Duran Bailey
Duran Bailey | |
|---|---|
._Las_Vegas_Police_Department.jpg) Duran Bailey mugshot | |
| Died |
July 8, 2001 (aged 43–44) |
| Other names | St. Louis |
| Occupation | homeless |
| Known for | a murder victim who had been homeless, and was alleged to have been a serial rapist |
Duran Bailey was a homeless American, who is believed to have been a serial rapist, who was murdered in Las Vegas, on July 8, 2001.[1]
His murder was at the center of controversy because law enforcement and prosecution officials quickly settled on a teenage girl as their suspect, and she was later exonerated, and freed, after serving 16 years of a life sentence.[1]
Bailey was a 44-year-old African American, who, it is believed, had only recently become homeless.[1] No identity papers were found by his body, and the FBI identified him through his fingerprints.[2]
Bailey was known by the street-name St. Louis.[3] His body was found in a dumpster near where he was known to have slept.[4] He died of a severed caratoid artery, but many of his bones were broken, as if he had been heavily beaten by a baseball bat. His penis had been amputated, and cuts had been made to his anus and rectum.
Eighteen years old Kirstin Lobato had been the target of an attempted rape, in Las Vegas, approximately two months prior to Bailey's death.[4][5] Her attack occurred at a distinctly different location than where Bailey lived. But law enforcement officials chose to make her their prime suspect because she escaped being raped by surprising her rapist by slashing at his penis. After serving 16 years of her 13-45 year sentence, Lobato was exonerated, and received a $34 million dollar settlement.
A woman who lived in an apartment near Bailey's dumpster, told Police she "might know who he was", when his corpse was found.[3] She told them they had been acquaintances, and that she had, in the past, traded sex for crack cocaine. She had reported he had raped her a few days prior to his death. One of the criticisms of law enforcement officials is that they discounted this woman as a suspect, as well as discounting the men who came to her rescue, after they saw Bailey beating her.[4]
The identity of Bailey's actual murder remains unknown.
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Philip Mause (Winter 2017). "Nevada Supreme Court Reopens Kirstin Lobato Case" (PDF). Injustice Anywhere Newsletter. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ↑
Jordan Smith (2015-03-12). "How a Rumor Sent a Teen to Prison for Murder in Vegas". The Intercept. Archived from the original on 2015-10-07. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
Tossed behind a dumpster and covered in trash was a dead black man. Though he had no ID on him, police would soon learn that he was known on the streets as “St. Louis,” and, eventually, they would identify him as 44-year-old Duran Bailey, who had recently become homeless.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hans Sherrer. "Possibility Of Guilt Replaces Proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt: Las Vegas Detectives, Prosecutors And Judge Orchestrate Kirstin Blaise Lobato's Serial Rape By The Legal System" (PDF). Justice Denied. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2
"Innocence Project: Kirstin Blaise Lobato". Innocence Project. 2023-05-18. Archived from the original on 2024-12-16. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
In late May 2001, two months before Bailey was killed, Lobato was visiting friends in Las Vegas when she was attacked in a motel parking lot by a man who attempted to rape her. Carrying a small knife given to her by her father for her protection, Lobato slashed at the man’s groin area and escaped his grasp. When she drove off, she saw the man on the ground, mobile and apparently crying. In the coming days and weeks, Lobato described this attack to numerous people, making clear that it occurred before July 2001 and stating that she believed she may have cut the man in the groin area before running off to safety.
- ↑
"US jury finds Vegas police fabricated evidence in 2001 killing, awards $34M to exonerated woman". Associated Press. 2024-12-13. Archived from the original on 2024-12-14. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
No physical evidence or witnesses connected Lobato to the killing, and she maintained she never met Bailey. But police maintained she confessed in jail that she had killed a man who tried to rape her during a three-day methamphetamine binge.