Colo. Police: Lesbian Couple Faked Hate Crime
Colorado police are accusing a lesbian couple of faking a hate crime that occurred in October of last year, the British newspaper the Daily Mail reported.
Aimee Whitchurch, 37, and Christel Conklin, 29, claimed that members of their condo's homeowner's association spray-painted "Kill the Gay" on their home, keyed their car and left a noose on their doorstep after they got into an argument about cleaning up after their dogs.
But the Douglas County Sheriff's Office has accused the couple of faking the hate crime and issued a warrant against the women for forgery, false reporting and criminal mischief.
After the initial incident, the couple went to the media to get the word out about the hate crime that they claimed their neighbor's committed.
"For someone to target us for our lifestyle - it's ridiculous," Conklin told a local television station. The couple, who lived in the condo for about a half a year, said that the homeowner's association accused them of not picking up after their dogs.
"It ridiculous. We have a Mastiff and a Great-Dane, two of the largest breed dogs, if we didn't pick up after them this entire place would be covered. It's completely invalid. That's just common sense," Conklin added.
"This is where we live. We should feel safe. I am afraid to walk outside my place now," Whitchurch said.
But the local authorities' investigation discovered that the organization was not plotting against the women.
"Through the investigation and from witness statements, it was determined that allegations of the incident were false," said Douglas County Sheriff's Office spokesman Cocha Hedyen. "Detectives were able to determine that the two women involved were responsible for the words that were spray painted on the garage and the placement of the noose on their own front door."
The FBI then became involved in the case and the couple's hands were examined for spray-paint residue, the article says. They were also asked to take a lie detector test but the pair refused and still said they are innocent.
The two women turned themselves into police and each face a $1,000 bond.
"It's a betrayal, this is a government that was supposed to protect us," Whitchurch said.
Unfortunately, faking a hate crime has occurred in the LGBT community before - even on a more public scale. In November 2011, the conservative gay cast member of LOGO's reality show, "A-List Dallas" claimed a man punched him outside of a birthday party he was attending.
Taylor Garrett, 27, says he was hit in the face and that his attacker scratched "Fuck Coulter" on the side of his car. The attack occurred just a few days after he met conservative icon Ann Coulter for lunch.
But Garrett refused the help from the Dallas Police Department's crime scene detective.
The incident came a month after someone allegedly threw a stone through the reality star's living room window, which had a note attached to it that read: "You are not A-List. More like Z-List. You are nothing but a nellie twink trying to get attention by calling yourself a republican. You are nothing but an embarrassment to the gay community," the note continued. "Watch your fucking back you pathetic mother fucking twink."
But many suspected the incident was fake as it occurred right before "A-List: Dallas" was set to air. Garrett once again refused to cooperate with authorities and even his fellow cast member, Levi Crocker shared his doubts on Twitter: "who said I believed he was attacked," the gay cowboy turned fashion designer wrote.
A year ago, a gay student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill claimed he was brutally injured in an attack that left him with severe burns on his arms. But the story was found to be bogus. The student has since left school and his parents are reportedly seeking counseling.