Renato Seabra, a 21-year-old Portuguese model, is now standing trial for brutally killing his older lover in 2011, then castrating him with a corkscrew and wearing the dead man’s testicles on his arms.
“He put one on each wrist,” defense lawyer Rubin Sinins explained in Manhattan court this week. “He did this for his protection. [He thought] he could also harness the power. He wandered the streets of Manhattan, touching people, because he had the power to cure people from AIDS.”
Sinins contends his client killed journalist Carlos Castro, 65, during a psychotic episode: “He willingly told police. He wanted to explain why he killed Mr. Castro, because he thought what he had done was right.” When he was first arrested, Seabra told police he killed his lover to exorcise his “homosexual demons.” The defense is asking the jury to find Seabra not guilty by reason of insanity.
Prosecutors aren’t buying it: They claim the handsome Seabra just saw the older writer as a ticket to the good life, and murdered him when it looked like the ride was ending: “He want to be famous and make money. He also wanted nice things—clothes, electronics, gifts for his family. He wanted to eat in nice restaurants,” said Assistant District Attorney Maxine Rosenthal. “When Carlos Castro showed up in Renato Seabra’s life, he saw a means to an end and he got on board.”
The men came to New York on vacation in January 2011, but Castro quickly tired of shelling out shekels for Seabrea’s extravagant lifestyle and turning a blind eye to the younger man’s dalliances with women. After a fight, Castro bought Seabrea an early ticket home to Portugal. That’s when the dark-haired model bashed Castro’s head with a computer monitor and stomped him to death.
Even if Seabra winds up in prison, we’re thinking the other inmates will give him a wide berth.
yaoming
H01y $h!+
WTF?
Freddie27
The guy is clearly seriously mentally ill. Not even a pissed off trick would wear their sugar daddy’s testicles. He needs to be committed to a hospital for the rest of his life, not prison.
the other Greg
“but Castro quickly tired of shelling out shekels for Seabrea’s extravagant lifestyle and turning a blind eye to the younger man’s dalliances with women.”
Biphobia! Biphobia! Biphobia!
Seriously, I wonder about Queerty’s judgment any time they run a crime story about some psycho with any kind of “gay” edge to it. Just because there’s a “gay” angle to it doesn’t make it a gay story.
Lefty
@the other Greg: “Just because there’s a “gay” angle to it doesn’t make it a gay story.”
It kind of does. A story about a man killing his boyfriend is a gay story, whichever way you slice it (no pun intended!).
Josh in OR
@the other Greg: If there is no difference between being gay and being straight, which is what the entire basis of the equality movement is built around, then we, as a community, need to accept the bad with the good.
This story, horrific as it is, is about a man murdering his male lover. That makes it a ‘gay’ story, whether we like it or not.
the other Greg
@Lefty: Dunno about that. If the bisexual model had killed one of his girlfriends, would that make it a “straight” story? Oh actually that would still probably be a “gay” story, the way the media tend to sensationalize any “gay” angle. I just wonder about a gay news site unthinkingly buying into that. We realize Queerty has a crush on the gay Canadian cannibal psycho, but still…
Charli Girl
Not sure how one gets this ca RAZY!!
Rockery
Coo coo! If I was an old man I would not go out with a young guy!! It’s rarely sincere. At best you are getting used and worst you are getting your balls chopped off. Stay with your age you old queens!!
Stevenw
A model? On what planet!? Resembles Prince Charles, with a bit of the donkey from Shrek thrown in. As wretched inside as out, too.
I know, I know, its shallow of me… But was I really the only one thinking it?
FStratford
@the other Greg:
Well, this is queerty – a gay blog and a gossip site. What did you expect? The New York Times? Give it a rest you guys. If you expect “quality” editing, spellcheck, editorializing and research, do NOT depend on a blog!
And yes, its Queerty news if one of them is LGBT – they tell you that at the masthead (except for the “gay agenda”).
D P
“..give him a wide berth.”? I think more like the lower berth, with a blanket rolled down from the upper berth as a curtain to shield what happens from viewers.
Bob LaBlah
This guy (Renato) reminds me of Andrew Cunanaan, the fool well kept baby who killed Versace and several others who made the mistake of showing him kindness. I hate to sound like a catty queen but this guy IS NOT handsome enough in my book to be a model. He looks more like a cartoon character come to life than someone who would make me go out and buy overpriced clothes that he modeled on a runway.
When well kept twinks start loosing their looks they soon begin to realize that they are unprepared to make it on their own and feel that those around them owe them the world just to be in their company. If any of you have the time google the story of Andrew Cunanaan written in the Washington Post. It features comments from men who have kept twinks and twinks who were kept by older men. It is really a disgusting but at the same time interesting story to read.
Niall
@Stevenw: Probably, I mean who reads an article about such a horrific crime and thinks: “well the model isn’t even much of a model, pfft”
LeNair Xavier
Sadly, this story is by no means shocking.
For here in NYC, you can easily find MANY non-American born young people coming here looking for a financially well-off White male to be their sugar daddy. The problem is playing this role is a self-inflicted prison that gets tiresome to the point of violence after awhile because the younger guy’s real sexual desire for someone their own age (or even the opposite gender) is not being fulfilled.
As I said, because of their denial of their homo- or bi-seuxality, guys who live the “gay-for-pay” life have violent tendencies anyway. It’s time for more mainstream gay media (instead of porn blogs) to take note of the point I made more than 4 years ago in this blog post:
http://www.tresx-rayvision.com/2008/02/denied-self-becomes-violent-self.html