Day: February 17, 2009

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.

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.