Scroll To Top
Crime

'Cold Blood' Tackles Brutal 1995 Lesbian Murder in Park Slope

'Cold Blood' Tackles Brutal 1995 Lesbian Murder in Park Slope

Cold_bloodx400%5b2%5d

When a July 5, 1995. attack in the lesbian-friendly Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., left Sylvia Lugo dead and her girlfriend, Amanda Leach, wounded and raped, many thought the police bungled the case. Leach said a Hispanic man had attacked the couple, but police thought Leach was to blame and the case was played out for months in the media.

deliciousdiane

When a July 5, 1995, attack in the lesbian-friendly Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., left Sylvia Lugo dead and her girlfriend, Amanda Leach, wounded and raped, many thought the police bungled the case. Leach said a Hispanic man had attacked the couple, but police thought Leach was to blame and the case was played out for months in the media. It led Christine Quinn (now speaker of the New York City Council), who was executive director of the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project at the time, to accuse the NYPD of leaking information suggesting Leach was the killer.

"Had they not decided that the survivor was the murderer and convicted her in the court of public opinion," Quinn told the New York Daily News, "they would have caught this man before he continued his crime spree."

Now an episode of Cold Blood titled "Park Slope Justice" will tackle the story of Lugo and Leach's attack. It airs on Investigation Discovery (ID) Thursday at 9 p.m. and it covers both the crime and how it spurred Brooklyn's LGBT community to rally against the scrutiny of one of their own.

For more info visit ID's epsiode page.


deliciousdiane
Advocate Channel - The Pride StoreOut / Advocate Magazine - Fellow Travelers & Jamie Lee Curtis

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

Latest Stories

Diane Anderson-Minshall

Diane Anderson-Minshall is the CEO of Pride Media, and editorial director of The Advocate, Out, and Plus magazine. She's the winner of numerous awards from GLAAD, the NLGJA, WPA, and was named to Folio's Top Women in Media list. She and her co-pilot of 30 years, transgender journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall penned several books including Queerly Beloved: A Love Across Genders.
Diane Anderson-Minshall is the CEO of Pride Media, and editorial director of The Advocate, Out, and Plus magazine. She's the winner of numerous awards from GLAAD, the NLGJA, WPA, and was named to Folio's Top Women in Media list. She and her co-pilot of 30 years, transgender journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall penned several books including Queerly Beloved: A Love Across Genders.