A transgender woman who killed three prostitutes in 1990 may have been motivated by jealousy, a criminologist has suggested.
Donna Perry — who used to be known as Douglas Perry before undergoing sex reassignment surgery in 2000 — murdered 26-year-old Yolanda Sapp, 34-year-old Nickie Lowe, and 38-year-old Kathy Brisbois.
Their naked or partially exposed bodies were found dumped on the banks of the Spokane River in Washington state.
When she was finally arrested in connection with the crimes five years ago, she claimed she had transitioned into a woman to prevent her masculine persona from turning violent.
“Douglas didn’t quit, Donna quit,” Perry told police about the murders, according to an affidavit filed in January 2014. “I’m not going to admit that I killed anyone, I didn’t.” Donna didn’t kill anyone.’
Donna Perry — who used to be known as Douglas Perry before undergoing sex reassignment surgery in 2000 — was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in 2017. In the photo before the transition
When asked if Doug was responsible, she replied, “I don’t know if Doug did it or not, it was 20 years ago and I have no idea if he did it or not,” said ABC news.
And crime expert Brian Frederick narrated Channel 5’s latest episode of Making a Serial Killer. which is available on My 5, that Perry may have chosen the victims based on their appearance.
“I imagine there was also a bit of jealousy,” he told the documentary.
He picked some attractive victims, perhaps more attractive than he ever intended to be as Donna, and he felt they were wasting this beauty by giving sex to other men who didn’t necessarily have the purpose he had . He was mission oriented.’
Jim Dresback, a former Spokane detective, said Perry’s ex-girlfriend Claire-Anne — who was also a sex worker who suffered from cocaine addiction — may also have served as motivation.
“It was interesting that Claire-Anne was in jail the night two of these people were killed,” he told the program.
“Now she’s in jail again and that makes Doug Perry angry and then he finds someone to count on.
“And the first people he looks at are the people he thinks are getting in the way.”
A transgender woman who killed three prostitutes in 1990 may have been motivated by jealousy, a criminologist has suggested. Pictured is Kathy Brisbois, one of his victims
Crime expert Brian Frederick said on the Channel 5 episode of Making a Serial Killer, which aired Monday, that Perry chose the victims based on their appearance. In the photo: Yolanda Sapp
Their naked or partially exposed bodies were found dumped on the banks of the Spokane River in Washington state. Pictured: Nickie Lowe
Criminologist Brian also denied the common theory that “Douglas Perry decided to become Donna Perry to avoid conviction.”
“I’m not convinced of that,” he said. “I think that was the endgame all along.
“His recruiting of sex workers, his sex with them, disposing of the bodies, this deferential irreverence he had toward them was all part of the master plan.”
The expert referred to the killer’s childhood, which was marked by “hypermasculinity” and sexual harassment by her father.
“He had to perfect, he had to become, he had to escape the little boy who was raped by his father and become a woman who could actually have sex with other men. That was the game plan.’
“In Perry’s mind, Perry killed what he hated and then tried to become the perfection of it,” he added.
“Knowing full well that he wouldn’t get approved, knowing that he would have to leave the country to have that surgery — probably intensified his hatred of women because they were born with this, they didn’t have to go through the work he had to go through.
Experts have said in the past that there is no evidence that sex hormone therapy helps reduce aggression or violence. Donna Perry pictured during her trial
“They were not denied their sexuality.”
Experts have said in the past that there is no evidence that sex hormone therapy helps reduce aggression or violence.
Jack Halberstam, a transgender professor of American and gender studies at the University of Southern California, once said Perry’s published statements are a “weak defense.”
“Even if we are less aggressive as a person once we fix a sex disorder, that doesn’t absolve the responsibility of killing three women,” he said.
“As a legal defense, to hide the science, it’s absolute nonsense.”
He added, “Making being transgender a motivating factor for murder is almost like the horror movie “Dressed to Kill.” It directly feeds the horror stories of gender identity disorders.”
Brian Harris, a homicide detective, also told the Channel 5 program that the fact that Donna Perry is transgender has nothing to do with her being a murderer.
“When you came before the law, did Donna Perry know when she was Douglas Perry that taking life was wrong? Was against the law? And it would clearly be yes. It would be absolutely yes.
‘For the law it doesn’t matter what the genitals say, in this case what matters is what the DNA says.
‘Donna Perry, Douglas Perry…they’re one and the same. They are the killers. Donna Perry is not a sex offender. Donna Perry is a serial killer.’
The victims’ families hugged and cried in the court corridor at the end of the trial, which took place 27 years after the serial killings, in 2017.
“I’m so glad it’s finally over and that we have some kind of closure for my aunt and these two other women. It’s amazing,” said Chilsea Patzer, Nickie Lowe’s niece KREM2 at the time.
All three victims were sex workers in Spokane and were all shot over a four-month period in 1990.
The cases remained unsolved until 2012, when Perry was convicted in federal court of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
During that investigation, her DNA was entered into a national database and matched evidence in the cold-case murders.
The families of the victims hugged and cried in the court corridor at the conclusion of the trial, which took place 27 years after the serial murders in 2017. Donna pictured during the trial
Prosecutors argued during the two-and-a-half week trial that Perry changed her gender to avoid suspicion of the serial killings.
“She castrated herself like you would a farm animal,” Deputy Prosecutor Sharon Hedlund told the jury at the conclusion of oral argument.
A woman who shared a cell with Perry while serving time in an Oregon prison in 1998 told police that Perry confided in her that she killed prostitutes “because she couldn’t breed and the women had the opportunity to have children and they were wasting’. it’s “pond scum”.’
Defense attorney Pat Donahue tried to convince the jury that his client’s DNA and fingerprints were linked to the victims because, as a man, Perry had used the services of prostitutes.