Gay Panic Defense Works: Man Acquitted After Stabbing Neighbor 61 Times

In March last year, Joseph Biedermann, 29, stabbed his Chicago neighbor 61 times with a medieval dagger, claiming he had kill Terrance Hauser, 38, in order to fend off an unwanted sexual advance. The gay panic defense worked.

On Friday, a Cook County jury acquitted him of first-degree murder, buying his claim that he was defending himself against an unwanted sexual advance, his mother confirmed Saturday. Biedermann, 30, killed Terrance Michael Hauser, 38, early on March 5, 2008, in the Barrington Lakes apartment complex on Hassell Road, where they lived in separate units. Police recovered a 7-inch dagger from the scene, Hoffman Estates police said after Biedermann's arrest. During last week's trial in the Rolling Meadows branch of Cook County Circuit Court, Biedermann's attorney, Sam Adam Jr., claimed that Hauser threatened Biedermann, which forced Biedermann to use the dagger to defend himself, according to a published report. Both men were drunk.

Biedermann was defended by the same lawyer who got R. Kelly cleared of child molestation. He also represents former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.