Panic: Queer True Crime

Panic: Queer True Crime, a podcast, and youtube channel featuring stories about the life and death of queer folks. To watch any of the true-crime episodes, join me at Panic on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK4r13FF8ExLGbhfSH6i4hw A little bit about Panic. I created this true-crime channel to focus on the life and death of queer folk. I called the channel Panic because, for much more of the recorded history of LGBTQ+ people, there’s always been a panic. The primary focus of the channel is an investigation of homophobia through hate crimes murders and intimate partner violence which is underreported in the queer community. Panic is both a podcast and a YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@panicqueertruecrime Sometimes being queer can be murder. Join me! Check out the first two seasons of the podcast for a little something different.

Murder and Hatred in the UK and Across The USA 05/29/2025

Murder and Hatred in the UK and Across The USA 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 cruising spot in Wimbledon, England. In 1972, Leonard Bestwick was stabbed and left to die after an attempted robbery by two young men who “Set out to roll a queer.” The murder of Mr. Bestwick highlights the capriciousness of hate. Bestwick and his friend were just out, as many others were having a drink, and for this, he was brutally murdered. If his friend had gone into the bathroom first, he might have met the same terrible fate. On the evening of September 18, 1989, 40, Christoph Schliack, a German immigrant living in the UK for more than 20 years, was murdered in his Shepherd’s Bush, London flat. Kenneth Williams, the 20-something who killed him, managed to flee the city of London for Ireland. Mr. Schliack had attended Leeds University, studying Chinese. He was also a lawyer, but did not practice at the bar for unclear reasons. On August 30, 1987, Richard Lynn Earnest went to his estranged wife's home, where he removed his wife's and her lover's shoes from the car, replacing them with his carpentry tools. Before driving off, he left two notes, one for his son and the other for his wife. A day later, Richard Earnest would be dead. Mr. Earnest left behind a son and a family who loved him. On Monday, June 9, 2008, 37, Jeremy Waggoner, a Royal Oak, Michigan hairdresser, was last seen leaving a Detroit, Michigan bar getting into his SUV with a man identified as Rich. When he didn't return home, his partner of seven years called the police, reporting Waggoner missing. On Monday, March 31, 2025, 31, Kaitoria “Kai” Bankz and 27, Kelmen Merrell King made arrangements to hook up in Autaugaville, Alabama, around 11:40 pm. When they did meet, King and an accomplice attempted to carjack Bankz and her brother, resulting in the death of Bankz. Watch any of these stories of any of the cases covered on the podcast, check out and subscribe to the YouTube channel at: /episode/index/show/adeepdive/id/36764645

A Wave of Uk Queer Bashing : The Murders of Michael Boothe and William Dalziel 05/16/2025

The Chicken and The Bull: One of the Largest Extortion Schemes of Gay Men You've Never Heard Of 04/29/2025

A Spree Killer, A Drifter, A Lover, Stranger Danger, A Murderous Wife, An Update, and a Cold Case 03/31/2025

A Spree Killer, A Drifter, A Lover, Stranger Danger, A Murderous Wife, An Update, and a Cold Case 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 courtrooms across the country. A young man defending himself from the advances of a predatory homosexual is much more defendable than a defendant targeting gay men for fun and profit. I have many more of these stories from the 1950s through the 1970s to share. Please subscribe. In this week's episode: Sam Nordquist left home to visit his online girlfriend. When his mother and other family members couldn't get ahold of him, they begged authorities to help him, but sadly, help came too late. In September 2024, Zsolt Zsolyomi disabled his leg monitor and disappeared onto the north Florida Island of Miami Beach and Little Havana using an alias to court, rob, batter, and then murder two older men with disabilities. Would the police stop him before he could kill again? In 1973, the Long Beach murder of a World War II veteran and beloved school teacher, Hollis Voas, exposed the escalating cycle of rolling a queer that spiked during the 1960s and 1970s in the U.S. Law enforcement quickly tracked down the suspects Don James Myers and Kenneth Evans, after discovering the victim tied to his blood-soaked bedroom. Thirty-nine pieces of evidence, a stolen Cadillac, and a childhood friend would lead police to the perpetrators a few hours after the murder. I saw this 1973 news item so quietly tucked away in a newspaper that I knew I had to share his story. Thanks to one of Mr. Voas' relatives for sharing a picture of him for the YouTube coverage. The 1953 murder of bartender Walter Thalen by a drifter who wandered into the bar where Thalen worked at the end of a night of drinking would have a devasting impact far and wide. In March of 2025, Buffalo, New York, Allentown was rocked by the double murder of two beloved men. Mickey Harmon and Jordan Celotto contributed to their community in art and activism, and they were snatched away senselessly and violently. 49, California Fire Captain Rebecca Marodi and 53, Yolanda Olejniczak-Marodi, began dating in 2018, marrying in 2022. By February 2025, Marodi was ready to end what friends called a controlling and isolating marriage, but she would never get the chance. This wasn't the first time Yolanda Olejniczak-Marodi was involved in a murder. Reports of intimate partner violence among lesbians are the most underreported. If you or anyone you know needs help, use the resources below. Finally, an update on cases we've covered on the channel and a cold case. I hope you stay with me as I continue to share more of these hidden stories of lives lived and snuffed out. They deserve our loving attention. If you'd like to watch any of these episodes, you watch them all at: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 Online live chat: thehotline.org If you or someone you know is in danger, call 9-1-1 immediately. Thanks to Mystic Magazine for the global resource guide, one of the first to be compiled. Please subscribe to the podcast and YouTube Channel. /episode/index/show/adeepdive/id/35950730

Fires, Sudden Violence, White Supremacies, Murder in a Dog Park, Running Away to Murder 02/14/2025

A Question of Honor? 01/21/2025

"Rolling a Queer" and Other Homophobic Games 12/31/2024

"Rolling a Queer" and Other Homophobic Games While researching a story for the next episode I found a 1960 article examinign the growth of homophobic attacks on mostly gey men for financial gain. Rolling a Queer crimes grow to such a degree that lawmakers across the country sought to minimize legal prohibitons agaisnt LGBTQ folks as a partial remedy. Most of these efforts failed contributing to the mid-sixties appearance of homosexual panic as a legal defense. The fisrt two stories in this episode involve murders that resulted from attempts to rob a gay man. Charles James Mourey Chelie Todd Steve Marose story is one of murder but of the lingering effects of the governments pink scare that started in the 1950s when President Eisenhower signed on over ridding the governnment and the military of lesbians and gay men. Marose was thrown out of the military in the 1990s after spending eight months in a military priison for the crime of being gay. Fulfilling a promise, President Biden issued a pardon for many of these men and women but the process is anything but easy and Marose remains without his pension and without having his name cleared. If you know anyone in the same position pass along these links that might set them on the path to having their rights restored. The Murder of Patricia Malone Patricia Malone was a lesbian women working the London streets as a sex worker when she met and was killed by a police officier. The officier came in for a beating in the press but so did Ms. Malone whom they dobbed, "Pasty Butch Malone." Her treatment in the press and the twist to the story give you a glimpse into the times in which her murder took place. The Murders of Page Cegelski and Paula O'Connor The two women were discovered in a Green Bay, Wisconsin duplex. The killer would confess to the murders with an evolving story. Peter Sotka's long history of intimate partner violence and his contradictory statements make his confession suspect. There is no record of either woman's state of undress and there is no evidence from family and friends that the women who were best friends were having an intimate relationship. Using a version of gay panic as the setting for a double murder is worth noting. Resources: Resources chrome- Legal Services and Information /episode/index/show/adeepdive/id/34672755