The Eyes of Laura Mars
Faye Dunaway escapes blame once more.
This is part two of a series concerning violence linked to the movie “The Warriors.” Part One is here.
The Boston Police Department investigated Juan Claudio Pascacio’s death for fourteen months. Even though suspects were elusive, blame was not.
Bay Village is Boston’s smallest neighborhood. Edgar Allen Poe was born there to actors working in the theater district nearby. It was one of the first residential neighborhoods built on landfill; when the Back Bay and South End were dug down, propped up, dried out, and invented decades later, old Bay Village flooded with sewage. The solution was practical: the streets were raised by eight feet or so, front doors were added to second stories, and life went on.
During prohibition, it’s rumored, the neighborhood housed speakeasies; later, bars and nightclubs filled in, including the Cocoanut Grove, where fire killed four hundred and ninety nightclub goers in 1942.
By 1975, the small neighborhood held approximately five hundred households and two gay bars: “The Other Side,” and “Jacques,” both owned by controversial local figure Henry Vara. Some neighborhood residents disliked the bars, arguing that they drew a violent, criminal element.1
Jacques was particularly a target of neighborhood ire, because it was known to welcome drag queens, which the Boston Phoenix wrote — as if it were a foregone conclusion — that “the circus element of the gay culture does attract sightseers, and this, combined with media exposure, attracts those of a cretinous mentality who get off on proving their own doubtful masculinity by beating up fags.”2
Before Juan Claudio Pascacio was killed, the highest ambition of bar opponents was to shift closing times a few hours earlier, cut into profits, maybe force a change to an older, richer demographic. After, with the support of Barney Frank3, opponents saw an opportunity to shut them down entirely.4
Timothy Gitchel,5 well-liked, athletic, and popular with his peers, graduated from Buena High School in Ventura, California, in 1978.
On February 12, 1979, he and his brother, Daniel Gitchel, and friends Allen Granstrom and Frank Rivera went to the Mann Theater in Oxnard, California, to see a showing of “the Warriors.”
Dan Gitchel and Frank Rivera stopped at the concession stand. Timothy Gitchel and Allen Granstrom entered the lobby. Allen Granstrom was approached by a “black youth,” who asked for a quarter. Granstrom refused and was punched “square in the face.”
Dan Gitchel, Frank Rivera, and Granstrom entered the theater to find the “youth,” and confront him. A confrontation ensued; the Gitchel brothers and their friends perceived themselves to be outnumbered, and fled the theater. Bedlam ensued; a fight broke out, during which Tim Gitchel was stabbed.
Newspaper advertisements and listings indicate that the film started at 10:15 PM. The police arrived by 10:20 pm.
The movie hadn’t started when the fight broke out.
On February 15, 1979, Michael Barrett, nineteen years old, and two friends went to the Saxon Theatre on Tremont Street in Boston, for a showing of the Warriors.6
After the movie, Mr. Barrett encountered a group of teenagers, including sixteen-year-old Martin Yakubowicz. Although the encounter was initially friendly, or at least cordial, Mr. Barrett stumbled and pushed, or was pushed into, contact with one of Mr. Yakubowicz’ companions.
A scuffle ensued. Mr. Barrett ended up on the ground, looking up at Mr. Yakubowicz. Dazed, Mr. Barrett took a knife and lunged upwards, stabbing Mr. Yakubowicz in the heart. Mr. Yakubowicz died at 5:45 am, at Boston City Hospital.
After the stabbing, Mr. Barrett fled the scene, but was quickly identified and arrested.7
Mr. Yakubowicz, called “Marty,” was the fourth of six children, born and raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He was a “big, gentle kid.” Newspapers reported that all he wanted out of life was to “be a member of a ski patrol.8”
He volunteered for Boston’s Youth Enrichment Services, just to go on ski trips; he’d started a paid position there only a few days before he died.9 He liked loud music, and played guitar.10
Boston Patrolman James Fitzgerald, interviewed by the Boston Globe the day after Mr. Yakubowicz’ death, told the newspaper that Barrett said he “wanted” Yakubowicz, which Officer Fitzgerald believed to be a line from the movie, “The Warriors.”11 Thus, Officer Fitzgerald concluded, “the stabbing seems to be a direct result of ‘The Warriors.”12
Mr. Barrett was tried and convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to twelve years.13 By the time the trial concluded, it was clear that Mr. Barrett had not been inspired by the movie, as he hadn’t seen it.
The Boston Globe reported that while, “[a]t the time of the incident, police attributed it to incitement by the movie, ‘the Warriors,’...during the trial it became known that Barrett had become drunk on beer, whiskey and wine, and that he had slept through the movie.”14
Mr. Barrett hadn’t seen the movie. He wasn’t inspired. He was reeling drunk and scared.
Here is a slightly more complicated one:
In early 1979, Marvin Kenneth “Kenny” Eller was married, three years out of high school, father to a two year old son, and working “steadily” as a roofer.15
At approximately 8:30 PM, Mr. Eller was attending a showing of The Warriors at the Palm Springs Drive In, with his friend Mark Wesley Hylen, when they became involved in an argument at the snack bar.16
Insults were exchanged. The young men left the snack bar, and argument became a physical fight. By the end, Mr. Hylen had been shot in the leg, and Mr. Eller twice through the head. Mr. Eller would die five days later.
Before Mr. Eller’s death was reported, unnamed “[f]riends” described Mr. Eller in the press as “a nice guy” who “hangs out with rowdy people.”17
The same unnamed source[s] indicated that the movie had sparked “violent reactions” in Mr. Eller’s friends, and that although Mr. Eller and his companion who saw the film were “real mellow” “after they saw the movie, they wanted to go out and beat the hell out of people.”18
He or she also told the press that “[t]here [was] a wide span of characters he hangs out with. Some others he hangs out with are into criminal activities, but I have trouble seeing him provoking an argument.”19
The same source, however, reflecting on an incident in which a man tried to hit a woman with his car, explained “they are all chums from school. They stick up for each other. The family is real important, but they don’t fight with each other.”20
Witness accounts of the incident were chaotic and conflicting; however, shortly after the incident high school student Calvin Bradley reportedly identified the shooter to police as Clem Lamont “Feller” Davis of Palm Springs. Mr. Davis turned himself in to police, upon hearing they were “looking for” him.21
Press accounts indicated that Mr. Davis was affiliated with the “Blue Coats” a group tentatively described as a “gang,” although they held no turf or territory. The movie theater and studios liked the “rival gang” narrative, and said that the incident was the result of pre-existing tensions between “the Family” and “the Blue Coats,”22 which could have resulted in violence anywhere, anytime, even “at a bowling alley.”23
At trial in June of 1979, the story was less one of pre-existing rivalry, and more free-range aggression and escalation. The Warriors wasn’t mentioned.
Mr. Eller’s friend, Mr. Hylen, testified as follows:
He and Mr. Eller “agreed to stop outside” after some “unfriendly remarks” and name-calling from a group of Black youths.24 Mr. Hylen drew a knife. Mr. Eller removed his chain belt, to use as a weapon.25
Mr. Hylen and Mr. Eller then rushed at the youths. One had some type of small-caliber firearm, which he aimed at Mr. Hylen.26 Several onlookers yelled for the gunman to shoot. Mr. Hylen was shot in the knee, and then he and Mr. Eller started to run. Two more shots were fired, striking Mr. Eller in the head. Mr. Eller lived for five days after the shooting.27
Mr. Davis testified in his own defense; he said that he was outside the building when the shot occurred; he testified that the gun used was not his gun, but belonged to a companion, MacArthur Campbell. Mr. Campbell admitted that he brought the gun to the theater, and “pulled it” on Mr. Eller and Mr. Hylen. Mr. Campbell testified that the gun was taken from him and fired by someone else.
Witness Calvin Bradley offered three different accounts of the shooting, across the trial. At preliminary hearing, Mr. Bradley said that he had been threatened by police into giving the statement identifying Mr. Davis. Called by the prosecution, he appeared to embrace it.
Recalled by the defense, Mr. Bradley28 said he’d consumed a half quart of vodka and seven beers prior to talking to police, and had no memory of anything that occurred.
A criminologist told a local paper that the consumption of that amount of alcohol would “cause death in the average person29.” Despite conflicting testimony and the absence of a convincing identification, Mr. Davis was convicted of manslaughter.30
A little over a month after the trial ended, a “melee” broke out at the Palm Springs Drive-In. A man named Tony Spears was walking through the drive-in, when he was spit on by a man named Rick Amato. Amato chased Spears with a baseball bat. The fight spread through the crowd, eventually involving twenty people, armed primarily with beer bottles.31
Police responded. Mr. Amarto was arrested, as was Mark Hylen, who stepped between police officers and Mr. Amato, with “clenched fists.”32 The district attorney declined to press charges, describing the incident as “more mutual combat” than one involving a specific victim, and all persons involved “were both aggressors and defenders.”33
The Warriors hadn’t played at the drive-in in months.
The movies playing that night were “Alien” and “The Eyes of Laura Mars.”
The crime rate was, news reports suggest, similar to surrounding areas; to the extent there was a pattern of crime, it was one where bar patrons were prey, not predators.
Juan Claudio Pascacio’s death was the third in a series of murders targeting young men in Bay Village between 1973 and 1975.
On July 13, 1973, Jeremiah Lynch and Steven Tuscher left the Other Side. They were offered a ride by strangers. There were six other men in the car, which came to a stop at the south gate of the Arnold Arboretum. The men then set on Mr. Tuscher and Mr. Lynch, stabbing and beating them. One dropped a boulder on Mr. Tuscher’s head. The men then dropped their victims into an open sewer, where Mr. Lynch drowned. Mr. Tuscher survived. Death in a Sewer & The Aftermath, Boston Phoenix, August 14, 1973.
On March 22, 1975, MIT Students John Asinari and Robert Moses were hitchhiking back to Cambridge, when they were picked up by a group of four men. They were driven through Everett and Chelsea, beaten and shot, and driven to South Boston. Mr. Asinari managed to push Mr. Moses out of the vehicle. The car stopped, and Mr. Asinari was beaten to death with a pipe. Mr. Moses survived to identify his assailants. Suspect Held in Murder of MIT Student, Boston Globe, March 25, 1975.
Henry Vara: Throwing some light on his shadowy world, Boston Phoenix, April 22, 1975.
Barney Frank was quoted as saying “Yes, I do object to noisy fags and dykes at 2 o’clock in the morning, when people are trying to sleep. I object to noisy monsignors at 2 o’clock in the morning.” Henry Vara: Throwing some light on his shadowy world, Boston Phoenix, April 22, 1975.
Representative Frank would not come out as gay until 1987.
“The Bay Village Neighborhood Association…held a party to celebrate the killing… They were out there in Wino Park saying ‘We should be really happy about this killing because now maybe the city will do something about the Vara bars.’” Henry Vara: Throwing some light on his shadowy world, Boston Phoenix, April 22, 1975.
The last piece added an extra “l” to his name. I apologize.
2 Arrested in Stabbing of Dorchester Youth, Boston Globe February 17, 1979.
Id. (For non-lawyers, “id.” means “the same citation as the previous footnote, all over again).
Death ends a gentle kid’s dream, Boston Globe, February 18, 1979
Id.
Id.
2 Arrested in Stabbing of Dorchester Youth, Boston Globe February 17, 1979.
Id.
‘Warrior Case’ defendant guilty. Boston Globe, October 26, 1979.
‘Warrior Case’ defendant guilty. Boston Globe, October 26, 1979.
Witness claims victim was not target. 19 year old PS Man mistaken for another. The Desert Sun, February 16, 1979; Obituary, The Desert Sun, February 20, 1979.
Man Remains in Critical Condition, The Desert Sun, February 14, 1979.
Note: Some early reports indicate that Mr. Eller’s “girlfriend” was at the show, and insulted, causing the confrontation. Other reports indicate that a group of young people used a barrel to block entry into the lady’s room.
As Mr. Eller was married, and the “girlfriend” is not mentioned in later accounts, and did not testify at trial, and the story of the blocked restroom was not mentioned at trial, I don’t credit these.
“The Warriors Showing is Canceled by Drive-In, The Desert Sun, February 14, 1979.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Suspect Held in PS Slaying, The Desert Sun, February 23, 1979.
Bruce Corwin, president of Metropolitan Theaters, was quoted saying “This violence could happen anywhere. It was between two gangs who both happened to be at the theater. It could have occurred at a bowling alley.” Controversy Swirls Around Movie, Ventura County Star, February 21, 1979.
Nationally, a clash between “Blue Coats” and “The Family” was frequently cited — and remains frequently cited — as the underlying cause of the incident. Time Magazine, March 19, 1979, The Flick of Violence; Caetlin Benson-Allot, Shot in Black and White, Chapter 6, The Racialized Reception of US Cinema Violence.
(Please note: I am well aware my citation forms are garbage here; I am comfortable with it. I embrace it. I am three weeks out from trial, and cannot be stopped).
Slaying Witness Testifies, The Desert Sun, June 5, 1979.
Id.
Id.
Eller Dies in Hospital, The Desert Sun, February 17, 1979.
In November of 1979, trial witness Calvin Bradley was indicted for the murder of John Covington. Mr. Covington was shot outside a local dance, with a small-caliber weapon. It was at this time that Mr. Covington’s nickname, “Buckshot,” first appeared in the press.
Clem Davis identified by witness. The Desert Sun, June 6, 1979.
Davis convicted of manslaughter, The Desert Sun, June 15, 1979.
Two held in melee at theater, The Desert Sun, July 30, 1979.
Two held in melee at theater, The Desert Sun, July 30, 1979.
DA Won’t Press Charges, The Desert Sun, August 1, 1979.
I am kind of proud of this one.
This is so great.