Maxwell robbed and sexually assaulted a man at gunpoint, and later robbed two others. He met the men on popular “bears” app Growlr using a phone swiped from the mother of his toddler. The career criminal was later caught, charged with multiple counts of robbery, unlawful gun possession, and first-degree rape. This charmer is currently sitting in jail while he awaits his May 6 court date.
47-year-old New York radio personality George Weber was stabbed more than 50 times in his home in 2009 by 16-year-old John Katehis, who answered Weber’s Craigslist ad looking for “rough sex.” The unbalanced teen, who had multiple photos of himself posted with knives on MySpace, was arrested by police after trying to flee upstate after the crime. Katehis was later sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder.
19-year-old Tommy Reed robbed and murdered 54-year-old Mark Woodland in Phoenix, AZ after the men met on an “unidentified” app that uses GPS to find other gay men in the area. Woodland’s roommate reported to police that after receiving two texts from Woodland confirming that he would be gone from the apartment, he returned hours later to find Woodland’s lifeless body in the apartment. Reed was later arrested by police, and eventually sentenced to life in prison for the crime.
Michael Sandy was killed at 29 in the fall of 2005 by a man he’d met in an online chat room and arranged to meet in a secluded area in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. While he thought he was to meet 19-year-old John Fox, he was later ambushed and assaulted by three other men. Sandy was struck and killed by a car after being chased into traffic by 21-year-old Ilye Shurov. The men were later seen rifling through his pockets, and were arrested when police found Sandy’s chat logs and connected them to Fox. The men were all charged in Sandy’s death, with Shurov receiving the harshest sentence of 17 1/2 years in prison. A foundation still exists in Sandy’s honor.
boring
All gay online hook-ups end in crime.
If you’re doing it correctly.
jimbryant
The sad fact about men who sexually interact with men is that they like risks. Anonymous sex is one such risk. I mean, think about it. You don’t know anything about the person’s state of mind or sexual health, and yet many men wouldn’t hesitate to seek out such men.
This desire towards risk can also be seen in the beat scene. The beat scene is where men go to parks or truck-stops late at night for anonymous hook-ups. The man in the park might be some psycho and yet many men wouldn’t hesitate to hook up with a psycho.
GrindR is basically one giant playground for psychos.
KDub
I’m sorry but a 29 y/o hooking up with a 19 y/o? 54 looking to hook up with a 19 y/o? 47 hooking up with a 16 y/o?????? Guess it’s safe to say none of the decendents were interested in breaking those old pedophile stereotypes. Lol
QJ201
It’s not about “online hookups” it’s about older men hooking up with MUCH YOUNGER men (TRADE!!!!) they met online.
dantealighieri
@jimbryant: All gay and bisexual men like risks? That’s painting men who have sex with men with an awfully wide brush.
Fitz
Funny, funny stuff!
At this point, I’m all out of sympathy for a gay man who posts a picture of himself with a tracking device for anyone to find. Dudes.. go to a damn bar or event and meet someone. Volunteer with some group. Join a gym. Go to a BATH house. Even THAT is more intimate and safer than these aps.
jkb
@Fitz: What would be funny is if you got punched in the face.
alanj
@dantealighieri: That’s Jim for you, just don’t take the bait. Just remember it’s always opinion masquerading as fact.
darkanser
@KDub: Well, I’d say a 10 year age difference isn’t all that wide – provided the younger person is of consenting age.
darkanser
@jimbryant: That tendency towards risks — if I may call it that — probably sprung from gay culture having traditionally been an outlaw/fringe/in the shadows culture and many of us have learned to fetishize anonymity.
tada-no
In straight equivalence only Craigslist prostitutes end up in body bags. The rest gamble their fates in clubs as that blendr app for straights failed to be our grindr success.
KDub
@darkanser: Maybe not if it was 29 with 39. But 29 with 19 is creepy and borderline predatory, period.
KDub
@AuntieChrist: Can’t help but notice in most of these types of stories on here, it’s usually some much older perv preying on some young stuff. Sympathies are just limited. Didn’t deserve to die but weren’t exactly with clean hands either.
the other Greg
@Fitz: I think you’re right that bath houses are underrated! Been a long time since I’ve been, but what I liked about them was the safety angle. Often they have locked boxes for your valuables. You MUST provide ID just to get in, which automatically keeps the psychos away. (This also tends to keep out the “my wife doesn’t understand me” closet case losers who most of us want to avoid; they’re too scared to show ID.) Also bath houses provide condoms and are strict about safer sex rules and drugs. If they catch idiots barebacking, smoking crack or whatever, they will throw them the fuck out.
It’s amazes me that some guys think it’s somehow “safer” to meet some stranger on an app, take him home and bareback (of course) and then he robs you (or worse). This could theoretically happen with a bar hookup but is much less likely since there are witnesses, and you get to have a conversation. Besides, my “sources” tell me that most guys on apps lie about their looks! At least in a bar or other real-life place, what you see is what you get.
CarlyGoringavo
my Aunty Leah got a nearly new Nissan Titan from only workin part time on a home computer… visit the site…… http://ttt.tf/4tre
Teresa F. Baldwin
my girlfriends mum just got Nissan Quest Minivan by part time working online from home… pop over to this site http://gg.gg/yks3
Billysees
@the other Greg:
Good, intelligent comment.
Dionte
The few times someone has had the chance to see me in person during the past few years, I always had my piece keeper on me.
Catharine A. Rumfelt
my best friends cousin got an awesome white Cadillac CTS Wagon from only workin part time on a home pc. view it now http://gg.gg/yojw
PinkPanther
Gee, I’m pretty sure I presented a paper titled “Dangerous Liaisons” on this very topic almost a year ago. Let me check. Yep, I did.
https://ipsa.academia.edu/BrianJFrederick