Murder of Allen R. Schindler Jr.

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Allen R. Schindler Jr.
Born(1969-12-13)December 13, 1969
Chicago Heights, Illinois
DiedOctober 27, 1992(1992-10-27) (aged 22)
Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Navy
RankE4 Radioman 3rd Class

Allen R. Schindler Jr. (December 13, 1969 – October 27, 1992) was an American Radioman Petty Officer Third Class in the United States Navy who was murdered for being gay. He was killed in a public toilet in Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan, by Terry M. Helvey, who acted with the aid of an accomplice, Charles E. Vins, in what Esquire called a "brutal murder".[1][2] The case became synonymous with the debate concerning LGBT members of the military that had been brewing in the United States, culminating in the "Don't ask, don't tell" bill.[2]

The events surrounding Schindler's murder were the subject of ABC's 20/20 episode and were portrayed in the 1997 TV film Any Mother's Son.[3] In 1998, Any Mother's Son won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Made for TV Movie.[4]

Background

Allen R. Schindler Jr. was born on December 13, 1969 in Chicago Heights, Cook County, Illinois to Dorothy Hajdys, now known as Clausen,[5][6] and Allen Schindler Sr. Schindler was from a naval family[2] and was serving as a radioman on the amphibious assault ship USS Belleau Wood in Sasebo, Nagasaki.

According to several of his friends, Schindler had complained repeatedly of anti-gay harassment to his chain of command in March and April 1992, citing incidents such as the gluing-shut of his locker and frequent comments from shipmates such as "There's a faggot on this ship and he should die".[7] Schindler had begun the separation process to leave the Navy, but his superiors insisted he remain on his ship until the process was finished. Though he knew his safety was at risk, Schindler obeyed orders.

While on transport from San Diego, California, to Sasebo, the USS Belleau Wood made a brief stop in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Afterward, en route to Japan, Schindler broadcast an unauthorized statement "2-Q-T-2-B-S-T-R-8" (too cute to be straight) on secure lines reaching much of the Pacific Fleet.[8] When he appeared at captain's mast for the unauthorized radio message, he requested that the hearing be closed. It was open, with two hundred to three hundred people in attendance.[1] Schindler was put on restrictive leave and was unable to leave the ship until a few weeks after arriving at Sasebo and four days before his death.[9][10]

Murder

Airman Apprentice Terry M. Helvey, who was a member of the ship's weather department (OA Division, Operations Department), stomped Schindler to death in a bathroom in a park in Sasebo, Nagasaki. A key witness, Jonathan Witte,[11] saw Helvey repeatedly stomp on Schindler's body while singing. Witte then ran to retrieve Shore Patrolmen nearby, which startled Helvey and his accomplice, Charles Vins, into running from the bathroom. Witte returned with Shore Patrolmen in less than 30 seconds and saw Allen Schindler lying on the floor, struggling to breathe through a mouthful of blood. Witte and Shore Patrolmen carried Schindler to the nearby Albuquerque Bridge where he died from his injuries.[2] Witte had met Schindler previously two days before his murder, but given the gravity of his injuries, he was unable to recognize Schindler. Schindler had "at least four fatal injuries to the head, chest, and abdomen," his face and head was crushed, and the globes of his eyes were burst and ruptured. His nose was broken; his upper jaw was broken; the whole middle portion of his face was detached and floating loosely. There were bruises and cuts on the surface of his neck, head, and chest; there were bruises on his brain, on his lungs, his heart. He had eight broken ribs, and his Adam's apple was obliterated.[12] His liver had been turned to pulp "like a tomato smushed up inside its cover." The impact of blows to the chest had torn his aorta, his bladder had been ripped open, his penis had been bruised and lacerated, and he had "sneaker-tread marks stamped on his forehead and chest", destroying "every organ in his body",[13] leaving behind a "nearly unrecognizable corpse."[14] Witte was asked to explain in detail to the military court what the crime scene looked like, but he refused, as Schindler's mother and sister were present in the courtroom. His family was only able to identify him by the tattoo on his arm.[15]

Details revealed

The Navy was less than forthcoming about the details of the killing, both to the news media and to the victim's family, especially his mother, Dorothy Hajdys-Clausen.[16] Navy officials failed to include his belongings: the log book Schindler kept of his time on board, and his record of harassment he was receiving on the advice of friends.

In the wake of Schindler's murder, the Navy denied that it had received any complaints of harassment and refused to speak publicly about the case or to release the Japanese police report on the murder.[7]

The medical examiner compared Schindler's injuries to those sustained by a victim of a fatal horse trampling saying they were worse "than the damage to a person who'd been stomped by a horse; they were similar to what might be sustained in a high-speed car crash or a low-speed aircraft accident."[2]

At the wake in the family's home in Chicago, his mother and sister could only identify him by the tattoos on his arm as his face was disfigured.[2]

Trial and outcomes

During the trial, Helvey denied that he killed Schindler because he was gay, stating, "I did not attack him because he was homosexual", but evidence presented by Navy investigator Kennon F. Privette, from the interrogation of Helvey the day after the murder, showed otherwise. "He said he hated homosexuals. He was disgusted by them," Privette said. On killing Schindler, Privette quoted Helvey as saying: "I don't regret it. I'd do it again. ... He deserved it."[1]

To avoid a possible death sentence, Helvey pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.[1][17]

After the trial, Helvey was convicted of murder and Douglas J. Bradt, the captain who kept the incident quiet, was transferred to shore duty in Florida. Helvey is serving a life sentence.[18] By statute, Helvey is granted a clemency hearing every year. Initially, he was imprisoned in the United States Disciplinary Barracks. As of 2015, he is housed at FCI Greenville in Illinois under the inmate number 13867-045.[19] Helvey's accomplice, Charles E. Vins, was allowed to plea bargain as guilty to three lesser offenses, including failure to report a serious crime and to testify truthfully against Helvey, and served a 78-day sentence before receiving a general discharge from the Navy.

Legacy

The events surrounding Schindler's murder were the subject of a 20/20 episode and were portrayed in the 1997 TV film Any Mother's Son.[3] In 1998, Any Mother's Son won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Made for TV Movie.[4]

Schindler's mother Dorothy Hajdys-Clausen became a gay rights activist after his murder. In 1992 she received the National Leather Association International's Jan Lyon Award for Regional or Local Work. In 1993 she marched in the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation.[20]

Allen Schindler’s case was presented in the 2018 TV documentary crime series, The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade, season 1, episode 8, "Don't Ask Don't Tell." The episode, which aired on Jan. 7, 2019, on Investigation Discovery,[21] chronicled the events that led up to Schindler’s murder and featured excerpts from Schindler’s journal and autopsy report, as well as details from veteran LGBTQ rights activist, Michael Petrelis' 900-page file on Schindler and Terry Helvey’s written confession. Interviews were given by Allen Schindler’s mother, Dorothy Hajdys-Clausen, Jonathan Witte, Michael Petrelis, and former reporter for the Stars and Stripes, Rick Rogers.

In 2020, U.S. Navy veteran Shon Washington honored Schindler on the 28th anniversary of his death in a viral social media post sharing his experiences as a gay Navy officer serving under DADT. Washington ended the post by thanking Schindler and his mother for impacting his life and helping repair his fraught relationship with his own mother.[22][23]

The date of death on Schindler’s gravestone is marked October 28, 1992, in accordance to the doctor's pronouncement of death.[24][2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Jameson, Sam (May 28, 1994), "U.S. Sailor Sentenced to Life Imprisonment in Murder", Los Angeles Times, retrieved March 21, 2008
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Brown, Chip (December 1993), "The Accidental Martyr", Esquire, archived from the original on March 27, 2008, retrieved March 21, 2008
  3. ^ a b "Any Mother's Son – About the Movie". Lifetime Television. Archived from the original on January 26, 2008. Retrieved January 12, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "GLAAD Awards Part I in NYC". PlanetOut Inc. March 31, 1998. Archived from the original on February 1, 2002. Retrieved February 12, 2002.
  5. ^ Manoukian, Marina (October 26, 2021). "The Tragic Murder Of Allen R. Schindler Jr". Grunge. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  6. ^ Tammye (March 11, 2022). "Parole denied for man who murdered gay sailor in 1992". Dallas Voice. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Uniform Discrimination: The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy of the U.S. Military, section V. Discharges of Gay And lesbian Servicemembers", Human Rights Watch, January 2003, retrieved March 21, 2008
  8. ^ Green, Jesse (September 12, 1993). "What the Navy Taught Allen Schindler's Mother". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  9. ^ "Unfinished Lives". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  10. ^ Sprinkle, Stephen V. (January 20, 2011). Unfinished Lives: Reviving the Memories of LGBTQ Hate Crimes Victims. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-60899-811-1.
  11. ^ Witte, Jonathan. Dark Liberty: Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Amazon. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  12. ^ Unfinished Lives: Reviving the Memories of LGBTQ Hate Crimes Victims, by V. Sprinkle, Stephen, p. 260
  13. ^ "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' – intolerable or intolerant?", Gay & Lesbian Times, Editorial, no. 1013, May 24, 2007, archived from the original on June 11, 2008, retrieved March 21, 2008{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ Belkin, Dr. Aaron (May 1, 2005), "Abandoning 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Will Decrease Anti-Gay Violence", Naval Institute: Proceedings Monthly, archived from the original on March 17, 2008, retrieved March 21, 2008
  15. ^ Green, Jesse (September 12, 1993), "What the Navy Taught Allen Schindler's Mother", New York Times, retrieved March 29, 2010
  16. ^ Joyner, Will (August 11, 1997), "Slain Sailor's Mother As a Profile in Courage", The New York Times, retrieved March 21, 2008
  17. ^ "Judge accepts sailor's guilty plea in killing of gay shipmate". UPI. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  18. ^ https://www.losangelesblade.com/2022/02/21/man-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-1992-murder-of-gay-sailor-recommended-for-parole/
  19. ^ "Inmate Locator".
  20. ^ "List of winners". NLA International. March 14, 2019. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  21. ^ Smith, Anita (January 7, 2019). "Navy officer Allen R. Schindler, Jr., viciously murdered in hate crime on The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade". Monsters and Critics. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  22. ^ Hudson, David. "How the brutal murder of this gay sailor affected another serviceman's coming out". Queerty. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  23. ^ Washington, Shon (November 16, 2020). "Unconditional love tested by 'don't ask, don't tell'". Military Times. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  24. ^ "Allen R. Schindler Jr. (1969-1992) - Find a Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

External links

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