A Florida man, who described gay people as a “disgrace,” has been given the death penalty for murdering a gay couple he met on Craigslist back in 2010.
Peter Avsenew, 32, was convicted last year of murdering Kevin Adams and Steven Powell at their home in Wilton Manors, reports Local 10 News.
Adams and Powell were found shot dead and wrapped in blankets on Boxing Day in 2010.
Avsenew, a sex worker, met the couple after he placed an advert on Craigslist. He moved in with them a couple of weeks before their deaths.
In court, the prosecution alleged that the 32-year old was found in possession of the couple’s car, an SUV, adding that he had used their credit cards.
The defence claimed that Avsenew stole the items after discovering that the couple were dead.
Avsenew’s mother turned him in to police after he arrived at her home in central Florida unexpectedly and then made suspicious comments to her.
She also testified against him in court.
The sex worker reportedly showed no remorse over the murders, and sent a hand-written letter to Broward County Judge Ilona Holmes, following his conviction in 2017.
“It is my duty as a white man to cull the weak and timid from existence,” he wrote, according to Local 10 News. “I will always stand up for what I believe in and eradicate anything in my way. Homosexuals are a disgrace to mankind and must be put down. These weren’t the first and won’t be the last.”
He also allegedly said in June: “I wholeheartedly have nothing to lose and I’m going to take it out on everybody I can,” reports Local 10 News.
Speaking in court via video link, Avsenew’s mother explained: “I said: ‘Is the car stolen?’ and I think you told me the car wasn’t stole.”
She added: “I told him he was making me an accessory to whatever he’d done…he just laughed, he said: ‘Don’t worry about it.’”
She said that she then found suspicious images on Avsenew’s computer, so she told a friend, before calling the police.
Source: Pink News, Ella Braidwood, August 29, 2018
Vatican erases pope's remarks about psychiatric help for gay children
The pope had said ‘there is a lot that can be done through psychiatry’ if parents think their child is homosexual
The Vatican has rolled back on a recommendation by Pope Francis that parents seek psychiatric help for children who show homosexual tendencies.
The pope made the comments to journalists as he was flying back to Rome from Ireland, but the Vatican later removed his phrase from its official account, saying he had not meant to suggest that homosexuality was a mental illness.
The pope was asked by a journalist what he would say to parents who observe homosexual traits in their children.
"When it shows itself from childhood, there is a lot that can be done through psychiatry, to see how things are. It is something else if it shows itself after 20 years," he said.
He added that ignoring a child who showed homosexual tendencies was an "error of fatherhood or motherhood".
However, when the Vatican later published the pope’s answer, the reference to psychiatry had been removed.
When asked why, a Vatican spokeswoman told AFP it had been done in order to not "change the thoughts of the Holy Father".
"When the pope referred to ‘psychiatry’, it is clear that he was doing it to highlight an example of ‘things that can be done’. But with that word he didn’t mean to say that it (homosexuality) was a ‘mental illness’," she said.
The pope’s trip to Ireland was fraught with controversy amid accusations that he ignored sexual abuse allegations against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
Source:
The Guardian, AFP, August 28, 2018
What exactly did the Pope say on psychiatric help for gay children?
Pope Francis made comments on Sunday on how parents should treat children that display homosexual tendencies as he was flying back to Rome from Ireland — a country with an openly gay leader.
It came as Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano called for the pontiff to resign claiming he knew about sex abuse allegations against disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for years, with some claiming the two events was the sign of a coup against Francis from conservatives in the church.
The Vatican has since rolled back on the comments. When the dialogue was later published, the reference to psychiatry had been removed.
A Vatican spokeswoman told AFP news agency the measures had been taken to not "change the thoughts of the Holy Father".
"When the pope referred to ‘psychiatry’, it is clear that he was doing it to highlight an example of ‘things that can be done’. But with that word he didn’t mean to say that it (homosexuality) was a ‘mental illness’," she said.
The Pope's comments on the plane were reported differently across European and international media. But since then, video footage of the answer has surfaced.
Here's the question that the Pope was asked and his response, translated from Italian. The exchange can be viewed in the video player above.
Transcript of the Pope's answer
Journalist: What would you tell the father of a child who just came out as gay?
Pope: Your question is clear; what I would say to a father who sees that his son or daughter has that tendency?
I would say first to pray. Do not condemn, open dialogue, understand, make room for the son and daughter. Make room for it to be expressed.
Then, what age is the child when this restlessness manifests itself? It's important.
It is one thing when it manifests itself from childhood, when there are a lot of things to be done, with psychiatry, or…to see how things are.
It's another thing when it manifests itself after 20 years or something like that.
But I will say that silence is never a remedy. Ignoring a son or daughter with homosexual tendencies shows a lack of fatherhood and motherhood.
You are my son, you are my daughter, as you are. I'm your father or your mother, let's talk.
Source:
euronews.com, August 28, 2018
⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us:
deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.
Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
.jpg)
