Transcripts

CHRIS ROBERTS: Nearly three weeks after several newspapers received a hate letter claiming responsibility for the murders of Larson and Chenoweth, Patti Abbott took a phone call in her office. Abbott is the crime victims advocate for the Gay and Lesbian Community Action Council. The male caller told Abbott that he had written a letter for his roommates, and that he wanted Abbott to convince police that they should take the letter seriously.

PATTI ABBOTT: He was angry that some of the other gay press had written articles saying the letter was a hoax. He wanted the police to say the letter was real. He was trying to convince me that his roommates, who he wrote the letter for, he wanted to prevent them from doing further harm to people. They were upset because no one was taking them seriously. If the police would just say it was not a hoax, everything would be fine. And that's what he wanted me to do.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Abbott says the caller even gave the location of the typewriter he used to write the letter at a library on the University of Minnesota campus. While the almost two-hour conversation continued, one of Abbott's co-workers notified Minneapolis Police who were able to trace the call.

Abbott also took notes during the phone call and the next morning turned them over to police. On Thursday, February 20, Abbott was again contacted by the same caller who wanted to know why police hadn't come forward. This time the man attributed the murders to those he called his roommates and said he was worried they would kill again.

When Abbott urged him to go to the police, he said he couldn't because he was considering a career in politics. And his writing the letter would destroy his reputation. Then Abbott asked, what motivated the murders?

PATTI ABBOTT: It was apparent from when you read the letter, it's apparent there's a lot of references to AIDS in there. So I asked him questions about, do one of your roommates have AIDS, or does one of their brothers have AIDS? Is that the reason that they're angry with gay men?

He said he himself was not angry or did not hate gay men. He was neutral on the subject. But his roommates hated gay men, gay white men in particular, they hated. He made some comment about he didn't want to talk about the AIDS thing, that that would be too much of a clue.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Police also traced the second phone call and early the next morning arrested Johnson at his home. Abbott says six months ago, such a level of cooperation between the council and police wouldn't have existed.

But she says over the last several weeks, her agency and Police Chief John Lockes have worked hard to improve their relationship. Abbott says that strengthened relationship is solely responsible for the arrest of Johnson and may have prevented more violence.

PATTI ABBOTT: From the way he spoke on the phone and from just talking to the police and other people, it seems like it was very likely he may have gone out again very soon. So, yes, I think it is very-- it was very chilling to see that there was all of these pieces, the letter, the phone calls, and now the person they've arrested were all connected.

And indeed, it turned out to be, for want of a better word, a gay serial killer really. And I do believe that we prevented another bloody and violent summer, at least through this individual.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Abbott says she's not sure whether the caller, whom Abbott and police believed to be Johnson, was merely trying to get more attention or wanted to be caught. She does believe that gay hatred or homophobia in society sometimes causes gay people to hate themselves and lash out in violent ways.

PATTI ABBOTT: We're not the only minority community that has violence within it. That violence is oftentimes caused by the violence from outside that we internalize or that we feel pressure from. Certainly most gays and lesbians who are struggling with internalized homophobia, for lack of a better term, would never hurt another soul. In this instance, that was not true, unfortunately.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Abbott says this case points out the need for civil rights protection for all gays and lesbians and for antihomophobia training in all schools so that gay and lesbian youth don't grow up hating themselves. This is Chris Roberts.