Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence in 1987 Gay Hate Crime Murder
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the first-degree murder conviction and death sentence of Richard R. Laird for the 1987 killing of Anthony Milano, a case noted for being the first instance of capital punishment for a murder motivated by anti-gay bias. Laird and his co-conspirator attacked Milano after hurling anti-gay slurs, eventually beating him to death. Despite several appeals over the years citing ineffective counsel, a 2007 retrial reaffirmed his guilt and death sentence, which was later upheld by the state Supreme Court. While the Supreme Court’s decision validates the conviction, Laird’s execution is unlikely due to Pennsylvania’s moratorium on executions, enacted in 2015 and extended by the current governor.
John Q. Hosedrinker