1988-11-05 Murder

By ChrisAucoin

On November 5, 1988, John William Tha Din was viciously beaten to death in CampHillCemetery, known to be a gay cruising area. Three men had been shooting cocaine when they decided to roll somebody to get money for more drugs. They chose to "look for a fag because they're an easier market... more fragile."

In April, 1990, two were convicted in his death (the third had turned witness for the crown.) Nineteen year old Chucky Rogers was sentenced to life in prison. His uncle, 25 year old Micheal Rogers, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and got eight years. They found only $10 in Tha Din's wallet.

RobinMetcalfe's poem night cemetery about the consequences of the event was first published in Writing the Common by Gaspereau Press in 2013; the Nova Scotia Advocate reprinted it here. and there's a PDF of that page on file in the H•R•E.

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