John Katehis

John Katehis (born 1992/1993) is an American student who was convicted in 2011 of murdering George Weber, a popular radio reporter, in March 2009. As Katehis met Weber through Craigslist, a popular classified advertising website, the media dubbed him a Craigslist killer, a generic term for murderers who find victims by placing or responding to ads in Craigslist.

Arrest for murder

On March 25, 2009, police arrested 16-year-old John Katehis of Queens, New York for the murder of the former radio reporter George Weber, who had been stabbed to death in his home in Brooklyn, New York. Weber, 47 years old, was a well-known radio personality.[1]

Confession

Katehis confessed to the crime when apprehended. He said that he was a Satanist allied with the teachings on Anton Lavey and the Church of Satan[2][3] and also claimed to be a sadomasochist. He told police that he had responded to his victim's advertisement on Craigslist for "rough sex," but stabbed Weber in self-defense after Weber tried to stab him.[2] Weber's body was found bound and he had been stabbed 50 times.[1] In March, 2009, Katehis was dubbed a "Craigslist Killer" by the media.[4]

Mistrial, retrial, and conviction

On March 26, 2009, and despite his original confession a day earlier, Katehis pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder and weapons possession. He was held without bail.[5] His lawyer told reporters that although the pair originally met through Craigslist, they had an ongoing relationship.[6] Following a mistrial, Katehis was retried and convicted in November 2011. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on December 12, 2011.[7]

Further reading

Author David McConnell in his book American Honor Killings: Desire and Rage Among Men explored the Katehis case as a main example of lethal hate crimes on homosexual men where the perpetrators exhibited some degree of homosexuality themselves.[8]

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 "Police: Slain Reporter Met Teen Killer on Craigslist". KTLA. March 25, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  2. 1 2 Celona, Larry; Doyle, John; Chiaramonte, Perry (March 25, 2009). "Teen Confesses in Newsman Slay". New York Post. Retrieved April 21, 2009. Weber, 47, an ABC News radio broadcaster, and the teen met on Craigslist and had been e-mailing one another. Katehis, a Satan-loving teen with a knife fetish and a girlfriend, appeared to have a propensity for violence.
  3. ↑ Celona, Larry; Mongelli, Lorena; Ginsberg, Alex (March 26, 2009). "Radio Man's Sex Date with Devil". New York Post. Retrieved April 21, 2009. On [his] MySpace page, Katehis declares himself heterosexual and professes his devotion to Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey. He sports tattoos on his arm reading, '666' and 'Diablo'.
  4. ↑ "Alleged Craigslist Killer: 'Cash for Story'". The Advocate. March 30, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2009. March 30, 2009: The Advocate refers to John Katehis as "Craigslist Killer".
  5. ↑ Eden Carter Wood (March 27, 2009). "Teen sadomasachist pleads not guilty to murder". PinkPaper. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  6. ↑ "Confessed Teen Slayer Pleads Not Guilty", nypost.com, March 26, 2009.
  7. ↑ Profile, murderpedia.org; accessed November 23, 2015.
  8. ↑ "24-March-2013 Interview on Outsight Radio Hours". Archive.org. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
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