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Cops Probe Link In Seven Unsolved Texas Gay Murders

By Terri Rimmer

Police in three Texas cities are trying to determine if there are any links in the unsolved murders of seven gay men over the past five years.

While a joint task force has not been created, the investigators in Dallas and Garland are sharing information the Dallas Morning News reported on Thursday.

The possibility of al ink was first suggested by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) newspaper The Dallas Voice and Dallas City Council Member Ed Oakley.

“We’re not ruling out anything,” Sgt. Kenneth LeCesne told The Morning News.

The most recent victim was Samuel Jarnigan Lea, 28, a University of Texas student.

His body was discovered Oct. 31st inside his apartment near the campus.

Police believe they may have a suspect in Lea’s killing but no hard evidence.

The suspect is described as a hustler with a drug habit and a violent past.

The victims in the other unsolved murders are: Craig Ceson, 46; James Stephen Watts, 64; Agustin Fernandez Jr., 44; Bobby Dalton Berry, 63; and Keith Alexander Calloway, 33.

The Dallas Police Department’s homicide unit planned a new investigation Dec. 2nd regarding the string of murders to see if any patterns emerged, according to a gay city council member.

Oakley said a police detective contacted him in November after two published reports in Dallas Voice detailed the unsolved murders of the men.

City Manager Marry Suhm ordered police to undertake the investigation after reading a Voice report in which Oakley and Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance President Erin Moore expressed concern.

Oakley said he was grateful for Suhm’s action.

“She is an incredible individual and she cares a great deal about our community,” he said.

Oakley said the police detective told him the homicide unit plans to compare all of the cases and to try to determine if any evidence exists that the victims were meeting people through the Internet.

Oakley said calling attention to all of the cases and investigating them together may help solve one or more of them.

“It makes people look at things in a different light,” he said.

Oakley said the police detective promised to re-examine all aspects of the cases to determine if anything was missed in prior investigations.

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