25 Years To Life: Maximum Sentence For Teen Killer Of Gay NYC Newsman

Teenaged murderer John Katehis has received the maximum sentence for the gruesome 2009 slaying of openly gay CBS newsman George Weber. The killer's first trial resulted in a hung jury after the defense painted Weber as a kinky pedophile who trolled for young male prostitutes on Craigslist, where he met Katehis. Last month the jury in the second trial repeatedly heard the same claim but voted to convict. Paul Schindler has more about yesterday's sentencing at Gay City News:

After a very brief statement in which he said he was “sorry” for killing George Weber and felt “regret” for the pain he caused the slain man’s family, John Katehis received the maximum sentence of 25 years-to-life in prison. Convicted by a Brooklyn jury on November 15 of second-degree murder, the 19-year-old Katehis opened his statement by saying, “As much as I’d like to, I can’t undo it.” After finishing his statement at the December 13 sentencing hearing, Katehis’ attorney, Jay Cohen, cited his client’s youth –– he was 16 when he killed Weber –– in asking the court for “compassion.”

After that, Judge Neil J. Firetog, without any comment, handed down the maximum sentence, under which Katehis must serve at least 25 years, less the two-plus years spent in jail since his arrest, before being eligible for parole. For a moment after receiving his sentence, Katehis kept his head facing forward, but as he was about to be led from the courtroom, he turned back toward the gallery, where his father Spiro sat with several young women, and showed a grin.

The prosecutor in the case pointed out that Katehis himself had sought out his meeting with Weber. Read the full report on Gay City News.

NEW YORK: Guilty Verdict For Craigslist Killer Of Gay Newsman George Weber

Craigslist killer John Katehis has been found guilty in his second trial for stabbing CBS newsman George Weber more than 50 times after the journalist allegedly hired him for an S&M sex scene. Last year a jury declared itself deadlocked after defense attorneys painted the victim as a homosexual predator because Katehis was only 16 at the time of the crime. The 2009 attack and its internet aspect became one of the most talked-about cases in New York City.

NEW YORK CITY: Jury May Be Deadlocked In Craigslist Slaying Of Gay Reporter

Troubling news from the trial of confessed killer of gay ABC newsman George Weber.

Jurors in the Brooklyn murder trial of the teenager accused in the sex-charged stabbing death of WABC newsman George Weber yesterday told the judge they were deadlocked but will return today for further deliberations. In the middle of their second day of deliberations, the jurors sent out their note telling Judge Neil Firetog for the second time that they were having difficulties. Earlier yesterday the jury asked Firetog a second time to explain "reasonable doubt." John Katehis, 18, is charged with stabbing Weber, 47, more than 50 times in the March 2009 slaying.

The then 16 year-old Katehis was hired on Craigslist for an S/M "smothering" scene with Weber. Defense attorneys have painted the victim as a sexual predator, despite the confession and despite ample evidence of the killer's violent tendencies, including internet postings in which he brandished his extensive collection of knives and swords.

UPDATE: A mistrial HAS been declared due to one holdout juror who would not budge on the issue of intent. As in Katehis didn't INTEND to keep stabbing his bound victim 50 times? Prosecutors have vowed to try him again. Meanwhile, he gets a fucking bail hearing next week.

NYC: Trial Begins In Craigslist Murder Of Gay ABC Newsman George Weber

Last year 16 year-old John Katehis brutally stabbed to death gay ABC newsman George Weber after the pair hooked up via a Craiglist hooker ad. Weber allegedly hired the teen to "smother" him in an S/M scene. After his arrest, the killer claimed that he had stabbed Weber over 50 times in self-defense. Katehis' trial began in New York City this week where his lawyers painted the victim as a sexual predator. Duncan Osborne reports at Gay City News:

By inviting the 16-year-old Katehis to his home for a sexual act, Weber “was trying to do something that was 1,000 percent wrong, immoral, and illegal,” said Jeffery T. Schwartz, Katehis’ attorney, in his opening statement. The age of consent in New York is 17. “Although he can be tried as an adult, under no circumstances can he consent to a sexual act,” Schwartz said. “He cannot consent to sex, any type of sexual act, with an adult male.” In the defense telling of this incident, Katehis was an innocent who was plied with alcohol and “what John believed was cocaine,” before being asked to engage in a behavior that made him uncomfortable. After having his feet bound, the older man “pointed” a knife at Katehis and the younger man panicked. The wound that cut Weber’s jugular vein was inflicted as the two men fought over the knife. Katehis received a deep wound to his hand that was bleeding profusely during that fight. “The bottom line is a knife was introduced not by John Katehis, but by George Weber,” Schwartz said.

Shortly after Weber's body was discovered, internet sleuths found Katehis' MySpace profile in which he posed with his collection of swords and knives and boasted:

I like to do crazy and wild things.im like an adrenaline junkie, I'm always looking for a big thrill, I'm a big risk taker and like to live life on the edge. I am an Extremist, an Anarchist, and a Sadomasochist. As long as you show respect for me i will show respect for you, if you disrespect me, then i will fucking break your neck.

The subject line in Katehis' original Craigslist ad read: "I blow for cash M4M." After Katahis' arrest, anti-gay and right-wing blogs lit up with claims that "Weber got what he deserved." The now 18 year-old Katehis is being tried as an adult. Read Duncan Osborne's full report from the trial.

Killer Of George Weber Pleads Not Guilty: "I Stabbed Him 50 Times In Self-Defense"

Sixteen year-old John Katehis pleaded not guilty to the murder of former ABC newsman George Weber on Friday, claiming he was acting in self-defense when he stabbed Weber at least 50 times after meeting him on Craigslist. Predictably, Katehis' defense attorney Jeffrey Schwartz is attacking the character of the victim, claiming that Weber "lured the kid" and therefore, presumably, got what was coming to him.

"It seems like Mr. Weber had this whole secret life that no one knew about," Schwartz said. "He went by the name of SmotherBoy on Craigslist, which is a way he either lured or attempted to lure other underage boys into his lair, supplied them, or at least Mr. Katehis, with drugs and alcohol, attempted to get him to do some sadomasochistic sex to him and the situation got out of control." While Katehis's emotional parents would not comment, Schwartz said that his client is a confused teen. "He's a normal child who might have been boasting and bragging like we all do on his Facebook page to try to look like a macho ninja person," said Schwartz.

Katehis will be tried as an adult.

HomoQuotable - D.L. Foster

"No one knows when their time to die will come. If you are reading this and you have not given your life to Christ, don’t delay. Don’t turn a deaf ear and go on enjoying your sin. Don’t mock God or the people he sends to you to tell you time is winding up and your soul is at stake. The only payment you can receive from sin is death. And when death comes and you are not in relationship with Christ, hell and eternal torment await you. That’s not to scare you, its just the unfettered truth.

"Weber probably thought he was being smart to deride and mock the evangelists who tried to save him. He may have felt justified in his hatred of those sent to save him. Little has changed, people did it to Noah who preached for 100 years before the door closed and the rains began to fall. Weber may have thought being “comfortable with his sexuality” was right, but there is nothing worth losing your soul over. Nothing." - "Ex-gay" Pastor D.L. Foster, writing about the murder of ABC newsman George Weber. Foster found a post on Weber's personal blog in which he complained about being "molested" by "Jesus freaks" in NYC's Port Authority bus terminal. Since Weber scorned those sent to "save" him, Foster feels his murder was inevitable.

Over the weekend most of the major Christianist and anti-gay blogs lit up with posts about Weber, most of which describe him a "pedophile pervert" whose murder exemplifies the wrongness of being gay. Because we're all destined to by stabbed to death by a 16 year-old Satanist. Or should be.

Teen Killer Wants Cash For Interviews

The George Weber murder case has been chum in the water for NYC's tabloids, as it contains all their favorite buzz words. Teen Killer! Internet! Grisly Slay Scene! Dead Homo! But even the New York Post blanched at 16 year-old murderer John Katehis' demand to be paid cash for an interview.

John Katehis -- the Satan-worshipping 16-year-old charged with fatally stabbing radio newsman George Weber in a sex-for-cash-tryst gone bad -- still had money on his mind at the Bellevue psych ward today. When visited by a Post reporter, Katehis greedily said he'd only tell his side of the story "for cash." Wearing a light green jumpsuit and a menacing scowl on his face, Katehis again made clear there was only one way he'd spill the beans. "Is this a cash offer?" snarled Katehis. "Cash offers only!" Once it became clear no money would be exchanged, Katehis shot up and yelled again, "cash offers only!" and stormed out.

On Friday Katehis plead not guilty to the murder, despite reportedly having given the NYPD a complete confession.

Teen Killer Pleads Not Guilty

Although he has confessed to brutally stabbing to death gay ABC newsman George Weber, 16 year-old self-avowed Satanist John Katehis plead not guilty to second-degree murder today. Katehis claims that Weber offered to pay him $60 and give him cocaine in return for rough sex.

The troubled teen accused in the stabbing death of radio reporter George Weber is a Satan-loving sadomasochist and hustler who agreed to a drug-fueled rough sex romp for $60. Knife fetishist John Katehis, 16, stabbed Weber "50 times to the neck" and body, police said. "He and Weber met online sometime last week and had arranged to meet," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. "There was going to be an exchange of money." Katehis was charged as an adult with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon at his arraignment Wednesday night - charges that could send the tattooed teen to jail for a long time. He was held without bail.

After the murder Friday, Katehis shed his bloody clothes and fled Weber's pad in some of the victim's duds - only to land in cop custody after a G train conductor spotted his bleeding left hand, Kelly said. When cops nabbed him just before midnight Tuesday, Katehis was still dressed in Weber's clothes and carrying a dagger that was not the murder weapon, Kelly said. Katehis admitted stabbing Weber, a longtime WABC reporter, after answering an ad on Craigslist looking for rough sex."He saw the victim's ad looking for violent sex and said, 'I can smother somebody for $60,' but it got out of hand," a police source said.

Katehis' lawyer says his client "was being used by an older man." On right-wing sites, the victim is already being ridiculed as a pedophile "who got what he deserved."

Freepers react:
-"Do you think he had a great screaming for mercy voice?"
-"So the Pedophile got snuffed before being caught molesting children. Good riddance"
-"Otherwise known as the PROFILE of a typical Obama supporter."
-"any chance we can set this guy up with bawney fwank-they’d make a cute couple"
-"It's well known in the gay community that most gay men support NAMBLA’s quest to decriminalize gay sex between young boys and older men."

UPDATE: CNN's Rick Sanchez add his usual hyperbole to the story. Both Sanchez and his guest can't get over that somebody actually hooked up via the internet, calling it "poor judgment". Speaking of poor judgment, you might not know that in 1990, when Sanchez was a local reporter in Miami, he fled the scene after drunkenly running over a man as he exited Dolphins Stadium. The man later died and Sanchez plead guilty to DUI. Good judgment, eh? None of us in Miami could believe it when Sanchez returned to the airwaves.

This Is George Weber's Murderer

The MySpace page of murdered gay newsman George Weber's 16 year-old killer has been found and it's extremely disturbing. From John Katehis' profile:

My name is John, I am sixteen years of age and live in Queens, New York. I enjoy long conversations, drinking, bike riding, hanging out, roof hopping, hanging off trains, any type of Parkour exercise, Extreme Violence (chaos, Anarchy, ect..) Video Games, Violent Movies and listening to my ipod. I am a very easy person to talk to. I like to do crazy and wild things.im like an adrenaline junkie, I'm always looking for a big thrill, I'm a big risk taker and like to live life on the edge.I am an Extremist, an Anarchist,and a Sadomasochist. As long as you show respect for me i will show respect for you, if you disrespect me, then i will fucking break your neck. To learn more about me just send me a message or catch me on aim, my screen name is johnkatehis92, my yahoo is greeksatan92@yahoo.com, johnkatehis92@yahoo.com and my msn is greekjohn92@hotmail.com. You can ask me any kind of questions, I am always happy to chat with a new person.

Katehis' MySpace page features numerous photos of him brandishing various weapons. Did this kid not have parents? How does a 16 year-old amass a large collection of swords and knives? I wasn't even allowed to own comic books.