WETHERSFIELD, Conn. -- A teenager who was molested as a child and 'hated fags' told authorities he and a friend killed a man with a fireplace log because he was a homosexual, police said Friday.
In a statement to police, Marcos Perez, 16, of Hartford, confessed to killing Richard Reihl, 33, after meeting him outside a bar and accepting an invitation to his condominium.
'I told the guy (Reihl) how I hated fags and how I wanted to kill him,' Perez, who was under a suicide watch at Hartford's Morgan Street jail, wrote in a statement.
The teenager, who told police he was molested by a homosexual when he was 8, said Reihl pleaded for his life and tried to escape early May 15.
Perez said he and Sean Burke, 17, of Hartford, taped Reihl's mouth and beat him outside his condominium. The pair later returned to make sure he was dead and Burke struck him again with the log, Perez said.
Perez and Burke appeared in New Britain Superior Court Thursday on charges of felony murder and first-degree robbery.
Their bonds were continued at $200,000 each and both were being held in separate cells at the Hartford jail pending further court action June 20.
Burke, the starting quarterback on South Catholic High School's football team, and Perez, who attends Bulkeley High School, turned themselves in Wednesday.
Perez gave police a chilling account of how he and Burke allegedly cruised around a Hartford bar frequented by homosexuals and met Reihl outside.
Perez said Reihl flashed his headlightsto get the teens' attention and Perez and Burke discussed whether they should beat him.
The pair followed Reihl to his home, where Burke and Reihl went upstairs, and they returned with Burke 'looking angry,' Perez said.
'Sean went to the fireplace area and picked up a log and we looked at each other, both realizing, this guy's going to die,' Perez wrote in his statement.
He said Burke struck Reihl twice on the head with the log, but Riehl escaped and ran outside. They grabbed Reihl, who begged for his life, but Perez said he 'started to lose it' and punched Reihl.
Perez said they told Reihl to lay down on the grass and Perez said Burke told him to tape Reihl's mouth.
'I was really losing it now and Sean was holding me back from hitting him with the log,' Perez said. 'He just let me go and said go ahead, so I walked over to the guy and hit him one time in the head. This was the hardest hit I ever did and it was a loud noise.'
The body of Reihl, who was a systems analyst for Aetna Life Insurance Co., was discovered by two newspaper carriers.
Prosecutors called the slaying 'gay bashing.'
Leaders of homosexual groups said the incidents were part of escalating violence.
'We are as a community outraged at this kind of anti-gay violence,' said John G. Bonelli, co-chairman of the Connecticut Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights.
Reihl's brother, Robert, said family members knew about Richard Reihl's homosexuality and 'one of his foremost traits was to be able to deal with what he was.'
