Gay Men's Deaths May Be Linked

DALLAS, TEXAS - Investigators in Dallas, Garland and Arlington are trying to determine whether seven unsolved slayings of gay men stretching back five years may be related.
No direct evidence links the killings, police said, but some of the victims were known to pick up sexual partners they barely knew.
"We're not ruling anything out," said Sgt. Kenneth LeCesne, a Dallas police homicide supervisor whose unit is investigating five of the slayings. "The similarities have been the lifestyles of the victims. We can't say it's a serial killer or anything like that."
Interest in the cases stems from reports in the Dallas Voice, a newspaper that covers the gay community, questions raised by Dallas City Council member Ed Oakley, and the concerns of gay and lesbian leaders. On Wednesday, Dallas homicide investigators prepared a report for Assistant City Manager Charles Daniels on the crimes, but the city has stopped short of forming a task force.
One of the victims was Lawrence Wheat, who served on the Dallas Plan Commission before he was found dead in his South Dallas loft June 5, 2004. At about 10:40 p.m., neighbors heard Mr. Wheat yelling for help. The medical examiner said he was beaten and probably strangled.
"Hopefully this will get the case back out there," said Frances Wheat, Lawrence's mother. "There's a part of me that wants to know [who killed her son] because I don't want anyone to suffer like this. There's a part of me that doesn't want to go through a trial."
The other victims are:
•Samuel Jarnigan Lea, 28, a University of Texas at Arlington student who was found the morning of Oct. 31 inside his ground floor apartment near campus. He appears to have been strangled, police said. He was last seen five days earlier in downtown Fort Worth. He was known to frequent gay bars in Dallas, where he may have met his killer and invited him to his apartment. Police are still looking for his 2004 Chevrolet Avalanche bearing Texas plate 34F YB1.
•Craig Ceson, 46, who was found at 4:15 p.m. Oct. 11 at his apartment on Forest Park Road near Love Field. He died from blunt force injuries to the head. There were no signs that anyone broke into the apartment, suggesting the killer was invited inside.
•James Stephen Watts, 64, who was found by his brother the evening of March 12, 2004, in his house in the 1000 block of North Edgefield Avenue in north Oak Cliff. Mr. Watts, an antiques collector and animal advocate, died from head trauma.
•Agustin Fernandez Jr., 44, who was found critically injured with head injuries in a field in the 600 block of North Franklin Street in west Oak Cliff on the evening of July 27, 2003. Police found $617 in cash on him. He was taken to Methodist Dallas Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead four days later.
•Bobby Dalton Berry, 63, who was found dead April 23, 2001, in the corner of a garage in the 6700 block of Mockingbird Lane near White Rock Lake. Police did not find his body for several days after his family reported him missing. Mr. Berry, a former Mobil Oil employee, lived in Athens, Texas, and frequently stayed at a Dallas house belonging to a friend who was in a nursing home. His car was found in a park near the lake.
•Keith Alexander Calloway, 33, who was found fatally stabbed Dec. 22, 2000, inside his Garland apartment on Chaha Road overlooking Lake Ray Hubbard. He was bound, and his throat was slashed. Investigators believe he had been to a bar in Dallas hours before he was found dead.
Arlington police have a suspect in the death of Mr. Lea, and that suspect's name has also emerged in the investigation into Mr. Wheat's slaying in Dallas. But detectives say they have no hard evidence that the man is connected to those cases, or to the other deaths.
The suspect is described as a Dallas man in his early 20s with a violent criminal past and no permanent address.
"He's a hustler. That's how he's taking care of his drug habit," said Arlington Detective Tommy LeNoir, who is investigating Mr. Lea's slaying. "Gay, straight, there's hustlers everywhere who want to go home with people and rip them off."
Anyone with information about the cases can call Dallas police at 214-671-3661, Garland police at 972-272-8477 and Arlington police at 817-459-5772.
from Dallas Morning News