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'''James "Jimmy" Patrick Zappalorti''' (September 29, 1945 – January 22, 1990), a disabled veteran of the [[Vietnam War]], was the victim of a highly publicized, fatal [[gay-bashing]] attack on [[Staten Island, New York]]. The murder led to increased efforts to pass a statewide [[Hate crime laws in the United States#Laws by state|hate crime law]], which was ultimately enacted in 2000.

== Biography ==
Born in [[Brooklyn]], Zappalorti moved to [[Staten Island]] in 1950, his family settling in the [[Charleston, Staten Island|Charleston]] neighborhood.  The family ran a stained-glass business whose clients included approximately 30 churches on the island and others as far away as the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] and [[Canada]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Duga |first=Amanita |title=Man is murdered near beach shack |url=https://expo.advance.net/img/75ec45d48e/width960/473_zappmurderfrontpage.jpeg |newspaper=Staten Island Advance |date=January 24, 1990 |access-date=August 12, 2019}}</ref>

After attending [[Church of Our Lady Help of Christians (Staten Island, New York)|Our Lady Help of Christians School]] in [[Tottenville]], Zappalorti attended [[Tottenville High School]], but dropped out before graduating in order to enlist in the [[United States Navy]] on November 27, 1962. His mother signed the parental consent form (necessary because he was not yet 18 years old), after his father refused to do so.

Zappalorti served as a [[Seaman (rank)#United States|seaman]] aboard the [[USS Henrico|USS ''Henrico'']], which saw action in the [[Vietnam War]]. He was placed on disabled status and honorably discharged on April 5, 1965, after a nervous breakdown from a traumatic incident in which he was assaulted by some shipmates and his partner was killed.<ref>{{cite web|title=NYC Council Meeting Minutes (pg. 25, sec. 21)|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/downloads/pdf/cityrecord/012215.pdf#page=25|access-date=August 20, 2018|work=NYC Government|date=January 22, 2015|archive-date=February 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206185304/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/downloads/pdf/cityrecord/012215.pdf#page=25|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=NYT>{{cite news|last=Lorch |first=Donatella|title=Death of a 'Lost Soul': A Gentle Man Is Killed in His Sanctuary|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/26/nyregion/death-of-a-lost-soul-a-gentle-man-is-killed-in-his-sanctuary.html|access-date=August 8, 2018|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 26, 1990}}</ref>

== Murder ==
Upon his return to Staten Island, Zappalorti did not hold down a formal job but was frequently seen in the neighborhood planting trees and clearing away debris. His life came to an abrupt end on the evening of January 22, 1990, after Zappalorti bought beer and invited a neighborhood resident and his companion to a small hut he had built on the beach beyond the woods across the street from his family's home.  Once there, the duo demanded Zappalorti's wallet. After he tossed it away, the neighbor, Michael Taylor, 20 years old, pulled out a hunting knife and stabbed him three times in the chest and abdomen, causing his death. The duo then attempted to rob Zappalorti's house using his keys, but were discovered by his mother. Zappalorti's brother, Michael Zappalorti Jr., discovered the body the following day.  A subsequent autopsy showed four stab wounds, and authorities speculate that the fourth wound was inflicted by Taylor's accomplice, identified as 26-year-old Phillip Sarlo.<ref name=NYT /><ref name=NYT-1>{{cite news |first=James C. |last=McKinley, Jr. |title=S.I. Man, 44, Stabbed Dead On His Beach |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/25/nyregion/si-man-44-stabbed-dead-on-his-beach.html |access-date=August 8, 2018 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 25, 1990}}</ref>

Taylor was taken into custody at 2:30 A.M. on January 24 as he stepped outside a bar in the [[South Beach, Staten Island|South Beach]] section of Staten Island, but Sarlo fled the area and was not apprehended until February 18, after he was found in [[Ocala, Florida]].  [[Gay rights]] activists asked [[New York State]] Governor [[Mario Cuomo]] to appoint a special prosecutor to the case, citing the fact that Staten Island District Attorney [[William L. Murphy]] had been the only one of the city's five district attorneys to oppose the city's anti-gay-discrimination law when it was passed in 1986. Also, in that same year, Murphy had prosecuted a carjacking case that resulted in Taylor, then 16 years old, being adjudicated a juvenile offender when he could have been tried as an adult, and Sarlo receiving a sentence of 1½ to 4½ years, the minimum then possible on the charges for which he had been indicted.

In both the 1986 carjacking case and the Zappalorti murder, Taylor, in statements he made to the police, cited animosity toward homosexuals as a motive for the crime.<ref name=UPI/> (The victim in the 1986 case was attacked near a boardwalk in the South Beach area reportedly frequented by homosexuals, and Zappalorti's sexual orientation was common knowledge in the neighborhood where both he and Taylor resided.) Sarlo, however, denied harboring such sentiments.

== Verdict ==
The Zappalorti case never went to trial, because on December 5, 1990, after extensive "[[plea-bargaining]]" negotiations, both Taylor and Sarlo plead guilty to charges of second-degree [[murder]]. (In New York State at the time, first-degree murder applied only if the victim was a law-enforcement officer or the killer was already serving a life sentence for a previous murder.)  It is reported that the district attorney's office was reluctant to go to trial because of fears the defendants might have attempted to use the [[gay panic defense]], and may have garnered considerable sympathy from a potential jury in culturally conservative, heavily [[Roman Catholic]] Staten Island.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Taylor received a prison sentence of 23 years to life while Sarlo was sentenced to 18 years to life.  On May 30, 1997, Sarlo killed himself at the maximum-security [[Wende Correctional Facility]] outside [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]]. Taylor was also incarcerated at a maximum-security institution, and was denied parole in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020.<ref name=Daily>{{cite news|last=Krajicek |first=David J.|title=Murder at the beach – 'Lost' but 'good' soul of Arthur Kill|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/murder-beach-lost-good-soul-arthur-kill-article-1.187457|access-date=August 8, 2018|newspaper=NY Daily News|date=October 24, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Donnelly |first=Frank |title=He killed Vietnam vet James Zappalorti near shack; now he's denied parole again |url=https://expo.silive.com/news/erry-2018/10/73919c96671503/he-killed-vietnam-vet-james-za.html |newspaper=Staten Island Advance |date=October 26, 2018 |access-date=August 12, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Donnelly |first=Frank |title=Killer's prison admission: Vet knifed because he was gay; he might 'be my best friend' today |url=https://www.silive.com/crime/2020/11/killers-prison-admission-vet-knifed-because-he-was-gay-he-might-be-my-best-friend-today.html |newspaper=Staten Island Advance |date=November 19, 2020 |access-date=November 28, 2020}}</ref>

== Aftermath ==
The 1990 killing of James Zappalorti was recognized as the first anti-gay hate crime in New York City since police began categorizing such crimes in 1980.<ref name=UPI>{{cite news|last=Mandulo|first=Rhea|title=Funeral held for Vietnam vet slain in anti-gay attack|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/01/27/Funeral-held-for-Vietnam-vet-slain-in-anti-gay-attack/5388633416400/|access-date=August 20, 2018|work=United Press International|date=January 27, 1990}}</ref> One of Zappalorti's nephews was hospitalized for his own gay-bashing in 1993 at age 22, in nearby [[Rossville, Staten Island]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Attack on nephew of murder victim is labeled bias |first=Angela |last=Mosconi |newspaper=Staten Island Advance |date=July 7, 1993}}</ref> The murder and subsequent attacks led to increased efforts to pass a statewide [[Hate crime laws in the United States#Laws by state|hate crime law]], which was supported by Mayor [[David Dinkins]] and [[John Cardinal O'Connor]] and ultimately enacted in 2000.<ref name=UPI/><ref>{{cite news|last=Brozan|first=Nadine|title=Rise in Anti-Gay Crimes Is Reported in New York|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/07/nyregion/rise-in-anti-gay-crimes-is-reported-in-new-york.html|access-date=August 20, 2018|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 7, 1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Fitzgerald|first=Jim|title=NY Signs Hate-Crime Law|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96569|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821093802/https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96569 |archive-date=August 21, 2018 |publisher=ABC News |date=July 10, 2000 |url-status=unfit}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Hernandez|first=Raymond|title=Pataki Signs Bill Raising Penalties In Hate Crimes|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/11/nyregion/pataki-signs-bill-raising-penalties-in-hate-crimes.html|access-date=August 20, 2018|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 11, 2000}}</ref> On May 29, 2015, a street in [[Charleston, Staten Island]], was renamed in honor of Zappalorti.<ref>{{cite news|last=DeRosa |first=Nicole|title=Street renamed in honor of a murdered veteran Jimmy Zappalorti|url=https://www.silive.com/southshore/index.ssf/2015/05/street_renamed_in_honor_of_a_l.html|access-date=August 8, 2018|newspaper=Staten Island Advance|date=May 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Jimmy Zappalorti Lane|url=https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/jimmy-zappalorti-lane/|work=NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project|access-date=August 8, 2018}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[History of violence against LGBT people in the United States]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite book |url=http://stainedglasswindowsjimmy.com |title=Stained Glass Windows: The life and death of Jimmy Zappalorti |first=Robert |last=Zappalorti |year=2014 |publisher=Words Take Flight Books |isbn=978-0692291771}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zappalorti, James}}
[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:1990 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ military personnel]]
[[Category:American victims of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes]]
[[Category:Deaths by stabbing in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Gay military personnel]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:People from Staten Island]]
[[Category:People murdered in New York City]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:United States Navy sailors]]
[[Category:Violence against gay men in the United States]]
[[Category:Violence against men in the United States]]