Gay Man Kills Woman In Religious Dispute
Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network
Wednesday 20 November, 2002 10:06
A gay Chicago-area man stands accused of killing a woman who allegedly tried to persuade him to change his sexual orientation.
Police arrested Nicholas Gutierrez, 19, on Saturday after he confessed and the body of Mary Stachowicz, 51, was found in a crawl space beneath his apartment. He has been charged with first-degree murder, attempting to conceal a homicide and burglary, according to a Chicago Tribune report.
Authorities said Gutierrez made a videotaped confession, admitting that he became enraged during a conversation with Stachowicz because her questioning of his sexuality reminded him of debates with his mother.
Gutierrez and the victim were acquainted because they had both worked for a funeral home in the same building as the young man's apartment. When the killing occurred last Wednesday, Stachowicz was visiting Gutierrez after having attended Mass, the Tribune reported.
Friends and relatives of Stachowicz said the idea of her trying to convince Gutierrez to renounce his homosexuality was not out of character.
"Those of us who knew her immediately hear her soft voice saying something like, 'God wouldn't approve of the way you're living your life,'" Mary Coleman, a friend and neighbour, told the Tribune.
Laura Montgomery Rutt, spokeswoman for Soulfource, a national group dedicated to ending "spiritual violence" against GLBT people, said she was sorry to hear about the quarrel and the killing.
"God loves gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people just the way they are," Rutt said. "The Bible is clear that homosexuality is not a sickness and not a sin."
Bail was set at $3 million for Gutierrez, who is a ward of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
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http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/111702_ns_bodyfound.html
Teen arrested in funeral home murder Police: 19-year-old admits to killing Stachowicz
By Sarah Schulte November 17, 2002 — Murder charges are filed against a teenager who has allegedly admitted to killing a woman who had been missing since Friday. Police say Nicholas Gutierrez apparently snapped after an argument with Mary Stachowicz, killing her and hiding the body in a funeral home where she worked. Devout Catholic Mary Stachowicz was supposed to be at mass Sunday morning. She was scheduled to be a eucharistic minister. Instead, the St. Hyacinth parish was praying for Stachowicz and her family.
On Friday, the 51-year-old mother of four was found beaten to death right across the street from the church in the 2nd floor apartment of the Sikorski Funeral Home. Police say the man who lived there, 19-year-old Nicholas Gutierrrez, admitted to killing Stachowicz.
"Mrs. Stachowicz and Mr. Guiterezz became involved in an argument shortly after he returned home… (when the) argument escalated he became more angry punched Mrs. Stachowicz," said Cmdr. Lee Epplen, Area 5 Detectives.
Police say when Stachowicz began to defend herself, Guiterrez grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her several times. Detectives say Guiterrez hid Stachowicz's body in a crawl space between the second and first floors in the funeral home where Stachowicz worked as a Polish translator for clients. Police say the argument between the suspect and his victim began when Stachowitz lectured Guiterrez about his life style and his lack of direction in life.
"He said he had issues with his mother and the way Mrs. Stachowicz was talking to him gave him flashbacks of his mother that angered him," said Cmdr. Epplen.
Guiterrez had lived above the funeral home for about a year. While he was not a member of the St. Hyacinth Church, Rev. Francis Rog says quite often he would see the 19 year old in and around the parish. The fact that Stachowiwz was concerned about Gutierrez's future comes as no surprise to the reverend.
"She was a very intense person concerned about the good of the parish always seeking things for the poor as well as spiritual welfare people," said Rev. Francis Rog, St. Hyacinth Church.
Pinging (as usual, please let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from my Catholic ping list)
Please pray for this woman's family. She's already in Heaven IMHO, as are all Christ's martyrs.
Obviously this woman and her group hasn't read the part about Sodom and Gomorrah!
Seriously, though, you notice how this woman deftly changes the subject to sexual ORIENTATION or loving feelings a person might have for a member of the same sex? She wants everyone to focus on 'orientation' and not think about the 'activity', but the homosexual rights movement has been WAY too vocal for that, and that dog won't hunt anymore!
A lot of us say that but Hate Crimes advocates say that argument is irrelevant.
Anybody seen it anyplace else, besides here and the local News-At-11?