Witness testimony began yesterday in the trial of Joseph Bearden, one of the two men accused of the cold-blooding killing of Ryan Skipper, an openly gay man, in Florida in March 2007. The trial of William Brown, the other accused killer, has not yet been scheduled. Both men face the death penalty if convicted.
Joe Bearden with teardrop tattoo
It is encouraging to learn that TruTv (formerly Court TV) is broadcasting Bearden’s trial live. In the channel’s preview of the case in the video above (which we found at Unfinished Lives), we learned that there have been a couple of interesting developments.
The first is that the prosecution has decided that the alleged killers’ motive for the murder was not violent homophobia — although the record indicates that Bearden and Brown must have been aware that Skipper was gay. Instead of prosecuting the murder as a hate crime, however, the state contends that Bearden and Brown decided to steal Skipper’s new car and sell it, most likely to get money for drugs.
Despite the fact that they stabbed Ryan at least 20 times inside the car before leaving him to die on the side of a road, Bearden and Brown reportedly attempted to sell the car several times in the few days before they were arrested.
From the TruTv report we also learn that during his nearly two-year incarceration, Joe Bearden has tattooed his face and upper body. The tattoo on his face appears to depict a teardrop, which in gang culture is a sign that the bearer has committed murder.
But mainly the report confirms what we already knew: Joe Bearden and William Brown are two of the biggest dumbasses ever to walk the planet. The tragedy is that a young man like Ryan Skipper, who had a wide circle of friends and a loving family, and whose life held such promise, ever crossed their paths.
Regular readers of these pages will remember that we covered this case extensively. You can catch up on it here.
That Joe Bearden’s got right pretty lips.
the teardrop tattoo is gang-related, true – also issued in prisons, and for quite a long long time. But it is applied as a memorial for one your group who died. Look at Aaron Neville, who has three teardrop tattoos
Bearden has been incarcerated since he was arrested for the murder. He did not have either the spike tattoo or the teardrop at the time of the arrest, and he was not in a gang before he went to prison.
They call him “Little Joe” in prison because of his tight little butt…
Befitting punishment, eh?
Did some checking on the meaning of the teardrop tattoo. In California, the teardrop on a male is a symbol he has killed; on females usually it’s a memorial to a lost loved one. Can’t speak for Florida, but Wikipedia says the teardrop can symbolize a lost loved one, but “the majority of the ‘tear tatoos’ seen in popular culture today … signify that the wearer has killed, with the number of tears representing the number of kills.Tear tattoos, when given in prison, primarily indicate that the bearer has murdered someone, either in or out of jail.” Bearden was definitely in prison when he got his.
Jon, I was wondering what happened with this case. Thanks for keeping us abreast of what’s going on with this tragic story.
That’s not a teardrop. It’s a dagger.
Mwheat – The tear drop is under his other eye.
According to Wiki: Dagger Tattoo
A dagger tattoo symbolizes death.
Very sad what happened to this young man. I guess the 2 killers will have their own gang life in prison and get all of the aids needled tatoo’s they want!
Are we forgetting Ryan here??? I honestly beleive we are, can we remember who this all began with?????
That ain’t no tear drop if you look at the picture the tattoo is of a clown stripe you know the ones that the clown paint on their face from top of the eye to the middle of the cheek. haha my neighbor has the same thing but hes in jail now. :(