A photograph of Ron Hamilton, who was killed in 1984.

Raising the dead

An old case poses questions about past Detroit police investigations of gay killings.

by Ann Mullen
3/22/00

Coverage of the Matthew Shepard murder sparks one woman's crusade.

Today, the relationship between the Detroit Police Department and the area’s gay community is described as based on "a great deal of mutual trust and respect."

The clearest signs are the cooperation that led to the conviction of a male prostitute from Detroit for the murder of a gay man, the charges against the man in a second murder and an investigation into possible links to other killings.

But trust and respect haven’t always described relations between Detroit police and the gay community. In the mid- and late-’80s, says leading gay activist Jeffrey Montgomery, police routinely gave short shrift to seeking out the killers of gays, leaving a legacy of unsolved cases that still troubles some gay activists.

The 16-year-old case of Ron Hamilton, which a Florida woman had dedicated herself to solving, is one example. But Montgomery, who heads the Detroit-based gay advocacy group the Triangle Foundation, says that case is just "the tip of the iceberg."

Montgomery knows firsthand the pain and frustration of seeing police blow off an investigation because the victim was gay. In 1984, a man he dated was also murdered.

"It’s just another gay killing," Montgomery recalls police saying. "We are not going to waste any resources on this." As with the Hamilton murder, that case was never solved.

‘Slamming back’

"If he hadn’t been hanging around the fag bar on Jefferson, he would be alive" is what Sue Eisman recalls police officers saying 16 years ago when Hamilton was found stabbed to death in his Indian Village home on Detroit’s east side. Eisman and Hamilton were friends who had dated before Hamilton realized he was gay.

When Eisman pushed police to give more than a cursory look into the killing, she said they resisted.

"I didn’t think I could do anything back in 1984 because the police were rude and nasty," she said. And for years she did nothing.

When the beating death of gay college student Matthew Shepard in Wyoming made national news in 1998, something inside Eisman snapped: "It came slamming back."

Eisman, 53, who had since moved to Florida, said she gave up her job helping adopted children find birth parents to track down Hamilton’s killer. According to 1984 newspaper reports, the Detroit high school librarian was found stabbed to death and had two plastic bags over his head; he had been robbed of his wallet, and there were signs he had struggled with one or more assailants. A co-worker contacted the police after she stopped by to pick Hamilton up for work, saw drops of blood in the snow outside his house, and could not reach him by phone.

After the Shepard killing, Eisman created Web sites about the Hamilton killing and solicited help in solving it; she sent e-mails to everyone she could think of who may have known Hamilton, including Montgomery.

He put Eisman in touch with an acquaintance of Hamilton’s, who led her to a possible suspect.

With police cooperation, Eisman planned to wear a wire and meet and question the man about the murder. The plan fell through when he refused to show. She ended up returning to Florida.

A new era

Montgomery praised the police for working with Eisman and major changes in how the department approaches gay murder cases today.

Recently, the Triangle Foundation aided police in the investigation leading to the arrest of Willie Brown, 43, of Detroit. Brown was convicted last fall in the killing of civil rights activist Harold McCormick of Royal Oak Township. Earlier this year, Brown was charged in the killing of Eddie Matthews, 37, of Detroit, and Detroit police were reportedly looking into the possibility that Brown was involved in two other killings of gay men.

"I believe our relation with the Detroit police homicide department is very good, very successful based on a great deal of mutual trust and respect," says Montgomery.

Detroit Police Chief Benny Napoleon wrote in a letter to the Metro Times that his department is "firmly committed to providing professional service to the Detroit community and all citizens in general. To this end, all allegations, complaints and criminal cases are taken seriously and are thoroughly investigated."

But the attitudes attributed to the department in the Hamilton killing were typical at that time, says Montgomery.

Montgomery raises another unsolved case: The body of a gay acquaintance of Hamilton’s, Phil Traci, was discovered at his home, about four miles from Hamilton’s on the same day Hamilton’s body was found. As at Hamilton’s home, there was no apparent forced entry; both men were fully clothed with their pants pockets emptied and turned out, according to newspaper reports. Other than wallets, nothing was taken from either home, although Traci’s home was ransacked.

The police reinvestigated both cases as a result of Eisman’s interest and determined that they were unrelated.

"Someone could make it a full-time job just finding out about other murders at that time and how they were dealt with," said Montgomery, "or not dealt with."

Ann Mullen is a Metro Times staff writer.