Who Does This Tennessee Lesbian Couple Think Burned Their House Down? The Homophobic Neighbor

Ever since lesbian couple of 15 years Carol Ann and Laura Stutte moved from Oklahoma into their Vonore, Tennessee, home (outside Knoxville) in June 2005, they say their neighbor has been tormenting them with anti-gay harassment. Threats of poisoning their dogs (one of which died allegedly after eating meat the neighbor fed it). Trespassing. Looking through their windows. Claims the Stuttes could be “killed … right then” and nobody would ever find out about it, thanks to friends on the police force. And then you’ll recall last September, while on vacation and a month after deciding to sell their home in move, the couple was alerted their home was burned down, the word “queers” painted on their garage, and their trailer vandalized. They suspect their neighbor, obviously, and now they’re launched a lawsuit, claiming “trespassing and conversion, intentional infliction of emotional distress and malicious harassment.”