California Transexual Teen Murdered

The Argus (Fremont California) ^ | October 19, 2002 | Robert Airoldi

[BeAllYouCanBe]

Saturday, October 19, 2002 - FREMONT -- Three Tri-City men were charged with murder Friday after a 17-year-old Newark boy who lived as a girl was killed at a party after several party-goers discovered he was a male, according to court records.

Community members made a haunting comparison to "The Laramie Project" -- a play about a college student murdered because he was gay -- a controversial play that Newark Memorial High School students will perform in November.

The preacher of a Kansas-based Baptist church who vowed to send church members to protest the performance said he also intends to picket the boy's funeral.

Edward Araujo Jr. -- who also went by Gwen, Wendy and Lida -- was punched, dragged into the garage of a home on Saint Matthew Drive in Newark, where the party took place Oct. 3, and a rope was tied around his neck, according to court records. A spokesman at the Alameda County Coroner's Office said he died of blunt trauma.

Michael William Magidson, 22, of Fremont; Jaron Chase Nabors, 19, and Jose Antonio Merel, 24, both of Newark, each were charged Friday at the Fremont Hall of Justice with one count of murder, with a hate-crime enhancement that could add as many as four years if they are convicted.

Merel's 25-year-old brother, Paul,

also was arrested, but released when it was determined he played no part in the crime, said Ted Landswicke, senior district attorney.

The trio -- held without bail -- delayed entering pleas. Merel was referred to the public defender's office and will appear in court Monday. Nabors and Magidson, who already hired attorneys, are expected to enter pleas Thursday.

Robert Beles, Nabors' attorney, said his client was a college student with no history of violence.

"I feel confident my client will be found not guilty," he said after the hearing. "He's not guilty of a hate crime. He's not guilty of anything."

Imelda Guerrero, Araujo's aunt, said the family is pleased the three are being detained.

'A beautiful person'

"We're leaving it in the hands of the authorities and the (three) are going to pay for what they did," she said. "(Edward) was a beautiful person inside and out."

She said her nephew was a typical teenager who enjoyed hanging out with his friends and listening to music -- especially the band No Doubt, and its lead singer Gwen Stefani.

Araujo occasionally wore makeup and women's apparel on campus at Bridgepoint Continuation High School, but nobody seemed to mind, said Curt Carter, the principal at both Bridgepoint and Crossroads Independent Study in Newark -- two schools Araujo attended.

"It wasn't brand new to us as far as a campus," he said.

Araujo's biggest academic problem, Carter said, was attendance.

Araujo went to Newark Junior High School, then to American High School in Fremont, he said. But poor attendance at American forced him to enroll at Bridgepoint for the 2000-01 school year.

In February 2001, he dropped out of Bridgepoint and enrolled at Crossroads, Carter said. But he didn't register at either school this year.

The slaying reminded several people of Matthew Shepard's murder in Laramie, Wyo.

Paul Clifford, a spokesman for Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), recalled a line from the play: "Everyone says that things like this don't happen here. But it did."

"Newark is Laramie, everywhere is Laramie," Clifford said.

'The Laramie Project'

"The Laramie Project" is an account of the murder of Shepard, whose bludgeoned, nearly lifeless body was found tied to a fence post.

Fred Phelps, the Baptist preacher from Kansas who picketed Shepard's funeral in Laramie plans to dispatch a dozen or so followers to the Newark play and to Araujo's funeral.

"If you live in that sin and die in that sin, you're going to hell," he said Friday. "Everything else seems superficial compared to that solemn fact. That's what we'll say at his funeral."

But Newark Memorial High School drama teacher Barbara Williams was incensed at Phelps' comments.

"He has a right to free speech, however his evil is just overwhelming to me," she said.

The play is, in part, an attempt to alleviate local intolerance, she said.

"(The play) wasn't done on time," she said. "I knew all along that this community is just boiling. It was all there under the surface ... and I knew this play had to be done."

One of the lines in the play, she added, is that murders like Shepard's can happen anywhere.

"We believed it, but it was only intellectualized," she said. "And here it is, so real, just thrown out right in front of us."

Araujo's body was discovered Wednesday in a shallow grave in the Sierra foothills after Nabors led police to the grave site, according to court records. Araujo's hands and feet were bound and he was wrapped in a bed sheet -- still wearing the black shirt, denim mini-skirt and thongs he wore to the Oct. 3 party, records showed.

Police began searching for Araujo when his mother reported him missing Oct. 5. She was reluctant to call police sooner because her son had previous run-ins with police, according to court records. She told police her son had a substance abuse problem.

Nabors initially lied to police about when he last saw Araujo, according to the records. But when police took him to the station and confronted him with what they knew, he told of his involvement, according to court records.

He told police that Magidson and Merel had a previous sexual encounter with Araujo before anyone suspected he wasn't a woman, according to the records.

When several people questioned his gender at the Oct. 3 party, Magidson's girlfriend went into a bathroom with Araujo and learned the truth.

"It's a man; let's go," she said as she came out of the bathroom.

Dragged into garage

When Araujo exited, Merel punched him, knocking him to the ground. Magidson then dragged him into the garage where he was killed, according to court records.

Tara Rodriguez, 16, a Bridgepoint student, said Araujo was very sensitive.

She had this advice for people who don't like cross-dressers or homosexuals: "If you are uncomfortable and you know him, just keep it to yourself," she said. "Whoever did this ... God have mercy on their souls."

[BeAllYouCanBe]

Newark is a small bedroom community in Alameda County in the East Bay of San Francisco where murders are very rare and 17 year olds usually go to malt shops for fun.

[gg188]

OMG. We are never going to hear the end of this one now. The new Matthew Shepard. Except now the cause celebre will be transexualism.

A sort of sidebar comment of mine: right or wrong---how much brains does it take to know that it isn't nice to fool young, virile males like this? Duh. Throughout history---and you don't have to be a psychologist to figure this out---men, when deceived like this, can become violent. For whatever reason, right or wrong: their masculinity threatened, peer pressure, homophobia, WHATEVER! Duh.

Makes you wonder if this guy was "cruising" like Matthew Shepard was, i.e., seeking "the rough trade"---lifestyle which many gay men live in, in which they seek out straight men hoping to get roughed up, and they get off on it (something well-known but skillfully and intentionally omitted by media in the Shepard case.)

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Killing was a little severe; a good whipping-socially sanctioned-would have been more appropriate and ultimately more curative.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

This is a Ping to some Freepers that were on a Gay Lesbian thread last weekend -- what a shock to me that this weekend this made headlines in my home town. That people encourage this very dangerous behavior shocks me.

Gay-Lesbian Youth Center Opens

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/767905/posts

[Trickyguy]

A boy dressing as a girl goes to a party full of teenage boys. A Darwin award, definitely.

[DmBarch]

Hang with rough drug abusing scum and this can happen, no matter what you are packing in your pants.

[martin_fierro]

We won't hear a PEEP about the story of the murderous transvestite, though.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

[snip]seeking "the rough trade"---lifestyle which many gay men live in, in which they seek out straight men hoping to get roughed up.."

It doesn't take too many brain cells to figure out that you will have to deal with anger of a raging mad male when the male finds out the deception.

I think the left will want to focus on the "non-acceptance" but lying about sex causes most of the marital problems I've seen and the deception this kid tried to pull off was stupid.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"Killing was a little severe"

That's how I feel and I do feel sorry for the family and friends. I'm sure this kid was out of control in many areas of his life and needed some parental control and the article says he is going to the "dummy high school" in town proves he's not bright.

This kid should have been locked down and forced to go to school and become a real person rather than finding his "sexuality" at age 17.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Agreed!A series of graduated punishments starting with adult intervention might keep the vice from spreading. The latter is the goal. Absolute elimination is probably impossible. Of course if these sick souls persist into adulthood then a different solution must be applied.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

A picture of two of the perps.

[martian_22]

Murder, perversion, drugs, alchohol, hate, deception, sexual rage, twisted corrupted youths.

An article that speaks to the depths today's society has sunk to.

Malt shop kids you say?

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"Absolute elimination is probably impossible."

I was sick awhile ago and I watched a day talk show about transexuals that had a sex change operation and now were sorry they had it done. They realized they had mad a mistake and their "gender preference" was all a big mistake.

People get really stupid about sex and ideas like "finding yourself" can be disastrous.

I worry about how society is trying to encourage this stuff. See this other post on FR today.


Queer Radicals group to initiate change in campus climate, policies (giant massive must read barf)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/772535/posts?page=1

[Newbomb Turk]

How Queer.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"Malt Shop"

Well, I guess I'm out of touch and I don't see kids hanging around the local ice cream place but there isn't much crime here. So maybe this is what kids do now -- sounds like boredom.

As Mom would say, "An idle mind is the devils workshop!"

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

This story will fade away, minorities were among the killers.

[Dialup Llama]

>A picture of two of the perps.

I guess the positive spin here would be the diversity of the defendants.

[ambrose]

A picture of two of the perps.

Wow, a black guy and a white guy working together to murder a Transexual. I wonder what the Diversity Police have to say about this? On the one hand, it is bad that they murdered a Transexual. On the other hand, it is touching to see that the two races can work together and get along.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"a black guy and a white guy working together"

Remember the liberals told us that education and tolerance would end this sort of thing. California has had radical leftists in charge of education for 20 years. My wife is a high school teacher and I know how much brain washing takes place and it is considerable.

The Les-Bi-Gay recruiters are on all campuses and each kid has to have massive amount of diversity training. Whites are about 50% of the local schools and there is a large Afghan community.

I fear the road we have been lead on -- leads to disaster.

[StJulian Perlmutter]

"Newark is a small bedroom community in Alameda County in the East Bay of San Francisco where murders are very rare and 17 year olds usually go to malt shops for fun." I don't know what Newark you are talking about. As a deputy in Santa Clara county, we had multiple mutual-aid calls from Newark each week.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

Maybe I'm too sheltered. I can't remember anything like this happening.

I know several Fremont police officers and they have told me about some drug related stuff that never makes the papers. The Nortenias the local Mexican gang is pretty bad but they seem to just bother other gangs.

What kind of crimes do you respond to??

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

Magidson and Merel had a previous sexual encounter with Araujo before anyone suspected he wasn't a woman.

This is the key to the murder.

We don't know exactly what the "sexual encounter" was, but perhaps the two young men hit on Araujo; perhaps it even went further.

I hate to say it, but Araujo (the transvestite teen), more or less, instigated his own murder. He was playing a dangerous game by trying to deceive people.

It's natural that the two straight young men would have been shocked and horrified and angry at the deception, especially if some sort of sexual encounter had already taken place.

It's one thing to be a transvestite; it's quite another to deliberately deceive people into thinking you're a woman (or a girl), when you're not, especially when you're good-looking enough to fool people into thinking you are.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Lynching in certain well defined circumstances is acceptable social behavior and acceptable political governance. The only real risk being misidentification.

[punster]

You are right. 'Boys will be boys' does not justify sexual assault and murder.

Whether or not someone agrees with the choice made by transsexuals, does not excuse gratuitous violence.

It may well be the transsexuals are biologically predisposed to being transsexual. A study was done in the Netherlands, which suggests the brains of these individuals developed along more female patterns.

A corrolary is the clinical data on women with androgen insensitivity syndrome. Though those women are XY genotype, they are phenotypically female (though sterile). Most significant, they identify as women. The reason is a genetic trait that does not allow a response to testosterone, the male hormone.

[operation clinton cleanup]

Police began searching for Araujo when his mother reported him missing Oct. 5. She was reluctant to call police sooner because her son had previous run-ins with police, according to court records. She told police her son had a substance abuse problem.

Just your normal everyday teenager.

[rockfish59]

I'll bet the first reaction was to put out an APB on all white males driving white vans!

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"which suggests the brains of these individuals developed along more female patterns."

The study was from Holland which makes it automatically suspect. The leftist have been trying for 40 years to prove a genetic link to homosexuality and not much success.(IMO if it could be found it already would have.)

In 1963 when I was this kid's age things like this didn't happen because 17 year olds didn't dress as the opposite sex. Society was more oppressive but people got out of their goofy teen years and did productive stuff like drag racing on deserted streets.(That's as bad as the drag stuff got then.)

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"This is the key to the murder."

Right on!!

All that said it will be a hate crime instead of murder two. Some young men will spend a considerable time in prison because this crime affected a member of a protected class.

The hate crime aspect is not something that has been discussed here.

So --- SHOULD THIS BE A """ HATE-CRIME """.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

Notice that it wasn't a poor parenting problem but a substance abuse problem.

[VOA]

Wow, a black guy and a white guy working together to murder a Transexual.
I wonder what the Diversity Police have to say about this?

About the only good thing in the story of diversity is we won't hear any chorus
of "Kumbiyah".

The guys who did the killing deeserve the max and more. Thanks to pukes like this
keep diversity trainers in business and make today's workplace home to a lot
of crazy concepts.

[TheOtherOne]

Makes you wonder if this guy was "cruising" like Matthew Shepard was, i.e., seeking "the rough trade"---lifestyle which many gay men live in, in which they seek out straight men hoping to get roughed up, and they get off on it (something well-known but skillfully and intentionally omitted by media in the Shepard case.)

You apparent expertise on the GAY lifestyle is appreciated - thanks for the personal input.

[TheOtherOne]

I hate to say it, but Araujo (the transvestite teen), more or less, instigated his own murder

Your pathetic attempt to create facts so as to justify your sick conclusion speaks volumes about yourself. He instigated his own beating, killing, and being burried by showing up in a skirt?

I guess a 17 year old boy in a skirt is scarry for you, but normal people can exist in a room with people they don't like without murdering them.

[oceanperch]

Could be worse you could be a Deputy in Contra Costa and have to deal with West Pittsburg or whatever they call that town now adays.

I just went back to my home town of Pittsburg and was and saw the face lift but the cockroaches still exist they just have spread them out in the community.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

See "History of American Law", 2nd edition Lawrence Friedman. A Touchstone book-Simon & Schuster.

[bluester]

Some people never cease to amaze me with their comments and rationalizing criminal acts. It's nice to see some people still being above such mentality.

Btw, this reminds me very much about the Teena Brandon case (murder).

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

Your pathetic attempt to create facts so as to justify your sick conclusion speaks volumes about yourself. He instigated his own beating, killing, and being burried by showing up in a skirt?

I guess a 17 year old boy in a skirt is scarry for you, but normal people can exist in a room with people they don't like without murdering them.

I guess I worded it poorly. The transvestite teen deliberately set out to deceive people into thinking he was a girl. He was playing a sad game (probably due to his youth). That's what I meant when I used the word "instigated". Perhaps I shouldn't have said "instigated". I should have said "left himself open to the possibility that people would be violently angry with him for deceiving them" or something like that.

I'm a woman, so the thought of a 17-year-old boy in a skirt is NOT scary for me. I was trying to imagine how young men in their 20s might feel after being deceived. Apparently these young men were so angry at the deception, after their sexual encounter, that they killed the poor pathetic transvestite teen. I don't think men's egos allow them to deal with that sort of a situation very effectively. Do you?

I certainly don't condone the murder. I hope these young men go to prison for a long time.

Forgive me for expressing my thoughts so inadequately.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

If the study reflects the truth then perhaps we should consider early sterilization. Then in a few generations the problem would be reduced to manageable proportions.

[1rudeboy]

This isn't the Book of the Month Club. Answer the question.

[F.J. Mitchell]

This kid was murdered-murder is a crime punishable by death upon conviction. So what is the point of the so called hate crime enhancement?

How come it is only news worthy in the mind of the liberal media when deviates are killed? Seems from what we have been allowed to have knowledge of by the press of late-the homosexuals are killing more people than there are people killing homosexuals.

[Bon mots]

They should turn those boys loose. They are less of a threat to society than the freak who deceived them.

The cross dressing freak can prance about however he likes, but when he/she/it starts seducing boys that is a criminal assault. These poor boys were basically raped by a fag, and were righteously outraged.

If they knew this sick freak were a man, they would not have had anything to do with it. If they were not provoked by aggressive fag tactics, they would never have hurt a fly.

[TheOtherOne]

These poor boys were basically raped by a fag, and were righteously outraged. If they knew this sick freak were a man, they would not have had anything to do with it. If they were not provoked by aggressive fag tactics, they would never have hurt a fly.

Seek help. Your sense of right and wrong are severly impaired. I am glad you know these 3 murderers so well to proclaim they would never hurt a fly. Your bias is glaring.

[TheOtherOne]

I am glad you cleared that up. There is no reason a person in his 20's is so threatened by a boy in a skirt that he needs to murder him. There was no sexual encounter between any of them. They found out he was a boy dressed as a girl and simply beat, killed, and buried him. There is and can be no justification for this type of action unless they were physically threatened and acted in self-defense--- a claim even the 3 are not making.

[TheOtherOne]

I find they way this topic is discussed on FR really disturbing for a couple reasons.

There are possibly 3 main issues here: (1) Cross-dresssing, (2) murder, and (3) Hate-crime laws.

It seems that some people are in such disagreement with 1 and 3 that they can justify and ignore 2. Just because someone acknowledges that this was murder does not somehow imply that cross-dressing is okay or hate-crime laws are good. So many here seem to ignore the simple fact that three people killed another and then hid the body, and focus on how society has somehow been wronged by this cross-dresser or hate-crime laws.

I can respect someone who dislikes cross-dressing or hate-crime laws. I have zero respect for people who are blinded by those views and make excuses for murder.

[F.J. Mitchell]

"THey would never have hurt a fly."

Probably true, but they did commit murder under the law. The rules, as assinine as it sounds, is that no matter how badly you have been assaulted by some scum bag punk, if you somehow begin winning the scuffle and the coward flees-you become the aggressor if you pursue or inflict anymore damage upon him/her/it.

I understand where you are coming from-it is getting to the point where a straight male, hates to go to a public men's room. I guess by the sound of this thread, the straight gals aren't faring much better. I don't know how we are supposed to deal with these perverts, I do know the law frowns on killing them. Maybe the liberals will allow us to just say no, if we say it real politely and not offend the deviates by implying that we can really see how it is obvious to us that males and females seem kind of designed to scratch each other's itch, while saving the species from extinction.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Here I tried to turn you on to an excellent book, very readable and in which one chapter deals extensively with the rise and fall of lynchings. Friedman was a professor of Legal History at Stanford and knows what he is about.Go read it first then come back.