Murder Suspect on Trial After 38 Years

A San Diego jury this week is hearing the case of a man charged with murdering a gay man in 1971.

Gerald Dean Metcalf, 62, is accused of stabbing Gerald Jackson, who was 27, at least 61 times in the victim's apartment after Jackson picked him up in a cruising area in downtown San Diego, according to the Gay and Lesbian Times.

"Fingerprints and DNA evidence from discarded cigarette butts were saved in the apartment of Gerald Jackson, 27, and they led San Diego Police to arrest Gerald Dean Metcalf in August, 2008, in his home in Chandler, Texas, where he lived with his wife. Metcalf was 24 years old at the time of the slaying," reported the Gay and Lesbian Times.

The attorney for Metcalf maintains that the accused was diagnosed with schizophrenia years ago, and suggests that his client panicked with Jackson because he had experienced unwanted propositions from gay men previously.

Metcalf remains in custody.

According to the Gay and Lesbian Times, a new witness has emerged with evidence that a down-on-his-luck Metcalf needed money around the time of the murder in 1971.

"Maybe I'll roll a queer," he allegedly said.