Ugh. This is just terrible. A New York City man, 41-year-old John Lea, was found stabbed to death in his apartment after friends had the police break in when he failed to show up for a scheduled event. And now police want to find Justin Waller, Lea’s “down on his luck” live-in partner. News: “Lea, wearing only boxers, was found lying beside his bed, his throat slashed and a massive gash on his head, police sources said. His body had numerous other stab wounds that indicated he had fought for his life, the sources said. ‘The bloody knife was right next to him,’ one source said. The killer covered Lea’s body with clothes and bedding, and locked the door on the way out – leaving Lea’s cat, Oreo, roaming around inside, the sources said. ‘We’re, of course, devastated,’ Lea’s father, John Lea, said from his Florida home Thursday night. Friends and co-workers said the event planner with the boyish smile was gregarious, outgoing and always went out of his way to help people.”
ajax
Queerty, when I looked at your post, 100 people had already seen it. Your post doesn’t say where, in NYC, this murder happended.
This murder happened in Hell’s Kitchen. If any reader lives in/frequents the area and may have information that helps to find Mr. Lea’s murderer, Mr. Lea’s family and friends would appreciate it if you would contact the police. Thank you.
Xtian99
makes me so sad… poor guy. And makes me think there but for the grace of some higher power and sheer dumb luck go I/we… Who hasn’t met someone and fall into something fast, anwithout really knowing who that person is or what that person is really capable of? As facts come out, seems like a nice sweet, good hearted man who was taken advantage of by cruel, cold, heartless, trash… no wonder the person of interest was down on his luck- how can you havre any luck when your polluted karma is so F’d up that you could actually do something like this.
rest in peace…
hardmannyc
^^^ The article doesn’t make clear how long the two knew each other or how long they had been dating (if they even had been dating; there’s an implication the alleged perp may be straight) before he let him move in. So we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Still, it looks on the surface like this poor guy let his emotions best his judgement.
Same Crap
Any bets on how many posts it’ll take to blame the victim?
scott ny'er
@Xtian99: Well, to paraphrase the incredibly smart and beautiful Charlotte of Sex and the City, “do we ever really know who we sleep with?”
I’ve said it before. Sure, it helps to really get to know someone, but you hear about it all the time. Longtime lovers who cheat, steal, and commit murder. It can happen with ANYONE. Married, divorced, single, straight, gay, you name it. And aren’t most murders committed by someone the victim knew?
Mike
So, so sad.
Xtian99
totally correct SCOTT NY’ER… I know you are right… but I just think of all the situations where I have jumped in a car, in an aprtment, in a hallway with a person I just met to hook up with… we’ve all done it more power to us…
or the times 3 weeks into something you realize who! this person has issues …or dating a crystal addict for a year… in any of those situations it is just luck that the person does not turn out to be the kind of trash that did this to this poor John Lea.
It is just a sad irony in life that this poor guy’s niceness and open heartedness with someone less fortunate was repaid with such horrible results. I AM NOT BLAMING THE VICTIM here AT ALL!!!
the murder is the only one to blame for doing what he did to someone who seems to have taken him in
Find peace Mr. Lea…
WiseUp
Very sad, but a good reminder : goodlooking muscular rough trade can be sexually stimulating to bring into your home, yes, but those guys can be dangerous too.
Same Crap
It nice people are acknowledging the kindness of the victim. I contrast it with this story where many were siding with the perp because he was cute and believing the victim was a rapist. I wonder what accounts for the different responses?
http://www.queerty.com/was-professor-don-belton-murdered-over-a-rape-or-regrets-over-a-consensual-relationship-20091230/
Also, compare the headline of this story to the one above.
Again, what accounts for the difference?
scott ny'er
@Xtian99: whoa. car, hallway, aptmt, look at you. I’m jealous of your hooking up abilities.
Yeah. I hope u know I wasn’t saying u were blaming the victim. I just wanted to point out how it can all be a crap shoot.
Anyway, I hope they catch the killer and he gets his due punishment.
I hate hearing about this stories.
Caleb
@WiseUp:
Any stranger can be dangerous. A scrawny, nerdy guy could be dangerous too.
scott ny'er
@Caleb: and one might think, well if they don’t sleep over, then it should be ok. But really, one can be harmed at any time while one is with the crazy person.
It’s all a crap shoot. A risk for love or a connection.
dontblamemeivotedforhillary
This article has a pic of “Justin Waller” who seems to be on the Rough Side (Ex-prison? Straight gym hustler?) and the rest of the article with the link below:
(Form NY Daily News continued from above)
Friends and co-workers said the event planner with the boyish smile was gregarious, outgoing and always went out of his way to help people.
But that last quality may have led to his murder.
Investigators were trying Thursday to track down Lea’s lover, whom Lea allowed to stay at his flat after the two met recently at a nearby gym, friends and neighbors said.
A co-worker of Lea’s, Michael Herz, said the lover – identified by friends of the victim as Justin Waller – was “down on his luck” and was supposed to stay with Lea only briefly.
“A few days turned into a few weeks. A few weeks turned into a month. A month turned into two,” Herz said. “This weekend is when John was going to tell him he had to leave.”
Herz added of his slain co-worker: “He was an extremely giving person and, apparently, that’s what ultimately did him in.”
Neighbors of Lea’s said Waller was mean-spirited and could often be seen smoking outside the building.
“He creeped me out. We didn’t like having this guy hanging out,” said neighbor Chuck Graves, 42.
“I wanted to say to John: ‘What are you doing with him? Why did you let him into your life?’ But it wasn’t my place.”
Another neighbor and close friend of Lea’s said he saw Waller outside the building Wednesday, wearing jeans and a black North Face jacket.
“He was sitting on the stoop with a bunch of suitcases,” the neighbor said, asking that his name not be printed. “He didn’t say anything to anybody.”
A worker at the Hell’s Kitchen building recalled spotting Waller there Thursday morning, a police source said.
[email protected]
With Rocco Parascandola and Henrick Karoliszyn
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/01/21/2010-01-21_man_stabbed_to_death_body_hidden_beneath_pile_of_clothes_in_own_apartment_cops.html#ixzz0dPdjSlxx
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/01/21/2010-01-21_man_stabbed_to_death_body_hidden_beneath_pile_of_clothes_in_own_apartment_cops.html
El Brucio
Very sad.
I know people like the victim. They meet someone who is down on their luck, and think they can help them turn their life around. Sometimes it works, but sometimes there are very good reasons why that person is having trouble with housing or employment.
I imagine he though the worst that would happen is that he would come home one day and find some of his stuff missing.
RIP John Lea. May you be treated with more kindness in your next life.
giannirage
I knew both of them. They met at my gym. Watched the whole thing blossom. Justin is built like a porn star, has incredible tats and reeks of trouble from miles away. This John guy has been a Hell’s Kitchen local for quite some time and shouldn’t have been an easy mark. It’s amazing how people will put themselves in danger over a hot piece of ass. That’s the problem with Manhattan today: everyone has been so busy for so long working 17 hour days that they’ve forgotten basic street smarts. “People skills” and “business acumen” and “networking agility” just ain’t the same thing. Very sad. I hope he was a really good lay, at the very least..
The Artist
John Lea… I wish u heaven.