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Cellmate Guilty of 2nd Degree Murder |
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Compiled by GayToday The Triangle Foundation
Chmiel was an inmate in the Brooks Correctional Facility, in Muskegon last April when Keep killed him in a brutal attack, using his bare hands to crush Chmiel's ribs and strangle him. According to testimony, Chmiel was known to be gay. The murderer admitted in a written confession that he hated gay men. Chmiel allegedly offered oral sex to his fellow roommate in exchange for a cigarette. Although no sexual contact or assault was claimed to have occurred, the roommate still felt the need to slap him, crush several ribs and his neck, and press his neck into a bunk railing, eventually killing him.
"They sent a clear message that Keep must bear heavy responsibility for the cold-blooded killing. By the murderer's own admission his hatred of gays led to an irrational and brutal murder," Kosofsky said. "This case helps bring to light the risk and vulnerability of gay prisoners," said Jeffrey Montgomery, Executive Director of the Triangle Foundation. "Within the correctional system gay people are horribly devalued," he continued, "at least this jury understood the value of Paul's life, even if too late to save it." |
Michael Gleen Keep: Guilty of murdering his gay cellmate in 2000 