[Amanda] On July 2, 1990, Jackson Heights resident Alan Sack had stopped while walking home to speak with a friend after parting ways with his life partner Julio Rivera about 20 minutes earlier near Public School 69 on 78th Street when they were approached by a panicked man yelling that a man was being murdered in the nearby school yard. The group started running in the direction of the school yard and what they would find would alter not only the lives of the group but would lead to the first prosecutions and convictions for a hate crime in New York State and spur a flurry of pro-LGBTQ changes across the state and the nation. I’m Amanda Morgan, and this is New York’s Dark Side. 

[Intro Music]

[Amanda] Today I'm bringing you the story of the brutal slaying of Julio Rivera, a 29 year old bartender who loved life and was a vibrant member of the Jackson Heights community. His death would unite the community to fight against the lax investigation being done by law enforcement. This story is about far more than Julio's death. It's about the legacy of unity that was sparked by the event and the need for continued fighting for the protections of all human right. Let's dive in. 

[Amanda] Julio Rivera was born in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents. He would actually end up quitting school due to the amount of harassment that he was enduring due to his sexuality. He was described as being true to himself and wanting to share his life with others. Julio was an incredibly handsome man. His sister-in-law Peggy would describe him as a good looking Freddie Mercury, which I have to say I definitely see the resemblance. I... I get it. I posted pictures of him on our web page for this episode and on social media. Julio would move to the Queens neighborhood of Jackson Heights, one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods in the country after discovering the gay community there and trying to avoid the violence occurring in the Bronx. Jackson Heights started to become a community where a larger population of LGBTQ chose to reside due to the affordability of the neighborhood and its access to the seven train. While the community was largely Caucasian, in the documentary Julio of Jackson Heights, some of the residents would speak that the gay community was largely accepted within the neighborhood because they really didn't draw attention to themselves and no one really ever talked about it. They were within the community and active members working in various capacities and in leadership positions. 

[Amanda] Julio, as I mentioned, worked as a bartender and one of the many gay bars in the area. Julio's family spoke highly of him. In the documentary film Julio of Jackson Heights, it was clear that while he had moved away from the Bronx neighborhood, he still retained a close relationship with them. Julio's father had died while he was young and unfortunately, Julio would also witness the death of his mother. And the documentary I've mentioned, Julio's brother Ted talks about how their mother used to tease Julio, basically telling him that he wouldn't be around when she died because he didn't come around as often as she would like to visit. That would prove not to be true because on the day she died, Julio was in the cab with her attempting to get her to a hospital as she was having difficulty breathing. She suffered from chronic asthma and unfortunately she would pass away in the cab with Julio before they reached the hospital. 

[Amanda] Julio's family would also describe the awareness of the dangers that Julio was in due to his sexuality. His brother Ted described how one night Julio had called him asking for him to come pick him up. Ted would go on to say that he knew something was wrong because it was very out of character for Julio to ask for help with anything. He arrived at the address Julio had asked him to come to and noted that the police were there as well. When he went up to the door, he said an older man named Harold was there and was enraged to the point where he was basically foaming at the mouth. There clearly been some type of altercation as there were paintings that had been ripped and furniture was in disarray. While Julio never really talked about what happened, Ted said it was clear to him that Harold, whose last name was never given, was connected to the mob and that Harold had asked Julio to do something with another man who was there and when Julio refused, that set Harold off, leading to the altercation. Ted and Julio, though, were able to leave the area with no issues.

[Amanda] Julio had an active social life and he was very proud of his family for their acceptance of him and his partners. One of his former boyfriends named Dennis also spoke on the documentary about Julio and how they met. Dennis was dancing at one of the bars and Julio approached him discussing his appreciation for Dennis's ability to dance. For Dennis, it was love at first sight and he was surprised that someone like Julio would take an interest in him. They dated for quite a while, but Dennis would end up leaving Julio after it became obvious to him that Julio was choosing drugs over him. He describes one night when they were out and Julio had started to go into a bathroom when someone to use. Dennis tried to stop him from going, but Julio told him to go home and that he would see him in a little while for dinner. Julio didn't make it home for dinner that night and it was about a month before he actually did come home. 

[Amanda] Another one of Julio's lovers was named Alan Sack and he would speak on the documentary Julio of Jackson Heights as well. He described how one day he called the bar that Julio was working at at about 3:45 in the morning, asking to speak with Julio. When Julio got on the phone and Alan told him who he was, Julio responded White Russian, which was a drink that Alan frequently ordered. Alan invited Julio to go with him later that morning down to Jones Beach and told him that he was heading to the store to get supplies to take with them. Julio was extremely excited about the invitation and he also showed up at Alan's house at about 6:30 with several bags of food, soda and beer to take with him on the trip because Julio would never accept an invitation without bringing something along so they really had double of what they needed because Alan had already gone to the store. 

[Amanda] In the documentary Julio Jackson Heights, residents of the Jackson Heights community noted that neighborhood really started to become more violent, especially towards members that were suspected of being gay or lesbian. People would walk around the neighborhoods with baseball bats and pipe wrenches. Items like glass bottles would be hurled out of cars in their direction. These assaults were not typically reported to the police because there was very real concern that police wouldn't do anything about it anyway, so why bother? There were at least six murders that occurred in Jackson Heights prior to Julio's death that had basically been swept under the rug, and residents didn't recall them occurring because they weren't really publicized.

[Amanda] On July 2nd, 1990, Julio was out with his close friends and life partner Alan. When Alan was ready to head home, Julio opted the stay out for a bit so they separated from each other near Public school 69 on 78th St. A witness named Helen would speak on the documentary, Julio of Jackson Heights, and said that around midnight she heard a man desperately calling for help and praying to Jesus. She went to her window and looked out and saw a young man walking through the schoolyard towards 78th St. and watched him walk about 1/2 a block and disappear around the corner. Alan was still in the area and he would interview on both the documentary and  on the show New York Homicide.  While his story varies a little bit between the two, he would say that on his way home he had bumped into a friend and began a conversation with them. After conversing with his friend for about 5 minutes, a man came running towards them screaming that they were killing someone in the schoolyard. They ran towards the schoolyard and Alan said that he was concerned that the attacked man might have been another friend of theirs named Brian, but he never considered for his life that it would be Julio. When he saw Julio coming towards him, covered in blood, he noticed he had been brutally beaten and was on the verge of passing out. Alan grabbed him and tried to reassure him that he would be OK. While cradling him in the schoolyard, Alan asked him if he knew who attacked him, but Julio shook his head no. First responders would arrive to the scene shortly after and rushed Julio to Elmhurst Hospital. At the hospital, doctors and nurses sprung to work to try to save him. Initially, they let Alan stay in the room with him urging him to hold his hand and talk to Julio while they worked, they would eventually ask him to leave the room for a bit while they continued to work. After about 10 minutes, a doctor came out to speak with Alan and told him that Julio was either going to have permanent brain damage or be paralyzed due to his injuries, if he even survived the night. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of medical personnel, Julio would pass away from his injuries. He was only 29. Allen was left to deliver the horrible news of what happened to Julio to his family. Julio's brother Ted would describe how police showed him photos of Julio and the extent of his injuries, which was extremely traumatizing for him and he couldn't have imagined actually seeing Julio's injuries in person.

[Amanda] NYPD Precinct 115 would be dispatched to the scene to process it for evidence. There was a large amount of blood in the smashed glass bottle, indicating that a fight had occurred. Despite canvassing the scene, there were no witnesses that came forward initially. Now I did mention a witness spoke on the documentary, but I truly don't know if or when she spoke with police, only that she interviewed on the documentary. The area around Public School 69 was well known to law enforcement for being an area where transactions for drugs and sex work would take place. Julio's autopsy came back later that day. The medical examiner had noted multiple facial injuries and severe head trauma. Some of the wounds indicated that they were done with a claw hammer. There was also a fatal stab wound on his back that had punctured his lung. The autopsy also indicated that Julio had cocaine in his system.

[Amanda] Alan would later be visited by detectives from Precinct 115 who came to his home. He described that they were for the most part respectful to him, with the exception of one officer who had made derogatory comments about Julio. Due to the positive results for cocaine, law enforcement felt that it was likely a drug related crime. When checking in on the case, people were told not to worry about it, that this was a limited event. Meaning that there was no danger to the community and that this was likely the result of a trick that had gone bad. Julio's friends and family did not believe that this was the case, even though they tried to dispute this with law enforcement, law enforcement maintained that their stance on this was likely a drug related incident. A week after Julio's murder, there was only one detective assigned to Julio's case. Alan described on the documentary, going down to the precinct to try to get an update and he was told that the detective was on vacation and that no one else was looking into the case in his absence. This was incredibly frustrating to him, and rightfully so. 

[Amanda] Alan was thankfully not going to let law enforcement be so quick to push this crime off as something that he knew that it wasn't. He continued to visit the precinct twice a week, every week, and he would regularly call for updates as well. But he was continuously pushed off by law enforcement. In the documentary Alan described many of his friends urging him to just let it go and to not continue to pursue pressuring the police. But he couldn't stop. Even Julio's brother Ted spoke in the documentary about his own hesitation about getting involved in the fight for answers but his wife, Peggy, pressured him into continuing to show up for not just Julio, but for the rights of justice for the gay community. 

[Amanda] The owner of one of the gay bars in Jackson Heights, The Magic Touch, discovered an article about the Anti Violence Project in the magazine. The Anti Violence Project was the only organization in the city that was focused on trying to get justice for crimes against the LGBTQ community, and he reached out to them, getting their executive director Matt Foreman in touch with Alan the organization had been monitoring. The increasing crimes against the LGBTQ community and the episode covering Julio Rivera's murder on New York Homicide. The former executive director of the Anti Violence Project, Matt Foreman, said that the summer that Julio was killed, there had been a 13 week stretch of time that numerous members of the gay and lesbian community had been hospitalized due to the injuries that they had incurred being attacked in the streets of Manhattan for their sexuality. The AIDS crisis contributed to this due to the demonization of the gay community by religious organizations and politicians telling the masses that they were the ones spreading the disease. Alan along with Matt Foreman from the Anti Violence Project set up a meeting for Julio's family and friends at the Magic Touch to help them navigate expressing their concerns to law enforcement. Matt spoke extensively with the family and with members of the gay community, trying to gain an understanding of what their exact concerns were with the investigation. They shared that they had been calling law enforcement, sending written letters and showing up in person at the precinct to try to get updates on the case and they would continually not get a response from law enforcement. This was true of other violent crimes that were occurring in the area as well. There was an extensive history of these being swept under the rug. Matt attempted to speak with law enforcement himself about the case, but he received very flippant responses to the where the investigation stood.

[Amanda] Due to the lack of response, Matt and Allen decided to organize a March and candlelight visual six weeks after Julio's murder. This was something that had not been done in Queens before because the gay community had very legitimate fears of exposing themselves and being attacked. Mark and Alan went and spoke with many gay organizations around the city to bring awareness to the event. There was a lot of concern on the day of the event that no one would come. The community, however, decided that they had had enough and they wanted to come together for Julio and there was a huge response to the call. On August 18th, 1990, hundreds and hundreds of people showed up to March for Julio and denounced the violence against the LGBTQ community making the first successful LGBTQ March in Queens. Ted spoke about how meaningful this was for his family to have such a huge crowd of people come together and March for Julio because he knew how much fear there was that they would be recognized and later attacked. Unfortunately, despite their efforts, two more months passed without any further updates on the case. The community, however, was not about to give up. They organized another March. This time, they took the March to the doorstep of the mayor of New York City, David Dinkins. About 300 people participated and painted red on their faces to signify blood, and they stormed the mansion where a dinner event was occurring and began to heckle Dinkins during his speech. This finally put enough pressure and awareness on law enforcement and now the community had the mayor backing them. 

[Amanda] The precincts best investigator George Byrd was put on the case and he actually committed to helping with the investigation. He spent months talking with the gay community to gain their trust and that work paid off because the sex worker named Tony came forward to tell him about what he had witnessed on the night of Julio's attack. Tony shared with him that he was cruising and turning tricks in the area of Public School 69 on the night Julio was attacked, and he saw Julio walking in the area when he was approached by a man with longer hair. He saw Julio speaking with the guy, but then Tony was approached by someone and he left the area for about 15 minutes. When he came back about 15 minutes later, Tony saw three men running away from the schoolyard. Two of them he described as skinheads and the third one was the man with longer hair. One was carrying a claw hammer in his hand and another had a pipe wrench. All three were wearing Doc Martin shoes. This turned out to be a very good lead as there was a group of skinheads trying to start a gang in the area called DMS, the Doc Martin skinheads. They had even started tagging areas of the neighborhood with their DMS sign. The skinheads like to frequent a bar called Kennedys. So this is where Lieutenant Byrd went next. He went undercover and started talking to people at the bar. At the bar he met a man called Army Dan who true to his name was dressed in fatigues style clothing. After a couple drinks and casual conversation, Army Dan disclosed to Byrd that he might have some information on the Rivera case and that the DMS was trying to fight the gay community from coming into their neighborhood. The following day, Army Dam was brought in for questioning. They let him know that they considered him a suspect in the case, which got him the crack and he disclosed the name of three people that he said were involved with Julio Rivera's murder. He would tell them that there was a party at a fellow DMS members home and at the end of the party three of the attendees decided to go out and do something for DMS. Those three people were 20 year old Daniel Doyle, was the son of a former NYPD detective, 18 year old Estat Bici, and 21 year old Eric Brown. They were described in one article as being an unlikely group. Doyle was an aspiring lawyer with a prep school background and was attending Union College in Schenectady, NY, where he had high grades and was studying law. Eric Brown was attending the Arts Students League in Manhattan. His father was a recently retired electrical engineer. I got conflicting information about Estat. The New York Homicide episode described Bici as being an honor student in high school, but another source said that he was a high school dropout and had a troubled family background, including drug trafficking by his father and the murder of his mother at his father's hands when he was seven. All three are brought in for questioning, and even though they're all questioned individually... They all stick to the same story. Doyle and Bici were the two described skinheads at the time of Julio's murder, and Brown was the man with long hair. By the time they were questioned, though, Doyle and Bici had grown out their hair and Brown had cut and dyed his.

[Amanda] Investigators would go back to their witness, Tony, and he was able to pick all three out in a photo lineup. Estat Bici and Eric Brown quickly retained lawyers when they were told that they were all suspects in the murder. Byrd decided the best bet to get some answers would be to appeal to Daniel Doyle's father, who was a retired NYPD officer, to try to get his son to confess. Byrd would state on the show New York Homicide that he told Doyle's father that Danny Doyle was going to take the fall on his own or he would work out a cooperation agreement with the District Attorney and this worked.

[Amanda] On November 13th, 1990 over 4 months after Julio was attacked, the police interviewed Daniel Doyle and he agreed to a plea deal. In exchange for his confession, he would tell investigators that after the other guests had left at an informal gathering at his house, he, Estat Bici and Eric Brown decided to go out and do some damage. He obtained a claw hammer, pipe wrench and a knife from his father's toolbox and distributed them among the group. They went out to 34th Ave. before heading to PS 69. There, they saw Julio standing in the area. Doyle would tell investigators that he told Brown to approach Julio in offer in exchange of sex for drugs. Julio walked away with Brown into an isolated area, and that's when Bici and Doyle approached them from out of the darkness to start their attack. I'm gonna give a trigger warning here because what happened to Julio was just horrific. Bici struck Julio in the head with a glass bottle and they began attacking him with their fists. Bici would pull out a hammer and start striking him with that. Brown pulled out the pipe wrench and hit Julio in the face repeatedly and Doyle would admit to being the one to ultimately stab Julio in the back, which would be the ultimate cause of death for Julio. 

[Amanda] Doyle... while he confessed his actions... would not provide a motive. During that confession, Byrd kept working on Doyle, talking with him, and he would eventually confess that the motive behind the murder was just hatred of the gay community, the DA offered him a plea deal of dropping his charges from murder to manslaughter for his testimony at trial against his co-conspirators, which he accepted. Prior to this case, no one had ever been tried and convicted of a true hate crime in New York State, so this was an important case in New York legal history. The trial took place over several weeks. And after three days of deliberations, the three were found guilty. Peggy Fiore, Julio's sister-in-law, would describe how difficult it was to hear this testimony and what truly had been done to Julio. This was the first time the family had heard the full scale viciousness of the crime committed. 

[Amanda] Bici and Brown were convicted of second degree murder and face life sentencesm with parole no sooner than 15 years, Doyle pleaded guilty to 1st degree manslaughter as part of that plea deal and was sentenced to 25 years in jail, but could receive parole in as soon as eight and a third years. The community had won and Matt Foreman, the director of the Anti Violence Project, called the convictions a monumental relief. Friends and family would March again on the night the convictions were handed out to celebrate the tremendous victory that they had won. Peggy Fiori would stay on the show. New York Homicide, quote- 'Julios murder brought to the forefront the violence against homosexuals in our community and our nation. It was astounding and it brought more stories to the surface. It allows the police to take it more seriously. There was a tremendous impact. NYPD would even open a unit specifically trained to deal with the crimes against the LGBTQ community'. 

[Amanda} In 1992, in the aftermath of Julio's murder, Queen's City Councilman Daniel Dromm would organize the first Queens Pride Parade as a way to combat the negative spotlight that was being cast on the LGBTQ community. At the time there was a vicious fight going on of its the district 24 school board election and one of the topics under fire was the children of the rainbow curriculum, which was meant to spark the discussion of diversity within families because the teachers were actively acknowledging that children in their classes may have families that consist of gay and lesbian partners. There was a lot of propaganda that was being handed out by people against the curriculum calling members of the gay and lesbian community pedophiles, and were going as far as the handout gay porn falsely claiming that it was part of the school's curriculum. The first Queens Gay Pride Parade took place in 1992. It has since taken place in early June every year and there are tens of thousands of people that attend. Organizations are also founded in the Queens neighborhoods to provide vital services, including community centers for youth groups, seniors and electoral political groups. 

[Amanda] On July 2nd, 2012, the City of New York honored Julio by officially naming 37th Ave. and 78th St. Julio Rivera Corner. Unfortunately, the convictions of Eric Brown and Estat Bici with end up being overturned by the Appellate Division due to a procedural error on the presiding judge's behalf. Eric Brown though, would end up pleading guilty to charges of manslaughter in May of 1996. The day after his guilty plea, Estat Bici, who had been freed on $350,000 bond and was awaiting a second trial, disappeared. A manhunt ensued for the next six years, but Estat Bici would end up being shot to death in Tijuana, Mexico on an apparent drug related assault on October 2nd, 2002. Both Eric Brown and Daniel Doyle completed their sentences and were released. 

[Amanda] The brutal murder of Julio Rivera sparked a lot of change, but there are still so many vicious attacks against members of the LGBTQ community occurring to this day across the nation and across the world. According to the ACLU, there are currently 515 bills within Congress that are anti LGBTQ that are meant to infringe on the rights and protections of the LGBTQ community. Some of these bills are for forced outings in schools and others impact important access to healthcare which can be devastating if passed. I'm thankful to live in a progressive state like New York that works to protect the rights of its citizens. In fact, this past April, New York passed a bill to broaden the scope of what could be prosecuted as a hate crime, sparked by a dramatic increase in bias motivated crimes after the October 2023 attack in Israel. The spike included attacks that were anti Muslim, anti LGBTQ and anti-Semitic in motive. There is still so much work to do as a nation to protect the rights of all of our citizens and it's difficult to see a nation so divided. And I know I got on the political side last episode. So again, I just really wanna hone in how important it is to be an active member of the democracy and to use your voice. If you're a voting age, use your voice and vote. 

[Amanda] We talked about the anti violence program in this episode and they are very much still around and have grown and now run the National Coalition of Anti Violence Programs. The National Coalition of Anti Violence Programs works to prevent, respond to, and end all forms of violence against and within LGBTQ communities. There are National Coalition of local member programs, affiliate organizations and individual affiliates who create systematic and social change. They can help connect you with services and resources in your area. If you are dealing with issues or concerns of violence in your community or are interested in supporting their effort, you can check out the website avp.org or you can call or text the number 212-714-1141 

[Amanda] I'm gonna wrap up today's episode and put in a quick plug that in addition to following the show on your podcast platform of choice, you can also follow us on social media. We have pages on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. All source material for this episode with some additional supplemental material can be found on the show's website- www.nydarksidepodcast.com If you want to get in touch with me, you can always reach out to me at nydarksidepodcast@gmail.com. I hope you join me for the next episode and I'm wishing you all a great week ahead and I hope you stay curious.