The Color of Crime (Second Edition): Racial Hoaxes, White Fear, Black Protectionism, Police Harassment, and Other Macroaggressions

Appendix B

163 Appendix B Racial Hoaxes: Summaries of Ninety-Two Cases (1987–2006, Alphabetical Listing)1 Bradley Adams In February 1995, Molly Sullivan was killed. Her fiancé, Bradley Adams , was arrested five months after the murder. Adams told police that a group of Black men was responsible for Sullivan’s death. He later admitted that Sullivan, who suffered from a degenerative muscle disease, died after he sat on her chest. Adams was convicted of murder and sentenced to seventy years in prison. Stevie Allman In March 1997, the home of Stevie Allman was torched. It was believed that Allman, an antidrug activist in Oakland, California, had been targeted because of her efforts to remove drug dealers. Allman was White, and the suspected arsonists were believed to be Black. The case received widespread publicity. The governor at the time, Pete Wilson, put up a fifty-thousand-dollar reward, neighbors raised almost five thousand dollars , and the nation’s drug czar expressed concern. Four months later it was discovered that Allman’s sister Sarah had killed her, placed her body in a freezer, and fire bombed the home to cover up the murder. Police believe that Sarah, who had assumed Stevie’s identity, planned to cash in on her sister’s insurance policy. Jesse Anderson In April 1992, Jesse Anderson, a White man, told the police that he and his wife had been attacked in a restaurant parking lot in suburban Milwaukee. Anderson said two Black men stabbed him and his wife. His wife, who suffered twenty-one stabs to her chest, died following the attack. Anderson received superficial wounds. Following a week-long search for Russell-Brown_pp161-186.indd 163 Russell-Brown_pp161-186.indd 163 8/22/08 10:11:22 AM 8/22/08 10:11:22 AM 164 Appendix B the fictional criminals, Anderson was arrested and charged with murder. He had planned the murder and devised the hoax to cash in on his wife’s $250,000 insurance policy. Anderson was convicted of first-degree murder . In 1994, Anderson was murdered in prison along with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, causing some people to speculate that he was killed because of the racial upheaval that his hoax caused. Tisha Anderson and William Lee In December 1995, Tisha Anderson, a Black woman, and her White boyfriend, William Lee, told police that they had received death threats and that their apartment had been defaced with racial slurs. It was subsequently determined that Anderson and Lee had staged the hate crime to get out of their apartment lease. Samuel Asbell In January 1990, Samuel Asbell, a White New Jersey prosecutor, told police that he had been involved in a car chase with two Black men. Asbell , who reported that the chase had reached speeds up to 100 mph, said that the assailants had fired at his car with an automatic rifle. After a police investigation established that the incident could not have happened the way Asbell described it, Asbell admitted that he had shot at his own car. He later said that he had been under stress and checked himself into a psychiatric clinic. Asbell pled guilty to filing a false police report, and his license to practice law was suspended for two years. Anthony Avent In 1994, Anthony Avent, a player for the Orlando Magic basketball team, told police that he had been stabbed by three White men on an Orlando street. Avent, who is Black, sustained injuries requiring thirty stitches. He later recanted his tale, telling police that he made up the story to protect the identity of a friend, with whom he had had a fight. The Orlando Magic fined Avent three thousand dollars. Adam Baisley In 1996, Adam Baisley and three other White teenagers decided to cut school and have a party. At the party, a gun was passed around. The firearm accidentally discharged, and a bullet hit one of the boys in the cheek. After the shooting the boys cleaned up the area with bleach. They told police that a Black man, wearing a dark sweatshirt and carrying a Russell-Brown_pp161-186.indd 164 Russell-Brown_pp161-186.indd 164 8/22/08 10:11:22 AM 8/22/08 10:11:22 AM Appendix B 165 semiautomatic handgun, had committed the crime. The boys later admitted that they had lied. Tracy Birt In 1996, Tracy Birt, a Black man who was a former courthouse employee , admitted...