Jesse Dirkhising
337492
225768077
2008-07-15T08:59:30Z
Rjwilmsi
203434
gen fixes + link/fix date fields in cite templates (explanation [[User:Rjwilmsi#My_correction_of_dates_in_templates|here]]) using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]]
{{Infobox Person
| name = Jesse William Dirkhising
| image = JesseDirkhising.jpg
| image_size = 225px
| caption = Jesse Dirkhising
| birth_name =
| birth_date = [[May 24]], [[1986]]
| birth_place = [[Oxford, Ohio]]
| death_date = [[September 26]], [[1999]]<ref name="Case of Boy's Rape"/>
| death_place = [[Rogers, Arkansas|Rogers]], [[Arkansas]]
| death_cause = From positional [[asphyxia]]<ref name="Affidavit of the Jesse Dirkhis"/>
| resting_place = Friendship Cemetery, [[Springdale, Arkansas|Springdale]], [[Arkansas]]<ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7202414
| title = Jesse Dirkhising
| publisher = Find a Grave
| accessdate = 2008-04-23 }}</ref>
| resting_place_coordinates =
| residence =
| nationality = [[United States]]
| known_for =
| education = Seventh-grade<ref name="Case of Boy's Rape"/>
| height =
| weight =
| religion =
| parents = Tina and Miles Yates Jr.<ref name="Media Tunes Out Chi"/>
| footnotes =
}}
'''Jesse William Dirkhising''' ([[May 24]], [[1986]] – [[September 26]], [[1999]]), also known as '''Jesse Yates''', was an [[United States|American]] teenage boy from [[Prairie Grove, Arkansas|Prairie Grove]], [[Arkansas]] who was bound, drugged, [[torture]]d, [[rape]]d, and died as a result of the position in which he was tied down.<ref name="The Death of the West">
{{cite web
| last = Buchanan
| first = Patrick J.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Country and Civilization
| publisher = St. Martin's Press; ISBN 0312285485
| date = 2002
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=MTrg__Jyf0kC&vq=dirkhising&dq=%22jesse+dirkhising%22
| accessdate = 2008-01-18}}</ref><ref name="Lawyer to request change">
{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Lawyer to request change of venue: Boy dies during homosexual assault
| publisher = Washington Times
| date = [[November 20]], [[1999]]
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=%22Jesse%20Dirkhising%22&s_dispstring=Jesse%20Dirkhising%20AND%20date(01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
| accessdate=2008-01-18}}</ref>
Dirkhising's death, later ruled a murder, received only regional media coverage until a ''[[Washington Times]]'' article ran a story nearly a month after the death noting the lack of national coverage when contrasted to that of [[Matthew Shepard]].<ref name="Press Bias and Politics">
{{cite web
| last = Kuypers
| first = Jim A.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Press Bias and Politics: How the Media Frame Controversial Issues
| publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0275977587
| date= 2002
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=GHIQimmDvbcC&dq=%22jesse+dirkhising%22
| accessdate = 2008-01-19}}</ref><ref name="Contrasts in media coverage"/>
The high-profile Shepard [[hate crime]] was approaching its one-year anniversary and as such was getting another round of national attention coupled with updates on pending [[Hate crime laws in the United States|hate crime legislation]].<ref name="Why One Murder"/> Prompted by the ''Washington Times'' article the Dirkhising case gained notoriety from [[conservative]] commentators comparing [[media coverage]] of the two cases and exploring the issues of what was considered a hate crime.<ref name="Contrasts in media coverage"/>
The resulting controversy resulted in [[mainstream]] media also reporting the Dirkhising case in relation to the lack of coverage compared to Shepard's case,<ref name="Why One Murder">
{{cite web
| last = Gregg
| first = Jonathan
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Why One Murder Makes Page One and Another Is Lost in the News Briefs
| publisher = Time
| date = [[4 November]], 1999
| url = http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,33788,00.html
| accessdate = 2008-01-18 }}</ref><ref name="No Media Spotlight">
{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = No Media Spotlight on Sex Killing of Boy
| publisher = Washington Times
| date = [[November 2]], [[1999]]
| url
=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=%22Jesse%20Dirkhising%22&s_dispstring=Jesse%20Dirkhising%20AND%20date(01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
| accessdate=2008-01-18}}</ref> with many explaining why the two were handled differently by the media and perhaps received differently by readers.<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/><ref name="Why One Murder Make"/>
The media coverage of Dirkhising's case was repeatedly and consistently compared to that of Shepard although Dirkhising was a [[minor]] in a [[sex crime]] and Shepard's murder was a hate crime involving adults.<ref name="The Death of the West"/><ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/> The sexualities of the victims and attackers differed, with Shepherd being an [[coming out|openly]] [[gay]] man attacked by two [[heterosexual|straight]] men while Dirkhising's attackers were both gay.<ref name="Killer: Shepard Didn't"/><ref name="A Special Kind of Killing"/>
== Background ==
Dirkhising was a thirteen-year-old seventh grader from the small town of [[Prairie Grove, Arkansas|Prairie Grove]].<ref name="Contrasts in media coverage">{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Contrasts in media coverage
| publisher = Washington Times
| date = [[December 5]], [[1999]]
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=%22Jesse%20Dirkhising%22&s_dispstring=Jesse%20Dirkhising%20AND%20date(01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
| accessdate = 2008-01-18}}</ref>
David Carpenter lived about thirty miles away in a "small but booming northwest Arkansas town" called Rogers.<ref name="Contrasts in media coverage"/><ref name="Arkansas town still reeling">
{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Arkansas town still reeling over death of 13-year-old: Homosexual suspects, gruesome death anger residents
| publisher = Washington Times
| date = [[December 20]], [[1999]]
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=%22Jesse%20Dirkhising%22&s_dispstring=Jesse%20Dirkhising%20AND%20date(01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
| accessdate = 2008-01-18}}</ref><ref name="Driving Directions from">
{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Driving Directions from Rogers, AR to Prarie Grove, AR
| publisher = [[Mapquest]]
| date = 2007
| url = http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?go=1&cat=&1pn=&1a=&1c=Rogers&1s=AR&1z=&1y=&1ffi=&1l=&1g=&1v=&1pl=&2ffi=1&src=maps&ct=NA&2a=&2c=Prairie%20Grove&2s=AR&2z=&2y=US&2pn=&2l=wKSmMBzIlb7klSvZeaos2w%3d%3d&2g=pM%2bLBceNn7nOH5rds3xvYw%3d%3d&2v=CITY&2pl=&r=f
| accessdate=2008-01-19}}</ref>
Carpenter's younger gay lover was Joshua Macave Brown who shared the apartment.<ref name="Contrasts in media coverage"/><ref name="Media Tunes Out Chi"/> Carpenter managed a beauty salon and was a friend of Dirkhising's parents, Tina and Miles Yates Jr.<ref name="Media Tunes Out Chi"/> Dirkhising had stayed with the two men at their apartment on weekends for two months prior to his death. The child's family had falsely been told he helped out at the salon.<ref name="Media Tunes Out Chi">
{{cite web
| last = Price
| first = Joyce Howard
| title = Media Tunes Out Child Torture Death - Media Accused of Not Covering Story Due to Political Correctness
| publisher = Insight on the News
| date = [[29 November]], 1999
| url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_44_15/ai_57893713
| accessdate=2008-01-19}}</ref>
Brown, who had sexual relations with Dirkhising for two months prior claimed that Dirkhising was a willing participant.<ref name="Jury Split On Rape"/><ref name="Violence and Nonviolence"/>
=== Matthew Shepard's murder ===
Dirkhising died two weeks before the first anniversary of Matthew Shepard's murder.<ref name="abcnewspg2"/> Shepard, a University of Wyoming student and young [[gay]] man, had been met at a bar by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson who posed as gay men and offered Shepard a ride in their car.<ref name="Killer: Shepard Didn't">
{{cite web
| title = Killer: Shepard Didn't Make Advances
| url = http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/1999/11/06/witness/index.html
| date = [[6 November]], 1999
| publisher = [[Salon.com]]
| accessdate = 2007-12-07}}</ref>
They drove Shepard to a remote part of [[rural]] [[Laramie, Wyoming|Laramie]], [[Wyoming]]; robbed, [[Pistol-whipping|pistol whipped]], tortured, tied him to a fence and left him to die.<ref name="Aftermath of a Hate Crim">
{{cite web
| last = Chase
| first =Christy
| title = Aftermath of a Hate Crime: Oshawa Little Theatre Tackles Controversial Play
| publisher = Oshawa This Week
| date = [[12 January]], 2008
| url =http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/entertainment/article/92089
| accessdate=2008-01-19}}</ref><ref name="'Laramie Project' Offers">
{{cite web
| last = LaBreche
| first = Will
| title = 'Laramie Project' Offers Heavy Subject, Hope for Future
| publisher = Sawyer County Record
| date = [[16 January]], 2008
| url = http://www.haywardwis.com/record/?section_id=956&story_id=235449
| accessdate = 2008-01-19}}</ref>
Shepard was still alive, but in a coma when discovered eighteen hours later by a cyclist, who at first thought that Shepard was a [[scarecrow]].<ref>
{{cite news
| title = CNN Coverage of Matthew Shepard|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9810/12/wyoming.attack.03/index.html
| work = [[CNN]]
| title = Murder charges planned in beating death of gay student|date=[[2003-10-03]]
| accessdate = 2006-11-01
| date = [[1998-10-12]]}}</ref><ref>
{{cite news
| last = Lacayo
| first = Richard
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989406,00.html
| work = [[Time Magazine]]
| title = The New Gay Struggle
| accessdate = 2006-11-01|date=[[1998-10-26]]}}</ref><ref>
{{cite news
| title = CNN Coverage of Matthew Shepard
| url = http://www.cnn.com/US/9810/12/wyoming.attack.02/index.html
| work = [[CNN]]
| title = Beaten gay student dies; murder charges planned
| accessdate = 2007-01-14
| date = [[1998-10-12]]}}</ref>
As he lay in [[intensive care medicine|intensive care]], candlelight vigils were held by the people of Laramie.<ref name="University of Wyoming">
{{cite web
| title = University of Wyoming Matthew Shepard Resource Site
| url = http://www.uwyo.edu/News/shepard/
| publisher = [[University of Wyoming]]
| accessdate = 2006-11-01}}</ref>
Police arrested McKinney and Henderson finding the bloody gun as well as the victim's shoes and [[wallet]] in their truck.<ref name="abcnewspg2">
{{cite web
| url = http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=277685&page=2
| title = New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder
| accessdate = 2006-05-15
| date = [[2004-11-26]]}}</ref>
It was revealed that the two men had also attempted to get their girlfriends to provide [[Wiktionary:Alibi|alibis]].
{{cquote|When Matthew Shepard died on [[12 October]] [[1998]], at the age of 21, five days after getting into a pickup truck with two goons who beat him mercilessly, he had already become a huge national news story that continues today. It made the cover of ''Time'' magazine with the headline 'The War Over Gays'.<ref name="No Media Spotlight"/>}}
Much of the media coverage also included calls for hate crime legislation.<ref name="No Media Spotlight"/> Gay conservative writer [[Andrew Sullivan]] noted that both murders were rare and the difference in how they were treated was likely due to the political atmosphere and agendas.<ref name="Persecution: How Liberals">
{{cite web
| last = Limbaugh
| first = David
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity
| publisher = HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-073207-5
| date = 2004
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=LeZPChMY0IsC&dq=%22jesse+dirkhising%22
| accessdate = 2008-01-23}}</ref>
== Death and investigation ==
=== Death ===
On [[September 26]], [[1999]], police in [[Rogers, Arkansas]], responded to a [[9-1-1|911]] call and went to the home of David Carpenter, 38.<ref name="Media Tunes Out Chi"/> Also present was Carpenter's gay lover Joshua Brown, 22.<ref name="Contrasts in media coverage"/><ref name="Affidavit of the Jesse Dirkhis">
{{cite web
| last = McMath
| first = Kathryn
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Affidavit of the Jesse Dirkhising murder: In The Circuit Court of Benton County, Arkansas
| publisher = State of Arkansas: County of Benton
| date= [[27 September]], [[1999]]
| url = http://groups.google.com/group/soc.men/msg/21fef01ecd95f434?
| accessdate = 2008-04-23}}</ref>
They found that Dirkhising, a 13-year-old boy from nearby [[Prairie Grove, Arkansas|Prairie Grove]] had been tied to a mattress.<ref name="Affidavit of the Jesse Dirkhis"/><ref name="Jury Split On Rape"/><ref name="Violence and Nonviolence"/> Dirkhising's ankles, knees and wrists had been bound with [[duct tape]] and belts.<ref name="The Death of the West"/> He had been gagged with his own underwear, a [[bandana]] and duct tape.<ref name="Media Tune Out Torture"/><ref name="Affidavit of the Jesse Dirkhis"/> Police determined that Dirkhising had been repeatedly raped over a period of several hours.<ref name="Media Tune Out Torture">
{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Media Tune Out Torture Death of Arkansas Boy: Homosexuals Charged With Rape, Murder
| publisher = Washington Times
| date = [[October 22]], [[1999]]
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=%22Jesse%20Dirkhising%22&s_dispstring=Jesse%20Dirkhising%20AND%20date(01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
| accessdate=2008-01-18}}</ref>
He had been drugged.<ref name="The Death of the West"/> Dirkhising later died at the hospital, his death hastened apparently as the result of positional [[asphyxia]].<ref name="Jury Split On Rape"/><ref name="Violence and Nonviolence"/><ref name="Affidavit of the Jesse Dirkhis"/> Some believed the death was accidental.<ref name="The Nature of Homosexuality">
{{cite web
| last = Holland
| first = Erik
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = The Nature of Homosexuality: Vindication for Homosexual Activists and the Religious Right
| publisher = iUniverse, ISBN 0595305083
| date = 2004
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=Y4lZd-rTIxEC&dq=%22jesse+dirkhising%22
| accessdate = 2008-01-23}}</ref>
=== Investigation ===
The [[Arkansas]] State Police recorded in their affidavit a statement by Brown that he was Carpenter's (younger) lover and that he had been involved in molesting Dirkhising for at least two months prior to Dirkhising's death.<ref name="Affidavit of the Jesse Dirkhis"/> Brown "characterized the assault on Jesse as '[[wiktionary:horseplay|horseplay]]' and claimed that Jesse was a willing participant."<ref name="Jury Split On Rape">
{{cite web
| last = Skoloff
| first = B
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Jury Split On Rape, Murder Sentence
| publisher = CBSNews.com
| date = [[22 March]] [[2001]]
| url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/03/22/national/main280869.shtml
| accessdate = 2008-01-23}}<!-- PLEASE NOTE original site source was online [[18 September]] [[2002]] for wayback machine purposes- --></ref><ref name="Violence and Nonviolence">
{{cite web
| last = Barak
| first = Gregg
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Violence and Nonviolence: Pathways to Understanding
| publisher = Sage Publications Inc, ISBN 0761926968
| date = 2003
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=-_mCXeWxmjUC&pg=PA59&dq=%22jesse+dirkhising%22&sig=N9GPhzHIqy3NUEMZHcEJsr9sZHw#PPA60,M1
| accessdate = 2008-01-23}}</ref>
Police found "handwritten instructions and a diagram of how to position the boy as well as other notes of fantasies of molesting children",<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/> including "instructions on how to sedate, tie up and position a child — indicates a strong interest in pedophilia."<ref name="Why One Murder Make"/><ref name="Affidavit of the Jesse Dirkhis"/> It was speculated that one of the men "diagrammed it and the other carried it out".<ref name="Right Angles And Other"/>
It was revealed that over a two day period "the boy was repeatedly raped and sodomized with various objects."<ref name="Right Angles And Other"/> After the "lovers took a break to get a sandwich" Brown noticed the boy wasn't breathing and alerted Carpenter who attempted to [[Cardiopulmonary resuscitation|resuscitate]] Dirkhising then called 911.<ref name="Right Angles And Other"/><ref name="Media Tunes Out Chi"/><ref name="Affidavit of the Jesse Dirkhis"/> Brown also later claimed he was "under the influence of methamphetamine" when talking with his arresting officers.<ref name="Case of Boy's Rape">
{{cite web
| last = Skoloff
| first = Brian
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Case of Boy's Rape, Murder Goes to Jury Selection
| publisher = The Oak Ridger
| date = [[13 March]] [[2001]]
| url = http://www.oakridger.com/stories/031301/stt_0313010055.html
| accessdate = 2008-01-30}}</ref>
== Media coverage ==
Dirkhising's case initially was reported regionally by "news organizations in Arkansas and also covered by newspapers in Oklahoma and Tennessee",<ref name="Media Tune Out Torture"/> yet almost no national press.<ref name="The Death of the West"/> The [[Associated Press]] ran the story on its local wires but not nationally until a month later when the story was focused on the lack of coverage rather than the crime itself.<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/> A [[LexisNexis]] search revealed only a few dozen articles which appeared only after the ''Washington Times'' story on the lack of coverage on [[October 22]], [[1999]], a month after Dirkhising's death.<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/>
=== Accusations of liberal media bias ===
On October 22, 1999, The ''Washington Times'', ran a story with the headline: "Media tune out torture death of Arkansas boy." The story contrasted the lack of coverage of the Dirkhising case with the treatment the murder of Matthew Shepard received.<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/> The story quoted Tim Graham, director of media studies at [[Media Research Center]], a media watchdog group that frequently criticizes "[[liberal bias]]", as saying, "Nobody wants to say anything negative about homosexuals. Nobody wants to be seen on the wrong side of that issue."<ref name="Media Tunes Out Chi"/> [[L. Brent Bozell III|Brent Bozell]], media critic and director of the [[Media Research Center]], accused the media of deliberately [[spiking]] the story.<ref>Brent Bozell, Media Research Center, ''Human Events'' 4 September 2001 pages 16-17 accessed through Ebsco, 17 June 2006</ref> Bozell wrote
{{cquote|Had Jesse Dirkhising been shot inside his Arkansas school he would have been an immediate national story. Had he been openly gay and his attackers heterosexual, the crime would have led all the networks. But no liberal media outlet has as its villains two gay men.<ref name="The Death of the West"/>}}
After the ''Washington Times'' article the lack of coverage of Dirkhising's case was noted by conservative commentators and was attributed to the [[homosexuality]] of the perpetrators as well as the nature of the crimes.<ref name="The Death of the West"/> Conservative [[political commentator]] [[Pat Buchanan]] wrote
{{cquote|[T]his torture-rape-murder got almost no national press. Why? Because this was a "sex crime," not a "hate crime," and because to show homosexuals in acts of [[sadism|sadistic]] barbarism does not fit the [[villain]]-[[victim]] script of our cultural elite.<ref name="The Death of the West"/>}}
The Dirkhising case was repeatedly compared to the media coverage of the murder of [[Matthew Shepard]] although Dirkhising was a [[minor]] in a [[sex crime]] and Shepard's murder is a hate crime involving adults.<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/> Also the sexualities of the victims and attackers differed somewhat with Shepherd being an openly gay man attacked by two straight men while Dirkhising's attackers were both gay.<ref name="Killer: Shepard Didn't"/><ref name="A Special Kind of Killing">
{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = A Special Kind of Killing
| publisher = Washington Times
| date = [[November 20]], [[1999]]
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=%22Jesse%20Dirkhising%22&s_dispstring=Jesse%20Dirkhising%20AND%20date(01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
| accessdate=2008-01-18}}</ref>
There is also speculation that Dirkhising was [[coming out|openly gay]] with some stating it.<ref name="Corner Conversations: Engaging">
{{cite web
| last = Newman
| first = Randy
| title = Corner Conversations: Engaging Dialogues about God and Life
| publisher = Kregel Publications, ISBN 0825433231
| date=2006
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=FtNIFffeC3QC&dq=%22jesse+dirkhising%22
| accessdate = 2008-01-20}}</ref>
Jonathan Gregg wrote in ''Time'': {{cquote|Matthew Shepard died not because of an all-too-common sex crime, but because of prejudice. Essentially, Shepard was [[lynching|lynched]]; taken from a bar, beaten and left to die because he was the vilified "other" whom society has often cast as an acceptable target of abuse; Dirkhising was just "another" to a pair of deviants. And while child abuse is unfortunately no big news, lynching still is.<ref name="Why One Murder"/>}}
In the month after Shepard's murder, [[LexisNexis]] recorded 3,007 stories about his death compared to only 46 in the month after the Dirkhising murder.<ref name="The Death of Jesse Di">
{{cite web
| last = Sullivan
| first = Andrew
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = The Death of Jesse Dirkhising
| publisher = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
| date = April 1, 2001, page E1
| url =http://books.google.com/books?id=MTrg__Jyf0kC&pg=PA300&vq=dirkhising&dq=%22jesse+dirkhising%22&sig=C-WNr-hXNSJLJet2cIlqp4tN3C4#PPA277,M1
| accessdate = 2008-01-18}}</ref><ref name="The Death of the West"/>
However, once the media seized on the story, this count rapidly rose into the thousands.<ref name="The New Republic">Andrew Sullivan ''The New Republic'' 04/02/2001, Vol. 224 Issue 14, p8, 1p Accessed through Ebsco, 17 June 2001</ref> Many of the articles justified the lack of coverage, citing that the death did not justify national attention; initial reports failed to mention that the two perpetrators were [[gay]] whereas the Shepherd reports identified Shepherd as gay and the crimes as hate-crimes from the beginning.<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/>
On [[4 November]] [[1999]], Jonathan Gregg addressed the issue in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine. He wrote:
{{cquote|Could it be because we in the media elite were unwilling to publicize crimes committed by [[homosexual]]s because it didn't suit our agenda? The next stop in that line of reasoning was clear: That news is controlled by a bunch of gay-loving [[liberal]]s only too happy to wield a double standard.<ref name="Why One Murder Make">
{{cite web
| last = Gregg
| first =Jonathan
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Why One Murder Makes Page One and Another Is Lost in the News Briefs
| publisher = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]
| date = [[4 November]] [[1999]]
| url = http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,33788,00.html
| accessdate=2008-01-29}}</ref>}}
In his column, Gregg noted that the discrepancy in media attention was:
{{cquote|…because it offered no lessons. Shepard's murder touches on a host of complex and timely issues: intolerance, society's attitudes toward gays and the pressure to conform, the use of violence as a means of confronting one's demons. Jesse Dirkhising's death gives us nothing except the depravity of two sick men. There is no lesson here, no moral of tolerance, no hope to be gleaned in the punishment of the perpetrators.<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/>}}
=== Accusations of homophobia ===
Gay [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] commentator [[Andrew Sullivan]] wrote an article in ''[[The New Republic]]'' accusing the [[liberal media]] of [[political correctness]]<ref name="Persecution: How Libe">
{{cite web
| last = Limbaugh
| first = David
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity
| publisher = Regnery Publishing, ISBN 0895261111
| date = 2003
| url =http://books.google.com/books?id=p7nNBpEIrtYC&pg=PA278&dq=%22jesse+dirkhising%22&sig=o9qCN-UOdLPjoLy0vQuShcSqYJ4#PPA418,M1
| accessdate = 2008-01-23}}</ref>
and using the opportunity to attack the [[Human Rights Campaign]] for its support of hate crime legislation.<ref name="Persecution: How Liberals"/> The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) also complained that the ''Washington Times'' "omitted a key piece of information" for its front-page story on Dirkhising.<ref name="Times Prints `Disgusting'"/> The HRC had provided a statement strongly condemning the crime and called for the perpetrators to be punished "to the fullest extent of the law".<ref name="Times Prints `Disgusting'">
{{cite web
| last = Smith
| first = David M.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Times Prints `Disgusting' Front-page Attack on Gays
| publisher = Washington Times
| date = [[October 28]], [[1999]]
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=%22Jesse%20Dirkhising%22&s_dispstring=Jesse%20Dirkhising%20AND%20date(01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=01/01/1990%20to%2001/01/2000)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
| accessdate=2008-01-18}}</ref>
Sullivan also criticised some aspects of the conservative coverage of the Dirkhising case equating gay sex with [[child molestation]] as "ugly nonsense".<ref name="The New Republic"/> Sullivan squarely summed up the differences in media coverage as being due to political interests.<ref name="Persecution: How Liberals"/>
{{cquote|The answer is politics. The Shepherd case was hyped for political reasons: to build support for inclusion of homosexuals in a federal hate crime law. The Dirkhising case was ignored for political reasons: squeamishness about reporting a story that could feed anti-gay prejudice, and the lack of any pending interest-group legislation to hang a story on.<ref name="Persecution: How Liberals"/>}}
On [[November 14]], [[1999]], E. R. Shipp, [[ombudsman]] at ''[[The Washington Post]]'', noted that: "readers, prodded by commentators who are hostile to [[LGBT]] people and to what they view as a ‘liberal’ press" had raised questions about the Dirkhising case. Shipp, said however, that she "made a clear distinction" between the Dirkhising and Shepard cases: "Matthew Shepard’s death sparked public expressions of outrage that themselves became news… That Jesse Dirkhising’s death has not done so is hardly the fault of the ''Washington Post''."<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/> Shipp also stated
{{cquote|The Shepherd story was news…because it "prompted debate on hate crimes and the degree to which there is still intolerance of gay people in this country. It was much more than a murder story for us." More "routine" crimes may be ignored or limited to news briefs culled from the wire services.<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/>}}
The story of the [[September 26]] death was transmitted by ''Associated Press'' national news wires on [[October 29]] and the Post ran a news brief the following day.<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/>
Jonathan Gregg, in a [[November 9]] ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine editorial, asserted that, "[the killing of Dirkhising] was the kind of depraved act that happens with even more regularity against young females and, indeed if the victim had been a 13-year-old girl, the story would probably never have gotten beyond Benton County, much less Arkansas.<ref name="Why One Murder Make"/> The same editorial also said: "A red herring worth addressing at the outset is the failure to distinguish between homosexuality and pedophilia, which creates a false parallel at the core of the ''Washington Times'' argument.<ref name="Why One Murder Make"/> But sex with children is a crime regardless of the sexes involved, and is not synonymous with homosexuality…."The reason the Dirkhising story received so little play is because it offered no lessons.<ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/><ref name="Why One Murder Make"/> Shepard's murder touches on a host of complex and timely issues: intolerance, society's attitudes toward gays and the pressure to conform, the use of violence as a means of confronting one's demons. "Jesse Dirkhising's death gives us nothing except the depravity of two sick men."<ref>
{{cite web
| title = Why One Murder Makes Page One and Another Is Lost in the News Briefs
| url = http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,33788,00.html
| publisher = Time }}</ref><ref name="Press Bias and Politics"/><ref name="Why One Murder Make"/>
== Trials and convictions ==
Davis Don Carpenter and Joshua Brown were each charged with capital murder and six counts of rape<ref name="A Special Kind of Killing"/> and they faced the death penalty in Arkansas for the crimes.<ref name="Media Tune Out Torture"/> Neither man had any known prior convictions.<ref name="Affidavit of the Jesse Dirkhis"/> The two men were tried separately as it was believed "each of them will blame the other for the murder."<ref name="Right Angles And Other">
{{cite web
| last = Bates
| first = Michael M.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Right Angles And Other Obstinate Truths
| publisher = iUniverse, ISBN 0595320481
| date = 2004
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=u4Tqi5sZcYMC&dq=%22jesse+dirkhising%22
| accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref>
The Arkansas state prosecutor "maintained that the older man had mapped out the assault and watched a portion of it" so chose to send Brown (the younger lover) to trial first.<ref name="Jury Split On Rape"/><ref name="Violence and Nonviolence"/> Carpenter's court-appointed attorney, criminal defense lawyer Tim Buckley, sought a [[change of venue]] from Benton County citing excessive pretrial publicity.<ref name="Lawyer to request change"/> "It's been on everyone's lips down here for a month and a half", Buckley stated.<ref name="Lawyer to request change"/> The ''[[Washington Post]]'' was "almost alone among national newspapers" reporting on Brown's trial and [[Fox News Channel|Fox News]] was the only network to cover the murder trial and conviction.<ref name="The Death of the West"/> The prosecutors "argued that Jesse suffocated to death during the sexual assault because of a combination of the drugs and the way he was trussed up".<ref name="Jury Split On Rape"/><ref name="Violence and Nonviolence"/> In March 2001 Brown was found guilty of [[first-degree murder]] and rape. He was sentenced to [[life in prison]], and this sentence was upheld on [[appeal]] by the Arkansas Supreme Court in September 2003. On April 2001, Carpenter [[guilty plea|pleaded guilty]] to similar charges and was also sentenced to life. Subsequently, Carpenter said on the ''[[Fox News Channel]]'' that Brown was solely responsible for the rape and murder of Dirkhising while Brown said that Carpenter was the director.<ref>Edge with Paula Zahn, The (FOX News), May 16, 2001 Accessed through Ebsco, 17 June 2006</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
== Further reading ==
* {{cite book
| first = Shannon
| last = Campbell
| coauthors = Laura Castaneda
| title = News and Sexuality: Media Portraits of Diversity
| publisher = Sage Publications, Inc
| location = Thousand Oaks, Calif
| year = 2005
| pages =
| isbn = 1-4129-0998-8
| oclc =
| doi =
| accessdate = }}
* {{cite book
| first = Mark
| last = Mathis
| title = Feeding the Media Beast: An Easy Recipe for Great Publicity
| year = 2002
| publisher = Purdue University Press
| isbn = 1-55753-247-8
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=ySBQvvHtMBMC&dq=%22jesse+dirkhising%22&lr=
| accessdate = 2008-04-23 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dirkhising, Jesse}}
[[Category:1986 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Arkansas]]
[[Category:American murder victims]]
[[ru:Диркхайзинг, Джесси]]
[[zh:傑西·德基辛]]