A New York man charged in the slaying of an Elmira, N.Y. gay man, told police he shot the man when — after having consensual sex with him — the victim put one hand on his shoulder and the other on his throat and threatened him.
Louis M. Duffy, 20, Horseheads, N.Y., was arraigned Wednesday on charges of second-degree murder in the May 1 shooting of Clinton “Billy” Lewis, owner of Club Chill, a gay bar across the street from his home. Duffy is also charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
Duffy, who confessed to the murder, told police that the shooting occurred after the two men had consensual sex, the Elmira Star-Gazette reported.
“Bill told me (the sex) was going to happen again and again and he didn’t care how, he was just going to make sure it happened,” Duffy said in his sworn statement taken the same day as the killing.
“I told (him) ‘No it won’t’ and he grabbed me by the throat and had a hand on my shoulder,” Duffy said in the statement, which was taken by Elmira Police Investigator Patrick Fernan.
In a handwritten addition to the typed statement, Duffy said, “I pushed him off me and on to the bed and then reached for the gun and shot him.”
After the shooting, police said the motivation for the crime was personal, and not a hate crime.
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“I just overreacted at the situation,” Duffy said in his statement to police. “The idea of shooting him just popped into my head, and I just did it.”
