A Canadian man accused of killing two
gay men who frequented gay cruising areas in the Halifax area in 2007
has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of
parole in the U.S.
Glen Race, 27, has been found guilty of
the May 10, 2007 murder of Darcy Manor in upstate New York.
Race was on the run from Canadian
authorities for the killing of two gay men when he came upon Manor.
Michael Knott's body was found on May 5
near a wooded area about 60
miles from Halifax. And four days later the body of Trevor
Brewster, which had been stuffed under a boardwalk, surfaced.
Investigators said his body had been there several days.
The Halifax gay community was appalled
when the mainstream media focused not on the homophobic nature of the
murders, but on the risky sexual behaviors of the victims.
“They kept asking me, 'What about
these risky behaviors?'” Halifax gay activist Hugo Dann told
Xtra.ca. “That was always their focus; gays cruising and the
murders rather than homophobia. Getting them to talk about
homophobia was like pushing a rock up a hill.”
Race's carnage continued several days
later when he brutally murdered the 35-year-old father of two and
volunteer firefighter Darcy Manor by shooting him in the back with a
hunting rifle in a secluded area of upstate New York.
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended
Race near the Brownsville, Texas Mexican border on May 15. He had
Manor's truck, rifle and several personal possessions with him.
On Thursday, a New York court sentenced
Race to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the
murder of Manor. At his sentencing hearing, Race showed no remorse,
saying: “By true wisdom in a reality without a doubt, I am
innocent. I can do no wrong.”
The Halifax gay community remembered
the lives of Knott and Brewster at a May 17 International Day Against
Homophobia rally. About 300 people attended the event.