Allen Andrade
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Allen Ray Andrade is an American man who murdered Angie Zapata in 2008 after discovering she was transgender. The case was the first in American history in which somebody was convicted of a hate crime against a transgender person.
Biography edit
Andrade, age 31 at the time, met 18-year-old Angie Zapata, a transgender woman, through the social network MocoSpace. They met in person on 15 July 2008 after exchanging hundreds of messages and spent three days together at Zapata's apartment, during which time Zapata performed oral sex on Andrade.
On 17 July, Andrade was left alone in Zapata's apartment. Reportedly, he then observed several photos from before Zapata began presenting as female and became suspicious about her sex. When Zapata returned, Andrade confronted her and accused her of being a man. Zapata replied "I am all woman", at which point Andrade grabbed her by the genitals and confirmed that she had male genitalia. According to Andrade, Zapata then smiled at him, at which point Andrade flew into a rage and battered her until she collapsed. He then covered her with a blanket and began ransacking the apartment. While Andrade was doing so, he heard Zapata gasping for breath and realized she was still alive, beating her to death with a fire extinguisher. Upon killing Zapata, he fled in her car with the fire extinguisher and several of his and Zapata's personal effects. Her body was found later that day.
Two weeks after Zapata's murder, police responding to a complaint of excessive noise at a different apartment complex came across Andrade sitting in Zapata's car. Zapata's purse, keys and phone and the fire extinguisher with which he killed Zapata were found in the car. Andrade, already wanted on traffic charges, was arrested and charged with murder and auto theft once the car was identified. He soon confessed to the murder, signing an affidavit describing the events of 17 July in detail. He repeatedly referred to Zapata as "it" during the confession.
Andrade was initially charged with second-degree murder, hate crimes, auto theft and identity theft, but the murder charge was later upgraded to first-degree murder. His confession was ruled inadmissible as evidence because officers had continued to question him after he invoked his right to remain silent, but the prosecution were permitted to present a recording of a phone call Andrade made to one of his girlfriends while awaiting trial in which he discussed Zapata's murder and said "gay things must die". Andrade's defence was the so-called "trans panic defence", claiming that he had been provoked by the discovery of Zapata's true sex. Andrade was convicted on all counts on 22 April 2009 and sentenced to life without parole. He also received an additional 60 years under Colorado law due to prior felony convictions.