AKA William

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At his pre-trial hearing, a police investigator testified that Brandon McInerney, teenager who murdered Larry King, had bragged that he had guns at home if he ever wanted to kill someone:

McInerney made the comment to another student at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard sometime before walking into the classroom and allegedly gunning down gay classmate Larry King on the morning of Feb. 12, 2008, said Oxnard police Sgt. Kevin Baysinger.

“Brandon said if he ever wanted to kill anybody, his dad had a bunch of guns and he had the capability,” Baysinger told the court. Other witness testified that McInerney, then 14, and King had been feuding over King’s alleged romantic overtures toward McInerney.

. . . McInerney was clearly irritated after King, 15, reportedly said, “Baby, I love you,” the day before the shooting occurred . . . McInerney reportedly told one of King’s friends the day before the shooting, “Tell Larry goodbye because you’re not going to see him again,” Baysinger said. [LA Times]

Also, the defense began a line of questioning that showed a willingness to invoke the “gay panic” defense.

Defense attorney Scott Wippert sought to show that King provoked violence by taunting McInerney with his effeminate dress and romantic pursuit. At one point, Wippert sharply questioned Oxnard police Officer Ramiro Albarran.

“Did you inquire if Larry King was making sexual advances toward McInerney … you do realize he’s charged with first-degree murder? That he was provoked?” Wippert said.

In another article in the LA Times, Dawn Boldrin, the teacher who was in the classroom when McInerney killed King spoke about the tragedy for the first time, says she tried to help King with his sexuality and is still haunted by his murder:

Larry had also started experimenting with women’s clothing and makeup. He wobbled around in brown high-heeled boots, Boldrin said. His curly brown locks were styled with gel and he expertly applied his makeup. “As the mother of three girls, I appreciated what he was doing and thought he did a nice job with it,” Boldrin said. “I told him so.”

But Larry was enduring daily slights and taunts from boys at the junior high. Not one to back down, the slightly built boy got right back in their faces.

Teachers tried to get administrators to intervene, Boldrin said. “They weren’t doing anything about it,” she said.

Boldrin took a different approach. Before school started one day, she tucked her oldest daughter’s shimmery homecoming dress into a gift bag and presented it Larry. He ran to the bathroom and tried on the green strapless gown.

“I wanted him to know that not everyone looks at you in a negative way,” Boldrin said. “The world’s a big place — enjoy it.“

The more information comes out about McInerney’s home life, the more it sounds like it provided an incubator for this kind of hatred.