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Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 42 • No. 36 • September 6-12, 2012
Arrest made in stylist’s murder by Seth Hemmelgarn
S
an Francisco police announced they have made an arrest in the killing of a popular Castro hair stylist. As the Bay Area Reporter wrote in a blog post Tuesday, James Rickleffs, 45, was arCourtesy SFPD rested on suspicion James Rickleff s of killing Steven “Eriq” Escalon, 28. The body of Escalon, who was gay, was found bound and gagged in his apartment in the 5000 block of Diamond Heights Boulevard at 6 p.m. June 12. Escalon had worked as a stylist at Metamorphosis Salon on Market Street. Police and Escalon’s mother are asking others who have had contact with Rickleffs to come forward. At a Hall of Justice news conference Tuesday, September 4, Lieutenant Hector Sainez, head of the San Francisco Police Department’s homicide unit, said Rickleffs was arrested Sunday night, September 2 on a murder charge. Sainez said the arrest was based on “strong” witness and forensic evidence. He declined to say how Escalon had been killed or what the specific evidence was. However, he said Rickleffs had been found with some property that had allegedly been stolen from Escalon’s home. Items missing from the apartment had included a laptop, jewelry, and financial documents. A bulletin released earlier said police were seeking a man who had been seen getting into a cab with Escalon in front of the bar 440 Castro at about 1:30 a.m. the day he was killed. Sainez said Tuesday that Escalon had met Rickleffs at a bar. Police believe Rickleffs is the man featured in the “person of interest” sketch that was featured in the bulletin. Escalon had also withdrawn money from an ATM machine, Sainez said, but he didn’t believe he’d been forced to take money out. He said he didn’t know whether Rickleffs is gay. Police Chief Greg Suhr encouraged people who recognize Rickleffs, whether they “met him in casual conversation” or had a date with him, to contact police. “Please let homicide detectives decide See page 13 >>
Chris Valera at Oakland Pride.
Franklin Street in Oakland’s Uptown district was full of people for Oakland Pride.
Rick Gerharter
Rick Gerharter
Oakland Pride shows city’s fun side by Catherine Pickavet
R
unning on the theme “It’s a Celebration,” the third annual Oakland Pride festival held Sunday was just that: a celebration of all things East Bay LGBT. A diverse crowd of about 20,000 people, according to the Oakland North blog, from
all over the Bay Area made the trip to Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood September 2 to experience how this East Bay of riches shows its pride: sunshine, good food, strong drinks, and live music on four stages. Headliner CeCe Peniston treated dedicated fans to a collection of new and old tunes. Toward the end of the day, festivalgoers
danced on tired feet to gear up for the after parties that spilled out into various locations throughout the city. Perhaps the most notable aspect of Oakland Pride was the way the event brought the community together, highlighting the vast diversity and sheer size of the East Bay LGBT See page 12 >>
SFPD seeks killers in cold cases
by Seth Hemmelgarn
I
n the early afternoon of February 17, 1974, Stig Lennart Berlin was found stabbed to death in Apartment 9 at 725 Hyde Street. The 37-year-old gay man had been cut multiple times in his chest and other areas, according to the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office. A bloody towel was in the bathroom, and more blood was in the sink. Papers and items from a chest were scattered on his closet floor. It appears he had been dead for more than two days. Almost 40 years later, there are no suspects, and police have re-opened investigations into Berlin’s killing, along with those of Joe Vasquez, a.k.a. Joe Barbarella, who was in his 20s, and Joseph Y. Rodriguez Jr., a.k.a. Lisa Yancey, 30. Both, who were killed in their Tenderloin homes in 1975, were also stabbed to death. The investigations are happening as the murder trial in another cold case approaches. San Francisco Police Inspector Pat Correa said the main obstacle in finding those responsible for Berlin, Vazquez, and Rodriguez’s deaths is finding people who knew the victims. “I can’t get to them, because they’re no longer here,” she said. “That’s the biggest challenge right now.” Correa said that with improvements in technology for testing DNA and other evidence, she’s hopeful “something may pop up,” but she indicated finding people who knew the victims is critical. “He had a life outside of his murder, and I
Rick Gerharter
Inspector Pat Correa, with cold case files, sits at her desk in the homicide unit of the San Francisco Police Department.
want to know what that life is,” Correa said, referring to all the victims. She said she’s looking for people “to put together their lives, to give me a picture of their lives,” and help guide her. Accounts of the killings offer a small glimpse of the city’s LGBT community as it was in the
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mid-1970s, just years before the AIDS epidemic hit and decimated much of the city’s gay population. Correa declined to share many details on the homicide cases, but reports at the medical See page 9 >>