BY CHRISTINE WOLFF
The Cincinnati Enquirer
UNION TOWNSHIP -- The gay community has been shaken by Sunday's beating and strangulation of Michael J. Carpenter of Clermont County, Lycette Nelson, executive director of Stonewall Cincinnati, said Wednesday.
Police have confirmed through interviews that Mr. Carpenter spent the evening in a gay bar in downtown Cincinnati, said Union Township Sgt. Mike McMillan.
"The victim, although he was married for 12 years, was bisexual," said Sgt. McMillan. "The victim did frequent gay bars."
Patrick Cooney, an employee at Shooter's on Race Street, said he recognized an investigator's photo of Mr. Carpenter as a customer, but did not know him.
Maria Carpenter, his wife, returned home from work about 11 p.m. Sunday and found her 42-year-old husband dead and naked on the bedroom floor, his face bloody and his hands tied behind his back with a sock.
There was no sign of forced entry into the Carpenters' Southern Trace Apartment on Picadilly Square Drive, Sgt. McMillan said. Several items of jewelry, including wedding rings, and Mr. Carpenter's wallet were taken.
Cincinnati police found Mr. Carpenter's missing car in Oakley early Wednesday morning, parked in a business lot at Enyart and Brazee streets. Numerous fingerprints were found inside.
Union Township police spent part of the day Wednesday with Crime Stoppers, working out possible scenarios about who could have killed Mr. Carpenter and why, Sgt. McMillan said.
An autopsy determined Mr. Carpenter died from strangulation. He also had been beaten about the head.
Police speculated on three possible motives in Mr. Carpenter's death.
- There could have been jealousy stemming from a gay relationship he may have had, Sgt. McMillan said.
- Or, Mr. Carpenter might have picked up a hustler, police said, meaning someone who offers sex but intends to rob the person.
- Or, the slaying could be a case of "gay bashing," Sgt. McMillan said, in which a gay person is harmed because of his sexual orientation.
Police say Mr. Carpenter was confirmed to have been inside a Cincinnati gay bar from 6-8:30 p.m. Sunday. He called his wife at work about 9:15 p.m. They agreed she would call later to tell him when to pick her up.
From 10:15-10:40 p.m., Mrs. Carpenter called home, but no one answered. At 10:54 p.m., a sobbing Mrs. Carpenter made a call to 911 emergency operators and described what she'd discovered inside her bloody and ransacked apartment.
Neighbors told police they heard noise from the apartment between 9:30-9:45 p.m.
Mrs. Carpenter knew about her husband's bisexuality, police said.
Phillip Pina contributed to this report
