The letter writer went on to offer a warped explanation, hollow apology and violent threat, saying that the killings were an attempt to slow the spread of AIDS by shutting down areas popular among gays. That’s when “the chairman realized he had hit his mark.” Calling himself the AIDS Commission, a made-up organization, the writer said “the chairman” shot Larson as he ran toward a basketball court, shouting for help. Paul Pioneer Press, KSTP-TV and gay advocacy groups, contained details only the killer could know - including the. The robbery suspect they had in custody couldn’t have done it. Then a haunting letter surfaced and the case took a twist. Now it had turned deadly right where LGBT people gathered.Īfter six months of heightened fear and friction between cops and the gay community, Minneapolis police finally pointed to a prime suspect for the two random murders in the scary summer of ’91. Homophobic hate crimes and gay bashing surged in Minneapolis in the late 1980s and early ’90s. ![]() John Chenoweth, 48, was shot and killed and a 19-year-old was wounded along the east bank of the Mississippi River south of Franklin Avenue. Joel Larson, a dynamic 21-year-old, had moved to Minneapolis from Iowa just seven months before he was fatally shot in the back in Loring Park on Ja block from home.
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