The 400-pound former owner of Escuelita, a legendary Latin gay nightclub in midtown that closed last February, was killed by 23-year-old Daquan King, a masseur who engaged in “weird” consensual sex with 54-year-old Savyon Zabar (right).
According to police, King confessed to the January 3rd killing on Friday. The New York Post reports he’d been considered the prime suspect before coming forward.
Related: Two Of New York’s Most Iconic Gay Bars Battle The City To Stay Open
On the morning of January 4, his two roommates walked into their West 81st Street apartment and found Zabar face-up and unconscious.
According to sources, “he was sobbing the whole time” during his confession:
He said it started out with him massaging the victim. The massage led to them fooling around. They were doing weird sex stuff. And that led to them choking each other.”
The encounter apparently “ended with the perp choking the victim a little too hard and he heard the victim gurgling. He was so freaked out, he left.”
Escuelita was located on West 39th Street, but closed in February.
At the time, a notice on their website thanked patrons for the last 49 years and said “it’s time to say goodbye for now.”
Paco
Why did we need to know he was 400 pounds? What did his weight have to do with his murder?
James Hart
Isn’t it obvious: Gays can’t stand people who are ugly, or fat, or old, or all three at the same time. LOL!
JerseyMike
@Paco: Exactly.. I am trying to wrap my head around why it matters too..
Kangol
La Nueva Escuelita was such a gay landmark for so long. A sad story all around, and yes, Queerty, please stop the fat-shaming of murder/manslaughter victims.
James Hart
Why can’t they? We gay guys know that fat, ugly, and old people don’t deserve our pity or concern. The guy was a BLIMP. LOL.
ChrisK
@Paco:Some like the thrill of choking with orgasm or auto asphyxiation. Very easy to take someone too far though. Especially if their not in good health as this guy clearly was.
ChrisK
Make that auto erotic asphyxiation.
Neonegro
Sorry for the death, but happy that club is closed.
A bunch of flamboyant Carmen Mirandas taking up valuable real estate space in midtown manhattan.
dwes09
Nice words from a white man who makes believe he is black and gay to push a fascist hetero agenda! Good Lord you are a worthless P.O.S.!!
scottjamesmiller
@Neonegro: What do you mean by “flamboyant Carmen Mirandas”. If you mean effeminant acting, gay latins then say that. No need to slight members of your own community that you obviously don’t like. Or accept. Better yet, how about not posting a response if you’re going to be hateful.
Brian
It’s really dangerous when you get two men with lots of testosterone sexualizing with each other in an uncontrolled way. I remember meeting a man once who wanted to be punched severely in the abdomen. It freaked me right out.
Spanking should be it. Stuff like asphyxiation etc are bizarre and disturbing, and symptomatic of psychological issues.
James Hart
The “masseur” was a little runt and his john was a blimp; what did you expect?
Bob LaBlah
@Neonegro: Ninety percent of his patrons were on the escort page of the Village Voice back in the days when the Village Voice had a regular flow of loyal readers. There is a video of an incident involving this guy that he didn’t press thru with. As for his neighbors I think it safe to say a few of them wasn’t in attendance at his funeral. And no, that is NOT me in the blue jacket.
http://pix11.com/2017/01/13/masseuse-arrested-in-strangling-death-of-former-nyc-club-owner-savyon-zabar/
Bob LaBlah
@Kangol: Kangol, that club was noted for one thing. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. It was what it was. A place for low-life trash to start trying to “whisper” in a non-manly voice (few succeeded) “papa, papa, venaca” as soon as a new face would walk thru the door. It was a total DIVE. It made the long since closed Better Days or Stella’s appear like the Russian Tearoom in comparison.
Chris
The weight may be important because it might have affected the late victim’s ability to breathe. Hence “normal” play may have been too rough for him. Sounds like a defense.
girldownunder
@Brian:
“Symptomatic of psychological issues”?
Some would say the same about “spanking”.
What consenting adults do is their business, not yours.
seaguy
@Paco: People who are overweight often have issues with breathing due to their weight so that could have played a role.
Paco
@seaguy: Both of the articles, Queerty and The New York Post start with his weight in the first sentence. The New York Post also refers to him as the “obese victim”. There was nothing in either article linking his weight to the death by strangulation. There wasn’t even a quote or speculation by any official that his weight could have played a role in his death.
It just seemed strange to me since I have never read an article that mentioned a homocide victim’s weight before.
teenhappy22
haha, so funny