| Brandon Teena was murdered just after 1:00 am
on New Years Eve, in a tiny farmhouse in Humboldt, Nebraska.
Two other people were murdered as well in the house, the only
survivor of the slaughter was an eight month old baby in his
crib, sobbing for his mother, who lay dead in her slowly leaking
waterbed.
A
horrific crime scene lay waiting to be discovered. In the
front room, Phillip Devine, a friend had spent his
final moments begging for his life. He had been shot twice
after
sobbing that he would tell no one. The perpetrators in
this crime had no compassion for the young man who was
an amputee
and presented little threat to the young men, both armed
with knives and one with a gun. He was left to die on the
couch. The baby’s mother screamed, begging for the
life of her baby. The baby was put back in his crib as
his mother was murdered. There was a slight body under
the bottom
of the waterbed blankets, and as quickly as Brandon was
found, Brandon was killed. A week before the murder, Brandon
had
undergone an event so physically and psychologically profound
that fear was first and uppermost in her mind.
Brandon
had been living in a small town called Falls City,Nebraska,
drifting here and there, avoiding her family and people who
had given her warnings to stay away from the local girls.
She had been in trouble with the law several times, and had
skipped one or two court dates that she figured would just
fade away. There were forged checks, stolen ATM cards and
suspended licenses. Brandon made a decision that would cost
her her life. She decided to live as a man, and move from
place to place, working odd jobs and living off the charity
of new friends who knew her only as Brandon, a guy from Lincoln,
Nebraska. There were John and Tom, ex cons that drank heavily
and were aggressive. Both had been alcoholics, and drug addicts
with records in rehab clinics and overnighters in the local
drunk tank. The two of them were notorious for their escapades
and were well known by both the police and the mental health
community facilities.Lisa, a local softhearted girl who took
Brandon in when there was no where else to go. The Tisdal
family, comprised of two sisters and a single alcoholic mother,
informally adopted her when they thought that Brandon had
nowhere else to go. Brandon would be one of their own, but
Brandon wasn’t Brandon. Brandon was Teena, and her
own family was horrified by everything she had kept from
them. When Brandon started to date the local siren, Lana
Tisdel, things went bad very quickly. Some of her brushed
off court dates landed her in the women’s wing of the
county jail.
Lana
went to bail Brandon out but she saw what was going on,
when Brandon leaned over and Lana
saw the cleavage between Brandon’s breasts, she suddenly
saw a flash ahead into the future. Unfortunately, she did
not act on that reaction and bailed Brandon out. While Brandon
was out on bail, a huge row broke out over Brandon’s
gender. John and Tom insisted that Brandon pull down her
pants and show them all that he was a man and not a woman.
Brandon shrieked and fought but it was two on one and Brandon
was a slight figured man. A woman. They dragged Lana in the
bathroom, a scene was caused and Brandon ran when he could.
Tom and John were beyond livid. The only thing they knew
was that they had been lied to, had trusted, and been deceived
in the worst way possible. They decided to show Brandon that
they knew she was a woman, and a woman who needed to be taught
a lesson she’d never forget. Tom and John found Brandon
and drove her out in the freezing Nebraska night, to an abandoned
meat packing plant. There they raped and beat her brutally,
then raped her again, vaginally and anally. When they were
finished, they warned her as she dressed, this was what she
deserved, and if she told anyone, it would be the word of
a freak against two hometown boys.
But
Brandon was badly hurt and needed medical attention, and
went to Lana’s, and Lana called the police. The
Sheriff called John and Tom and told them that Brandon was
going to be pressing charges against them for rape. Sheriff
Laux, called the accused, to warn them that they would be
coming in to the office in the morning or else. Tom and John
looked at each other. Brandon couldn’t talk if Brandon
was dead. And at the core fault of this is the negligence
of Sheriff Charles Laux. He treated Brandon like an “It” and
referred to Brandon publicly as “It”. He gave
John and Tom a warning that trouble was coming, and basically
signed a death warrant for Brandon. He was found negligent
in a civil suit brought about by the Brandon family, but
I believe the facts bear out that he should be brought up
on charges of contributing to Brandon’s death. Many
people have seen the movie, “Boys Don’t Cry” released
in 1998, based on the crime. But as the film is historically
incorrect, I feel that justice was not served fully. An elected
official enabled two rape suspects to kill the person they
had already brutally beaten as well as sexually assaulted,
and the murders of Lisa Lambert and Phillip Devine who’s
blood also stained his hands.
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