Marcos Breton: Community has stake in finding killer

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Marcos Bretón: Community has stake in finding killer

Column by Marcos Bretón The Sacramento Bee, July 22, 2007

Somewhere, maybe within the borders of Sacramento, a group of people are hiding from authorities after witnessing a murder.

They have acted like fugitives while the impact of a punch to the face, a ruptured brain stem, the taking of a life grows larger with each passing day.

Someone attacked Satender Singh at Lake Natoma on July 1, an unspeakable crime -- possibly a hate crime.

It means Sacramento is now a town where one man may have killed another because he thought his victim was gay, and where that killer has found refuge in the silence of the people there with him that day.

Singh was punched after a day of lakeside recreation degenerated into hostilities between two groups of men. Witnesses told authorities that the group confronting Singh and his small group of Fijian and Indian friends was "Russian-speaking."

Some witnesses said the men shouted homophobic insults at Singh and racial slurs at his group.

Only 26, Singh lingered on life support for four days after a punch ruptured the brain stem that controlled most of his human functions. He died July 5. His body was flown back to his native Fiji. He's gone.

Where are those who know something? Why do they remain silent?

"It's a sad situation, it's frustrating," said Jan Scully, Sacramento County district attorney. "You can't begin to find out the truth when you have people who won't come forward."

Until someone does, or until Sacramento County sheriff's deputies make an arrest, we're left wondering whether a climate of anti-gay rhetoric contributed to Singh's death.

For months now, members of Sacramento's gay and lesbian community have been alarmed by virulent anti-gay protests organized by a vocal minority within Sacramento's Slavic community.

We're talking about people who interpret the Bible literally and use incendiary language to promote their message.

Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said: "The words are vile ... and words may give people the implicit license to take the next step and hurt people."

On Friday, a leader in the Slavic community said his people are being portrayed unfairly.

"Who knows who did this?" said Viktor Chernyetsky, administrator of Bethany Slavic Missionary Church. "The person who did this is a criminal. I believe I am a true Christian and I would not harm anybody."

Of the roughly 100,000 members of Sacramento's Slavic community, Chernyetsky estimated 20,000 are involved in church activities. "That means there are 70,000 to 80,000 non-believers ... It's not fair blaming the Slavic churches and Slavic leaders."

No one can blame anyone right now because key people are hiding from authorities. Scully can't say whether this case will be tried as a hate crime for the same reason.

Meanwhile, you can feel the tensions mounting in this city. Gay leaders are holding meetings to decide how forcefully to respond to what they firmly believe was a hate crime fueled by the evangelical rhetoric.

Slavs say they're the ones being targeted, that their leaders are being barraged by hateful comments and phone calls because people have jumped to conclusions about who's responsible.

We need the people who know what happened to step forward, to get this out of the hands of individuals and into the justice system.

This is bigger than the man who threw that fateful punch. It's about how we move forward as a community.

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