Intimate Partner Violence, a Mysterious Hanging, a Hate Crime or Self Defense, and The Murder of Three Transgender Women of Color, State of Emergency
Release Date: 08/02/2025
Panic: Queer True Crime
Paul Carlile and William Sakosky On November 5, 1982, Paul Carlile and William Sakosky checked into a room at the gay Florida resort Parliament House, only one of them would leave. Alana Miccolis and Megha Saluja Alana Miccolis and Megha Saluja agreed to spend a weekend at the Waldorf Astoria in Orlando, Florida. No one could have imagined how the trail of texts would lead detectives to a volatile trail of obsession, intimate partner violence, and death. Timothy Charles Lee On the evening of November 2, 1985, 23-year-old fashion design student Timothy Charles Lee fell asleep on the Bay Area...
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The story of Ian McLoughlin's murder spree contains mentions of crimes against teenagers and children. Viewer discretion is strongly advised. This content is intended for educational purposes only and aims to examine flaws in the justice system. It is not suitable for viewers under 18. Please prioritize your mental health and well-being. Ian McLoughlin - a serial killer who exploited the UK's controversial "provocation defense" to escape murder charges and continue killing for decades. In 1983, McLoughlin brutally murdered Len Delgatty but convinced a jury he was "provoked" by alleged audio...
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To belatedly celebrate Pride, this special month-long podcast series highlights four extraordinary figures—some queer, some allied—whose lives and work shaped LGBTQ+ history in ways both bold and quietly revolutionary. We begin with the mysterious, evocative collaboration between African American model T and famed artist John Singer Sargent. Their decade-long connection, hidden in Sargent’s private collection, speaks volumes about art, desire, and survival in the shadows. Next, we honor Lorraine Hansberry—a trailblazing playwright, civil rights activist, and quiet radical. Though best...
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Two corrections: The pronunciation of Beaulieu is closer to "B-you-ly" or BYOO-lee. In the episode, I mention that the age of consent was 16. That was the age of consent for heterosexuals only. Homosexuality was illegal across all ages until a minor reform in 1967. The Sexual Offences Act 1967 legalized homosexual acts between two men over 21 in private. This did not apply to the armed forces or the merchant navy. Lesbian acts were never criminalized, so there was no legal age of consent. In the spring of 1953, four men, including a British lord and two RAF officers, would become the...
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Several of these stories and their victims are part of the anti-queer wave of legislation put in place by the UK conservative government seeking to outlaw homosexuality. As the anti-queer rhetoric rose, so did the violence against the LGBTQ+ community. The de Gruchy case was the first time the mainstream press began to use the term “queer-bashing” to describe the murderous level of hate crimes. Before this, the tone was unmistakably mock and/or cruel, but the standard would not hold. In 1969, Michael de Gruchy was attacked and beaten to death by a teen gang trolling a gay...
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One of the reasons I wanted to cover the murders of actor, Michael Boone, and hotel porter William Dalziel is that, like me, some of you will be surprised at when they happened. As it turns out, the crackdown on gay men using indecency laws meant gay men were arrested, and the signal to the homophobes was that it was hunting season. In 1990, the lives of lesbians and gays, not to mention trans and gender nonconforming people, were under assault. Section 28, a cynical bit of anti-gay legislation hung a shadow over the well-being of queer folks. In researching these cases, one of the sad...
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When I started telling these stories, I understood the organized efforts to shame homosexuality out of existence. What I didn't expect was the level of criminality that would grow out of the demonizing of LGBTQ+ people. In the 1960s, Chicago police officer John J. Pyne began to organize a group of criminals and con men in an extortion ring that would go on to scam more than 1,000 men out of a million dollars across the United States, Mexico, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The FBI called the Chicken and the Bull extortion scheme the largest scheme of its kind up to that time. It is, in fact,...
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In my ongoing exploration of the history of homophobia in life and the law, I've been researching the trends, and I do mean trends, of attacks fueled by the targeting of mostly gay men. From the late 1950s through the 1970s in the United States, "Rolling a Queer" became such an epidemic that both Democrats and Republicans came together to introduce legislation that would create some minor protections for gays and lesbians. It failed, of course, and the attacks continued at pace. This crime wave helps to explain why the "Homosexual Panic Defense" began to be used in the 1960s in...
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In this episode, five cases of homophobic rage, mental illness, alcohol abuse, and murder. Dream City Fire: One of the worst fires in modern London that you've probably never heard of. A combination of alcohol and anger sparked a series of events that ended in the death of 11 men in an unlicensed and uninspected second and third-floor cinema. Ashia Davis: On June 01, 2023, Carlos Scotland and Ashia Davis met at the Woodward Inn in Highland Park, Michigan. By the end of the evening, Ashia Davis would be dead, and the search for her killer would lead to a young killer whose motives remain...
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In the television show The Sopranos, the character of "Big P*ssy" was based on a New York or New Jersey mobster targeted because of his sexual antics, but in Italy, there was a similar situation involving a highly respected hitman who stepped out of line by loving and wanting to make a life with the man he loved. Anthony “Bubbles” Torres was a character, a creation. He tended to amuse and sometimes irritate people. On the night he was killed, witnesses saw the beginnings of a confrontation and Torres's murder. Years later, police struggle to solve the case. In my research into...
info_outlinePaul Carlile and William Sakosky
On November 5, 1982, Paul Carlile and William Sakosky checked into a room at the gay Florida resort Parliament House, only one of them would leave.
Alana Miccolis and Megha Saluja
Alana Miccolis and Megha Saluja agreed to spend a weekend at the Waldorf Astoria in Orlando, Florida. No one could have imagined how the trail of texts would lead detectives to a volatile trail of obsession, intimate partner violence, and death.
Timothy Charles Lee
On the evening of November 2, 1985, 23-year-old fashion design student Timothy Charles Lee fell asleep on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train while traveling home after work in San Francisco. Eleven hours later, he was found hanging from a tree in a vacant lot near the Concord BART station. Was he targeted and killed, or did he choose that night to end his life?
Jonathan Joss
By the time Jonathan Joss and Tristan Kern de Gonzales were married on Valentine’s Day, February 2025, they had been through quite a lot. In January of 2025, the couple's home burned to the ground, and a few months later, Joss would be shot to death in front of his husband. Was the killing an incident of hate?
Ryan Godbey
Ryan Godbey, a beloved member of Canton’s LGBTQ+ community, whose disappearance and tragic murder shocked the Canton, Ohio area in 2025. The arrest and charging of the ex-boyfriends answered some questions, leaving others wide open.
Karmin Wells, Rita Hester, and Ra’Lasia Wright
Three trans women of color, three cities, all lost to unsolved murderous violence.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE National Domestic Violence Hotline Phone: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) Text: Text "START" to 88788 Live Chat & Information: thehotline.org Services are available 24/7, confidential, and support all individuals regardless of identity or background.
If you or someone you know is in danger, call 9-1-1 immediately.
Additional Inclusive National and LGBTQ+-Specific Resources The Trevor Project Phone: 866-488-7386 Crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth ages 13–24.
LGBT National Hotline Phone: 888-843-4564 Confidential peer support, information, and resources for the LGBTQ+ community.
Trans Lifeline Phone: 877-565-8860 Peer support and crisis intervention for trans and non-binary individuals. NYC Anti-Violence Project Phone: 212-714-1141 (24/7) Bilingual support for those affected by violence in the LGBTQ+ and HIV+ communities.
Loveisrespect (National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline) Phone: 1-866-331-9474, Text “LOVEIS” to 22522, or chat on loveisrespect.org.
Specifically for youth and young adults, including LGBTQ+.
DomesticShelters.org Searchable directory covering shelters and services with LGBTQ+-inclusive filters. International and Specialized Resources Thank you, Mystic Magazine Global Resource Guide https://www.mysticmag.com/psychic-reading/domestic-violence-resource-guide/
Panic Queer True Crime, uncovering hidden queer history through true crime. The channel covers crimes in two categories: violence fueled by hate and intimate partner violence. In addition, we cover stories of LGBTQ+ folks targeted by extortion, arrest, and other forms of life-altering violence that don't result in murder. These stories deserve our loving attention because sometimes being queer can be murder.