Satender Singh
On July 5, 2007, Satender Singh, an openly gay Fiji immigrant, died in Sacramento, California of head trauma after being punched following a verbal taunting and altercation between Singh's group of friends and a group of Slavic immigrants. My original diary told of the attack and the likely involvement of the Slavic immigrant fundamentalist Christian community.
Now we know who was responsible for Singh's death, and he's escaped to Russia--with the help of his Christian family.
From today's Sacramento Bee
The man accused of throwing the punch that killed Satender Singh remained at large Wednesday, while FBI agents pursued him in eastern Europe and his mother insisted he will return to Sacramento on his own.
The fugitive is 29-year-old Andrey Vusik of West Sacramento, who faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and committing a hate crime. The hate crime charge stems from allegations Vusik taunted Singh with homosexual and ethnic slurs on July 1, during an altercation on the shore of Lake Natoma.
The accused killer Vusik's wife, Tatyana, claims now that her husband acted in self-defense. From yesterday's Sacramento Bee
That day at Lake Natoma, Tatyana Vusik said she and her family were relaxing and enjoying the view.
Her husband barbecued, while their young children played nearby.
It seemed like a pleasant afternoon, Tatyana Vusik said, until a neighboring party -- which included Singh -- grew raucous. She said the revelers were drinking alcohol, swearing loudly and dancing provocatively.
The mother said she then saw Singh leap onto a table, swishing his shirt between his legs. Others around him smashed bottles. She said she saw two men kissing.
"We're a Christian family," Tatyana Vusik said.
She said she asked her husband to tell Singh's group to calm down, that there were children present.
...When Vusik came home later that night, he told his wife there was a confrontation, and he acted in self-defense. She recalled that Vusik said Singh had lifted a broken glass bottle and aimed at him. He threw a "soft punch" and ran away, Tatyana Vusik said.
Sheriff's detectives said there are no accounts from independent witnesses or any of Singh's friends that support that account.
[emphasis added]
Some background on the Sacramento area's Slavic community's hostility toward gay Americans:
Militant Slavic Christians threaten progress on gay rights in California
LA Times: For Gays, a Loud New Foe
The Political Coming -Out of Sacramento's Slavic Community