24 Year Old Neo-Nazi Convicted Of Killing 17 Kristopher King Simply Because He Was Gay Sentenced In Florida Court To Life Without Parole, Suspect Arrested In Houston Stabbing Murder Of 28 Year Old Aaron Scheerhoorn, Colorado Senator Announces Plans To Propose Civil Unions Law Next Year, Texas Attorney General Office Argues For Voiding Of Gay Divorce Decision

24 year old John Ditullio, a neo-Nazi found guilty of killing a gay teen for no other reason than the teen was gay, and stabbing a woman because she was friends with a black man, was sentenced Thursday to live in prison without parole, Tampa Bay, Florida’s WTSP reports. The jury took less than 30 minutes to deliberate. Earlier Thursday, Ditullio spoke directly to the jury, appearing in court for the first time during the trial without makeup covering his tattoos (a makeup artist, hired by the state-appointed defense at the cost of $150 a day, covered the tattoos, which include a swastika, a barbed wired fence, and an expletive.) and said “I’m not going to beg for my life. Do what you do ... but the people that just sat up here and testified that they love me, that’s what I ask you to render your verdict on. Not me.” He was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder and attempted murder, prosecutors saying that he broke into a mobile home in New Port Richey in 2006 and killed 17 year old Kristofer King because he was gay, and injured Patricia Wells. His attorneys plan to appeal the verdict.

Police in Houston, Texas report that they have arrested a suspect in connection to the horrific stabbing murder of another man outside a gay club last Friday, KTRK reporting that 33 year old Lydell Grant is charged with murder in the stabbing death of 28 year Aaron Michael Scheerhoorn. According to KTRK “Scheerhoorn was seen running in the 2500 block of Crocker with a man chasing him. The victim ran up to the entrance door of Club Blur located at 710 Pacific. There, police say he pleaded for help and said he had been stabbed. At that time, he fell to the ground in the parking lot and was stabbed multiple times by the man chasing him. There were several witnesses to the stabbing, including security personnel from the nightclub and several club patrons. The suspect then fled on foot eastbound on Pacific. Scheerhoorn was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.” Police released a description of Grant, but have yet to reveal what relationship he had with the victim. Scheerhoorn had moved to Houston several years ago to begin a new life, and according to friend was pursuing his dream of opening a catering company.

The Denver Post reports that Senator Pat Steadman (Democrat-Denver) intends to introduce a bill in 2011 that if passed would make the state the fourth in America to recognize civil unions, Steadman, who is openly gay, saying he believes that a majority of Coloradans support civil unions and oppose anti-gay discrimination. He added that he expects the proposal to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate, although he is not certain how the bill would be received in the Republican-controlled House. Steadman, who in February, will mark a 10 year anniversary with his partner, said that he has heard from many of his constituents that civil unions are one of the “pressing issues of the day,” adding “They think we have really progressed in our attitude toward gay and lesbian couples and our recognition that current law discriminates against them and disadvantages them.” He emphasized that civil unions are not the same as marriage, and that his proposal was not about picking a political fight, but “about righting a wrong and making our laws more fair.”

A state attorney argued before an appeals court Wednesday that Texas District Judge Scott Jenkins violated state law and improperly exceeded his authority when he granted a divorce earlier this year to a gay couple married in Massachusetts, the American-Statesmen reporting that James Blacklock, who represents the office of Attorney General Greg Abbot’s appellate division, said that the Texas law not only limits marriage to opposite sex, but prohibits any action – including divorce – that recognizes or validates a same sex marriage obtained out of state, Blacklock, during oral arguments, saying “The people of Texas and their elected representatives have spoken very clearly on the issue of this case: Marriage consists solely of the union of one man and one woman.” Lawyers for the two woman, who were wed in 2004, and moved to Austin with their adopted, now age 5, urged the three-judge appellate panel to preserve the ruling granting the divorce, saying that Abbot has no authority to intervene in a case that ending months ago, Jody Scheske telling the court “Discrimination against gays and lesbians is really the last area in which state government openly discriminates against its citizens. If the attorney general’s office has its way, we also would deny legal access to divorce.”