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Triangle continues to investigate Anthos case

Jason A. Michael

DETROIT – It's a bit like a beloved old Abbott and Costello routine. Dr. Carl J. Schmitz, chief medical examiner of Wayne County, ruled the February death of 72-year-old Andrew Anthos was natural based on the fact that there was no witness to say otherwise. Meanwhile, the Detroit Police Department said there was a witness – and even released a sketch based on said witness's report – but now has closed the case based on Schmidt's ruling. Maybe this one could be called, "Who's the homophobe?"
"The coroner's report wasn't conclusive," said Triangle Foundation Director of Victim Services Melissa Pope. "The police claim that there were no witnesses, but they were able to come up with a suspect sketch based on a witnesses' report. This just doesn't add up."
So if the police can't add one plus one, the Triangle Foundation will do it for them. Pope, Sean Kosofsky, Triangle's director of policy, and two volunteers canvassed for information in and around the Windsor Tower, located at 1600 Antietam, where Anthos lived for many years and outside of which he was struck down on Feb. 13. Anthos was able to give a brief description of his attacker before falling into a coma. He died 10 days later.
Residents of the Windsor Tower remember Anthos as a quiet man who kept to himself. They expressed disappointment in the police department for closing the investigation and are incredulous at the coroner's claim that the death was natural.
"Virtually everyone in the building had heard of the case, and almost everyone believes that he was attacked," said Kosofsky. "A lot of folks had heard the news report and they're not buying it. We did encounter a number of people in the building who believed that they had details about the suspect and about Andrew. We ascertained some very important information."
A second canvas will take place at some point this week, and Pope will once again be among those going door to door.
"The Detroit Police never really investigated this case," she said. "Since they haven't, we will. We are committed to obtaining justice for Andrew and his family."
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force shares that commitment and, to that end, the group has increased the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the murder.
"Given Mr. Anthos' deathbed statement and that of an eyewitness, the man who caused Mr. Anthos' death is still at large," said Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman. "Since neither Mayor Kilpatrick nor Police Chief Bully-Cummings have given priority to this case, and the investigation has been dropped, we are increasing our reward to $25,000 to encourage other witnesses to come forward and bring the perpetrator to justice. The Detroit Police Department's mishandling of this case is an insult to the memory of Mr. Anthos, to his family, and to our national community. This is a glaring example of why we need a federal law that addresses hate-motivated violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people."

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