Tag Archives: Montrose

WATCH: Broussard’s killer again up for parole

Posted on

Here we go again.

Jon Buice, the only one of 10 suspects who’s still behind bars for the legendary 1991 hate-crime murder of Paul Broussard in Houston, is up for parole for the fifth time in the last decade.

And Nancy Rodriguez, Broussard’s mother, has again traveled to Texas from her home in Georgia to testify against Buice, who stabbed Broussard to death outside a Montrose nightclub almost exactly 20 years ago.

And Ray Hill, a longtime Houston gay-rights activist who helped solve Broussard’s murder, is again ironically arguing that it’s time for Buice to be released.

This time, however, Rodriguez reportedly has some new ammunition — evidence of 10 disciplinary cases filed against Buice while he’s been in prison, including an inappropriate relationship with a female chaplain.

“We have more ammunition than I’ve ever dreamed of,” said crime victims’ advocate Andy Kahan. “It’s almost like the parole gods looked upon us and said, ‘Here’s a gift.’”

Mom on Son’s Killer: Don’t Let Him Out: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

—  John Wright

Montrose bar patron attacked with baseball bat

Posted on

A man leaving a bar in Houston’s heavily gay Montrose area was badly beaten by a suspect wielding a baseball bat last weekend. OutSmart reports that the 46-year-old victim, who asked not to be identified, suffered two broken arms, numerous bruises, and a head wound that required 14 staples to close. The suspect remains at large, and the victim said there was another similar beating in the area about a month ago. Police aren’t currently treating last weekend’s incident as a hate crime but say their investigation remains open. From OutSmart:

The attack, which occurred on Sunday night near the corner of Crocker St. and Fargo St., was witnessed by several people. …

“He didn’t say anything, he just put his bat in his hand and had this look in his eyes like, ‘I’m gonna kill you,’ ” said the man, who wanted to remain anonymous. “He started swinging and I started running.” …

The victim, who remains at home and is estimated to take six weeks to two months to recover, said he knows of at least one other similar attack which occurred in the same area about a month ago.

“He’s out there at night waiting for someone to come walking down the street after the bar closes,” he said, “and he’ll jump out and hit them.”

—  John Wright

Killer who preyed on Montrose gays set to die

Posted on
Derrick Jackson (TDCJ)

Derrick Jackson is scheduled to be put to death on Tuesday, July 20 for fatally slashing, stabbing and bludgeoning two Houston opera singers in 1988.

Jackson was a predator who preyed on patrons of gay bars in the Montrose area, and one of the victims, Forrest Henderson, had picked him up at one.

“He just picked up the wrong person and brought him back to the house,” Houston homicide Sgt. D.D. Shirley said after Jackson’s arrest.

On the night of the murder Henderson and the other victim, Richard Alan Wrotenbery, attended a rehearsal of Bizet’s Carmen. Wrontenbury, a first-grade music teacher who’d just been through a divorce, was staying with Henderson until he could find another place to live. After the rehearsal, Wrotenbury returned to the apartment while Henderson went to the bars.

Henderson was found naked and face down in his bed. He had been stabbed repeatedly. Wrotenbury was found in another bedroom with his throat slashed. Both had been bludgeoned with a heavy metal bar.

A day later Police spotted someone driving Henderson’s stolen car, and a chase ensued. The driver got away, and it wasn’t until seven years later that investigators used new fingerprint technology to identify Jackson, who was already in prison for aggravated robbery.

Jackson, who maintains his innocence, would become the 15th person executed to death in Texas this year.

—  John Wright

WATCH: Houston councilwoman 'brought to tears' after being accused of hating gays

Posted on

OK, I admit it, I’m sick and tired of the other major cities in Texas getting all the fun gay stories this week. First there was the big hubbub over Austin Pride, and now a Houston city councilwoman has been brought to tears after she was accused of hating gay people. How great is that?!

Actually, despite the headline from Fox 26, I didn’t really see any tears in the video. And Fox’s story is wrong too: Councilwoman Wanda Adams didn’t vote against funding a facility that provides housing for people with HIV/AIDS. She instead chose to leave chambers so she didn’t have to vote, which to me is actually worse. (Maybe Adams was just afraid that if she stayed, gay Councilwoman Sue Lovell would tell her to shut it.)

According to the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, Adams represents both the Sunnyvale area, which has the highest concentration of HIV in Houston, and Montrose, the city’s gayborhood. Adams also used to employ Kris Banks, who’s now the president of GLBT Political Caucus.

Like I said, it’s good stuff.


—  John Wright

Houston's gayborhood, Montrose, honored as one of nation's best neighborhoods

Posted on
(Houston Chronicle)
Shoppers on Westheimer. (The Houston Chronicle)

Score one for Houston’s gays. The city’s gayborhood, Montrose, is being honored today as one of the country’s 10 great neighborhoods by the American Planning Association, according to The Houston Chronicle. The story says that long before it became the gayborhood, Montrose was an elite master-planned suburb. The Chronicle also notes that Montrose has been the setting for several important chapters in the city’s history, including the 1991 hate crime murder of gay banker Paul Broussard. But ultimately the stark contrast between Montrose and the rest of Houston may have been the clincher.

David Morley, a research associate at the American Planning Association, said Montrose’s pedestrian-friendly nature was an important factor in the award.

“It’s one of the few places in Houston where people get out of their cars and walk around,” Morley said.

—  John Wright