Well, the Ferguson brothers got the fame, but not the fortune, they sought in California when these mug shots appeared in the LA papers. Their attorney, realizing he had a hopeless case, tried to blame the victim, calling Ramon Novarro "a queer" in court and implying that the boys were only defending themselves from his advances. Yeah, right. Oh, and then he put them on the witness stand.
It's scary how often that gay panic defense was used, sometimes successfully, throughout the last century.
ReplyDeleteI'm told that such a defense still pops up from time to time, but it is rare these days.
DeleteFerguson admitted to a Magazine around 1999 from Prison that he did indeed kill Ramon Navarro. But he claimed that it was because Navarro kissed him on the lips and he went into a rage about how that would appear to his younger Brother who was there. Both Brothers got life sentences for Navarro's Murder but were both given probation after only 5 years. Had they stayed clean they never would have returned to Prison. Both went back to Prison on new charges and the younger Brother committed suicide in 2004. The older Ferguson was in Prison for 60 years for the rape of 2 women and finally died in Prison in 2018 at age 72.
DeleteI don't remember if I posted it or not, but I knew the stories of the two brothers after their parole for the Novarro murder. I even have a picture of Paul in a Missouri prison where he was using the internet to try to get paroled again. No luck that time.
DeleteI was never at ease with the fact that the Brothers got Paroled after only a few years served in Prison for Murder with a life sentence. It seemed like the system was saying that Maybe Navarro got what he deserved for hiring hustlers or being who he was. Plus these Men were a danger to the public and 2 women were raped because of that Parole. Navarro was tortured by these Men and that early Parole was a huge mistake and insult to his memory.
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