Steen Fenrich (September 13, 1979 – September 9, 1999) was a 19-year-old

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

man who lived in

Bayside, Queens Bayside is a neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fr ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In March 2000, his dismembered remains were discovered. Police believe his stepfather, John Fenrich, killed him in a

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

rage.

Background

Steen Fenrich entered the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

in July 1997, and served nine months before he was discharged. In September 1999 he left his parents' home in

Dix Hills Dix Hills is a hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set ...

, and went missing. However, no one filed a

missing person A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as Life, alive or Death, dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accide ...

's report on Fenrich.

Discovery

On March 21, 2000, the remains of Steen Fenrich were found stored in a plastic blue tub by a man walking through

Alley Pond Park Alley Pond Park is the second-largest public park in Queens, New York City, occupying . The park is bordered to the east by Douglaston, to the west by Bayside, to the north by Little Neck Bay, and to the south by Union Turnpike. The Cross I ...

, in

. The tub contained a skull that had been burned by acid, a foot with some flesh still on it, and other body parts. The remains were identified as those of Steen Fenrich by his

Social Security number In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to United States nationality law, U.S. citizens, Permanent residence (United States), permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2 ...

, which had been written on the skull, along with racial and

slurs.

Stepfather

Shortly after being told that his stepson's remains had been found, John Fenrich called

News 12 Long Island News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...

and suggested a motive and that his stepson had been killed "because he was

." The station later reported that Steen Fenrich had posed for

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

photographs and had a contentious relationship with his stepfather. Police said they had not yet told family members that Steen Fenrich's remains had been dismembered. John Fenrich's knowledge of the dismemberment led police to believe he killed his stepson.

Motive

Police reported to ''Newsday'' that they believed John Fenrich killed Steen on September 9, 1999, after an argument stemming from his stepson's desire to move back home after an argument with his partner. Fenrich disapproved of his son's orientation and was angered by his request to return home. Steen Fenrich's partner told police that John Fenrich had always treated him with contempt, and had called him a few days after the argument to say that Steen was "going away for a couple of weeks."

Aftermath

On March 22, 2000, after talking to

News 12 News 12 may refer to: *KSLA-TV Shreveport, Louisiana *News 12 Networks, 24-hour local cable news television network in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York *WRDW-TV Augusta, Georgia {{disambig ...

, John Fenrich suddenly bolted from an interview with police in his home, climbed on the roof, fired guns and begged police to shoot him after declaring "I'm a failure as a father.""Stepfather Kills Himself After Son is Found Dead," ''New York Times'', March 23, 2000
/ref> After an eight-hour standoff, John Fenrich committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

References

External links

Flowers for... Steen Fenrich (Wayback Machine snapshot from 8 February 2012)

* ttp://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSmid=46798920&GRid=19892941& Steen K. Fenrich (1981 - 1999) - Find A Grave Memorial {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenrich, Steen American victims of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes Murdered African-American people People from Bayside, Queens People murdered in New York City African-American LGBTQ people LGBTQ people from New York (state) Violence against gay men in the United States Violence against men in the United States 1980 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American LGBTQ people American gay men American LGBTQ military personnel Gay military personnel African-American United States Army personnel United States Army soldiers 1999 murders in the United States