September 26, 1999
The Death of Jesse Dirkhising (Yates)
Controversial Elements
- Sadomasochism
- Pedophalia & Statutory Rape
- Morality
Conclusions
If you are like most people, you’ve never heard the name Jesse Dirkhising. Nearly all the major news media refused to air the story. The Associated Press refused to put the information out on the national wire. The only sources reporting on the story seemed to be right-wing conservative websites who attempted to use his story to demonstrate how bad gay people were to further their often political causes.
It wasn't until Brent Bozell (Media Research Center) and Bill O'Reilly (The O'Reilly Factor) started raising the issue of bias in the news media that the general public even heard the name Dirkhising. And then it was more on talk radio and the Internet, than on the nightly news - if it made the nightly news at all.
The story of Jesse Dirkhising’s death contains many elements people feel very strongly about – homosexuality, pedophilia, possible rape, sadomasochistic sex… just to name a few. So many sources reporting on Dirkhising have focused on these elements, often distorting the facts with commentary. The political agendas of those who published information about Dirkhising, the lack of major media coverage, and these controversial elements make discovering the truth a bit difficult.
On Sunday morning, September 26, 1999 at a few minutes to five, patrolmen Ian Smith and Jason Curry responded to the Rogers Arkansas home of Joshua Macave Brown and Davis Don Carpenter after someone had called 911 asking for medical assistance. They were met outside by Carpenter (38) who took them inside and lead them to the bedroom. Josh Brown (22) was standing naked in the hallway holding a telephone and a flashlight. Inside the bedroom the officers located thirteen year old Jesse Dirkhising (aka Jesse Yates) lying naked on the floor in the middle of the room covered by what seemed to be feces. His mouth had turned blue, and he had a weak pulse. He did not appear to be breathing. Patrolman Smith also noticed Jesse had tape wrapped around his wrist. An empty pill-bottle was found nearby. Pills and a razor blade were found just inside the front door. Seventh Grader Diskhising was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after five thirty.
While being questioned by authorities, Josh Brown allegedly attacked Corporal Rick Simmons and was promptly arrested. Later, after being Mirandized, Brown admitted to being Davis Carpenter’s lover, and to having tied up Jesse Dirkhising on several occasions. Brown stated that he had come up on Dirkhising from behind, tied his hands behind his back, and then gagged him with his own underwear, secured with a bandana and duct tape. He used a bandana and tape to blindfold Dirkhising as well. Then he took a t-shirt and covered the rest of his head, stopping to make sure Dirkhising's nostrils weren't covered. He tied belts around his ankles and knees to restrain him. He then tied his arms to either side of the bed. He rolled Dirkhising over, placing pillows under his belly. At this point, Brown admits to performing anal sex with Dirkhising, and inserting several other foreign objects as well. At some point, Brown went into the kitchen and fixed himself a sandwich, leaving Dirkhising exactly as he had been. When he came back, he took the t-shirt off his friend's head and noticed the youth was not breathing. Brown then wakes up Carpenter, saying there's a problem with Dirkhising. They administered CPR and called for the police.
Jesse Dirkhising's grandmother, Paula McVey, would later tell investigators that Jesse frequently went to the home of Davis Carpenter, who was a friend of Jesse's mother and stepfather, who live in the nearby town of Prairie Grove. She said Jesse would help Carpenter at the hair salon where he worked. She also informed them that Carpenter and Brown were gay lovers.
Executing a search warrant on Carpenter's house revealed several interesting items. Amongst these included some small green pills, several bottles of prescription medications such as amitriptyline and other narcotic pain relievers, a mirror with several of the green pills, and a powder believed to be a methamphetamine. Other items included cucumbers covered by what appeared to be petroleum jelly and feces, sausage, douche bottles, belts, duct tape, handcuffs, nylon ropes, rubber jump ropes, electrical cords ... al which the police believed to be bondage items. In the living room, the computer was running a program called Medical Drug Reference 4.0 although the monitor had been turned off.
Several notes were also found. One, addressed to Baby (which it was later discovered was Carpenter's pet name for Brown) contains a passage about getting "him" to take "those pills" and then goes on to describe a certain way of positioning someone with pillows under their abdomen. It tells "him" not to fight for the next "14 hours" or else he will be sexually assaulted. Another note addresses "Davis" having sexual intercourse with "you blindfolded on pills". Several other notes describe other various sexual practices.
On September 27th, the Arkansas State Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy on Dirkhising, finding the cause of death to be "positional asphyxia”.
During Josh Brown's police interview, he told Sergeant Minor that he and Jesse had been involved sexually for two months, describing their sexual activities as "games" or "playing with the victim". He said that the evening in question was the first time the two had been engaged in anal sex, although there was some history of the two inserting other foreign objects into the anal cavity. When asked about Mr. Carpenter and his involvement with the incident, Brown told Stg. Minor that Carpenter had stood in the doorway of the bedroom naked and watched. At one point he even offered advice.
A search of Carpenter’s criminal record produced no known prior convictions, and a clean record. During his interview with Sgt. Minor, he stated that he had lived in twenty-six different states and knew people in all fifty states. He didn't have much as far as family in Arkansas and said he liked to move frequently. This story checked out when the police learned that Carpenter and Brown had lived together in three different states including Arkansas and Florida. Brown was also not found to have any permanent ties to the northern Arkansas area. Because of the seriousness of the death, and the consideration that both men could present considerable flight risks, both men were arrested and charged with a Class Y Felony Murder and a Class Y Rape charge and held without bail.
As the Trial was beginning, Arkansas Circuit Judge David Clinger ruled that prosecutors could seek the death penalty against Brown and Carpenter. Prosecutor Bob Balfe argued that the boy's rape and death constitute a capitol murder charge saying "it's still capitol murder" when a violent act results in a death. Later that day, the boy's grandmother, Betty Yates, stated to the news media that she also blamed the boy's mother for enabling a situation like this to have taken place.
The next day, police officers Curry and Smith testified that they did not try to revive the dying boy because they did not have their disease-deterrent masks with them at the time. Under cross-examination, they admitted they had only left them in the car. Also that day the Jesse's mother, Tina Yates, took the stand. She admits she knew that Carpenter and Brown were gay lovers. "I have no prejudices against gay people," she said.
The question came up during the trail as to whether or not Jesse Dirkhising was a willing participant in the sexual activities that night. In his closing arguments prosecutor Bob Balfe stated he was reasonably sure that the boy was not.
This was one of the things the jury was struggling with as they were trying to reach a verdict. They also could not decide on whether or not Brown should have gotten a life sentence for the boys death. In one released report, only one juror felt Brown should get a life sentence, while the other eleven believed that ten to twenty years would have been sufficient. Finally, the jury decided he was guilty of first degree rape and murder charges. The judge sentenced him to life in prison, saying the case sent shivers up his spine.
There would be no formal trail for Davis Carpenter, who pled guilty to his charges and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. After the sentence was handed down, the judge commented to Carpenter, "To this date, there has never been a shred of evidence that either you or Josh Brown intended to take a life."
Sadomasochism, or SM, is a term used to describe sexual practices that involve elements of pain, humiliation, role playing, and/or any number of various fetishes. For many people, these practices are too bizarre to even think about. For others, it is a way of life. The only thing that can be said is that it is not for everybody.
Throughout history, SM was once considered illegal, and it was also once considered a mental illness. Today, it is no longer considered a mental illness by most professionals, and through even more recent history, many locations have been changing their laws so that some things like sodomy or SM are no longer illegal. For many, SM practices go against their moral or religious standards, but I will not comment on that. The fact is that there are many people who are into SM and practice it on a regular basis.
Most people have no idea what SM is all about. Without this basic understanding of SM concepts, it becomes even more confusing. Many of the details of Jesse Dirkhising’s death are like this.
Brown admitted to tying Dirkhising’s hands behind his back which is a common element of SM. He also admitted to blindfolding Dirkhising with a bandana, as well as using a bandana and Dirkhising’s own underwear to gag him, and securing them both with duct tape. For someone with an understanding of SM, this is nothing new. Using the bandana may be considered behavioral evidence. With cases of rape and torture of a more criminal nature, the well-being and comfort of the victim are immaterial to the rapist. The rapist has taken the power over the victim, and anything the victim may want or need is a threat to that power. To shield the eyes with the bandana suggests Brown and Carpenter did have Dirkhising’s comforts in mind, which is much more associated with an SM scene than it is with rape.
Jesse Dirkhising’s body was covered with what looked like feces. While this is not a very common SM practice (which SM devotees call “Scat”) it does happen more than one might realize. However, to one not familiar with the basic SM concepts, it is fairly easy to look at this practice and think this might be amongst the most degrading thing to do to another person, and again the concepts become confused.
After many SM scenes (especially the more intense ones) the person who played the same role as Dirkhising is left in a state similar to euphoria. Many of these people like to be left alone while they are in this state. After the scene had finished, Brown admits to leaving Dirkhising alone while he went downstairs to the kitchen for a snack. To some, this shows Brown’s complete disregard for Dirkhising, however there is every indication that Brown left Dirkhising thinking he was in the euphoric state and left him there to enjoy himself.
Upon returning, Brown discovered Dirkhising was barely breathing. He woke up his lover, Carpenter, who had gone to bed after the play started and the two men attempted CPR on Dirkhising. When this seemed to fail, they called 911. Again, had they wished harm to Dirkhising, they most likely would not have done this.
Defining pedophilia is not an easy task. According to the DSM-IV, Pedophilia is a sexual attraction to prepubescent children, which can take the form of a Sexual Dysfunction, Gender Identity Issue, Paraphilia, or Other Sexual Dysfunction. For some, it can mean purely a sexual attraction, whether acted upon or not. For others it may be defined as sexual attractions which are not acted upon, although this type of case seems to be fairly rare. A third group believe pedophilia can also be used for one who likes to touch or view children, however not necessarily in a sexual manner.
Statutory rape, on the other hand, may or may not involve pedophilia. The term is simply used to denote sexual situations where one partner is below the “Age of Consent.” While both statutory rape and pedophilia may involve sexual situations with underage children, the two should not be confused.
The story of Jesse Dirkhising involves Statutory Rape, not pedophilia. Every individual ages at a different rate. While it is true that some thirteen year olds may seem to be very childlike, or showing the signs of Early Adolescence, others who mature faster will find themselves in Middle Adolescence. At this age, boys will want to become more independent and start trying to find things to do outside the family environment. They will begin to develop interest in deeper friendships, and sexual relationships are fairly common. As they begin to think of their futures, they may start making goals and begin activities which will help them reach those goals later.
Many gay Middle Adolescent boys will have difficulty finding other gay males with whom they can relate. While some larger cities may have more resources for children this age, most places do not. This leaves gay youth to their own devices, and many will look for other gay males of any age they can relate to. Therefore, when young Jesse is introduced to two gay friends of his mothers, he meets two gay males he realizes he can probably relate to.
I am not trying to condone the sexual nature of the relationship Dirkhising had with Davis and Carpenter. I was merely trying to state that such relationships are not as uncommon as some would have us believe. Neither Davis nor Carpenter fit the behavioral psychological profile model of a pedophile, but that of a statutory rapist.
This is not to suggest being a statutory rapist is not illegal or psychologically damaging.
In the eyes of some, the two men responsible for the death of Jesse Dirkhising were immoral Godless people. In reality, this – in an of itself – is not a crime. “Immoral” behavior does often involve illegal acts, however the two issues should not be confused.
Most of what is written about Dirkhising, Brown, and Carpenter has been written from the perspective of the fundamentalist right-wing point of view, where issues of morality and politics intermingle with the facts of the case, often presenting the issues out of contexts, quote from “studies” performed outside the accepted scientific or academic standards, or are otherwise written with prejudice.
These public articles and essays are often filled with conflicting information. They also often sensationalize the more controversial aspects of the story, focusing more on the aspects of pedophilia, sadomasochism, drug use, and gay sex in what appears to be an effort to paint a picture of what the “homosexual reality” truly is.
Pedophilia, sadomasochism, and drug use are not issues which face only the gay and lesbian community. They are issues that can effect everyone, homosexual or heterosexual. Each issue, when taken on its own, presents a unique set of complications on its own, and adding homosexuality to the mixture, as a morality issue, tends to distort the facts.
It is true that some homosexuals are pedophiles and drug abusers, and some engage in sadomasochistic behaviors. When there are multiple factors at play, these cases can only be compared safely to other cases where the same issues arise.
According to the religious right, Jesse Dirkhising was murdered in cold blood by two Godless homosexual pedophiles who lured their victim to his death by brutal and violent sex, drugs, and their perverted lifestyle. They claimed that at age thirteen, Jesse was an innocent boy who had gone off to spend time with a few of his mother’s friends. They acted with premeditation and showed a complete lack of remorse and disregard for human life.
But, the evidence does not support any of this.
The evidence tells us that Dirkhising willingly entered into a sexual situation with Brown and/or Carpenter. The men had done some drugs that evening, and Dirkhising was in a fairly relaxed state. After the sexual scene was finished, Dirkhising would find himself in a relaxed state, brought on partially because of the sex and also partially from the drugs. He was left exactly as he had been while Carpenter headed to the kitchen. According to the medical examiner during the trials, Dirkhising’s cause of death was asphyxiation due to the position he was in, stating also that had the boy not done any drugs, he would have been able to move more easily on his own.
There has been ample evidence and testimony which suggests both Davis and Carpenter had participated in the events which led to the death of Dirkhising. Brown and Carpenter admitted to being lovers and to playing what they called “sex games” with Dirkhising on a few prior occasions.
The Washington Post
The New Republic (4/2/01) TRB From Washington
ABC News
Chicago Free Press (4/11/01)
World Net Daily
CNSN Daily
© 2001; Corky McGraw