02/05/2002 "Defense says unwanted homosexual advance led to killing"

Defense says unwanted homosexual advance led to killing
- By Glenn Puit (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

A Las Vegas defense attorney told jurors that an unwanted homosexual advance led to an April killing that one prosecutor has termed a possible hate crime.

Deputy Public Defender Tom Ericsson said his client, Gregory Amato, resolved to teach Jimmie Ingle a lesson after the married California man made a pass at him in the desert outside Laughlin.

But he said Amato never intended to kill Ingle. And as he left the scene, Amato had no idea of the severity of the beating he had administered, the attorney said. "There was a physical, sexual advance made and the two of them got into a very serious, very strenuous fight," Ericsson said.

Clark County Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo told jurors that on the night of the killing, Amato and Ingle met at a gay bar. The two then traveled to the desert off James Bilbray Road in Laughlin, where Ingle was bludgeoned with a 13-pound rock. DiGiacomo said evidence will show that the defendant used the victim's truck and credit cards in the hours after the incident.

"One theory could be it's a hate crime," DiGiacomo said. "Another potential theory is that this defendant could be gay, and that he is preying on other people who are gay." Amato maintains he is heterosexual.

Amato, 37, of Bullhead City, Ariz., is charged with murder in the death of Ingle, 57, of Needles, Calif. He also is charged with burglary, robbery, grand larceny of an auto, fraudulent use of credit cards and
possession of a stolen vehicle.

Ericsson said Amato and Ingle went to smoke marijuana in the desert outside of Laughlin, where Ingle made a pass at Amato. Ericsson said Amato acknowledges the advance angered him, and said his client knew when he left the scene that he had gotten the better of Ingle. But he said Amato had no idea the fight would lead to Ingle's death.

"We are not here to deny he was mad and that he was going to teach Mr. Ingle a lesson," Ericsson said.
DiGiacomo told the jury that after the slaying, Ingle's truck and credit cards were stolen. The cards were later used to book a hotel room and to buy gas, cigarettes and beer in both Laughlin and Bullhead
City.

Some of those purchases, at a Wal-Mart and gas stations, were captured on security videotape, DiGiacomo said, and Amato is the individual pictured in the stores. DiGiacomo said a prostitute will testify that Amato picked her up on the night of the slaying. The woman, whom the prosecutor described as a drug addict, will testify that Amato identified himself as Ingle, and that the two stayed the night at a motel in Bullhead City. There, Amato offered to sell her Ingle's pickup for $500.

The woman went to a park in Bullhead City, turned some tricks to gather money and then purchased the truck for about $300. DiGiacomo said the prostitute will testify that Amato made an incriminating statement during a subsequent meeting with her. "I can't believe you bought the story about the truck," DiGiacomo quoted Amato as saying. "This is a dead man's truck."