In Wisconsin, a forensic psychiatrist testified that Gary Hirte experienced panic after having gay sex, which sparked a “micro-psychotic episode” in which he killed Glenn Kopitske: “I believe that he killed this man, in this brutal way, because he unconsciously wanted to kill his own homosexuality.” The defense is expected to rest in the sanity case today.
In Kentucky, jurors recommended 30 years for Joshua Cottrell, whose gay panic defense reduced his conviction from murder to manslaughter and theft. Cottrell killed Richie Phillips in a motel room and packed the body in a suitcase before letting it sink to the bottom of a lake.
Background: Gay Panic the New Black in Midwestern Murder
