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Male Escorts Go On Trial For "Rough Sex" Murder Of Chelsea Man
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 29, 2015
Modified Sep 29, 2015
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 29, 2015
Modified Sep 29, 2015
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Over three years after his death, a Chelsea floral designer's alleged killers are finally on trial. A prosecutor said yesterday, "The defendants may not have intended the death of John Laubach, but there is no doubt they recklessly engaged in conduct that killed him."
Laubach was dead, found bound and gagged in his apartment West 22nd apartment in March 2012. Authorities initially considered that Edwin Faulkner and Juan Carlos Martinez-Herrera may have been hired by Laubach to take care of him after he suffered a stroke (a friend called them "grifters") and the pair were found in Florida after they tried to use his credit card.
Now the Manhattan DA's office say that Faulker and Martinez-Herrera were male escorts who killed Laubach during consensual sex. The Daily News reports that prosecutor Lanita "Hobbs admitted Laubach routinely paid young Hispanic males to come to his home for sex," but said, "This case is about the greed of the defendants and how far the defendants were willing to go to get what they wanted."
Faulkner's lawyer said, "John Laubach died engaged in raw sex for which no one is criminally responsible," and that they panicked when they realized Laubach was dead. Martinez-Herrera's lawyer promised, "The evidence will show that after Mr. Laubach died that these two young men did certain things which at first blush might not make sense to you."
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Chelsea
edwin faulkner
john laubach
Juan Carlos Martinez-Herrera
rough sex
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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