Thornton man arrested in killing of transgender woman

By Mike Peters
Greeley Tribune
1st August 2008

A Greeley transgender woman was apparently murdered this month because a man she met on the Internet became angry when he discovered she was biologically male.

The Weld District Attorney charged Allen Ray Andrade, 32, of Thornton with second-degree murder and aggravated motor vehicle theft Wednesday after Thornton police arrested him on traffic warrants and Greeley police arrested him thereafter on the murder charge. He was picked up while he was in the dead woman’s car.

The news came as an incredible relief for Angie Zapata’s sister, Monica Zapata.

“I thought they were never going to find him, honestly, I was doubting the police. I was doubting everybody. I just thought he was going to be out there forever,” Monica Zapata said in an interview with Fox 31. “But when they called me and they told me I was the first one they called, it lifted away from me — that knot from your throat, like it was not there anymore.”

An arrest affidavits shows Andrade told officers he met Angie Zapata on the Internet and they got together in Greeley. When he discovered Zapata was biologically male, he beat her to death with a fire extinguisher.

Zapata, who was born Justin Zapata, was a transgender woman who lived under the name Angie.

Crystal Middlestadt of the Anti-Violence Project in Denver said Wednesday the circumstances of the story make it appear that Zapata was at fault for her own murder because she was a transgender woman. “We’ve found in most of these cases,” Middlestadt said, “the suspect has a bias against transgender women, so it isn’t the fault of the victim.”

Zapata was found by her sister in a southeast Greeley apartment on July 17. She had been severely beaten and died from blows to the head and face, according to the Weld County Coroner’s Office.

Angie Zapata’s three older sisters — Monica, Ashley Zapata and Stephanie Zapata — said it is hard to fathom that the killing was not a hate crime. Thus, according to Monica Zapata, in Angie’s death lies a message.

“I feel everyone needs to get educated about it and to leave them alone and not to hurt them,” Monica Zapata said in the Fox interview. “They’re not going to hurt anybody. To leave them alone, to leave every gay person, every lesbian, every transsexual — to leave them alone. They’re just like us.”

“Everybody bleeds red,” continued Stephanie Zapata, beginning to wipe away tears. “We’re all the same.”

In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner praised his detectives “for working around the clock to solve this case.”

Weld District Attorney Ken Buck released the court affidavit, which traced the investigation from the night of the murder to Andrade’s arrest Wednesday morning.

Thornton police were called on a loud noise complaint about 1:45 a.m. Wednesday and arrived at the scene — the 9400 block of Hoffman Way — to find Andrade sitting in a green 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser, which was Zapata’s car.

“Me and my sisters call each other at 1:30 every morning because that’s the time we can’t sleep,” Monica Zapata said. “That’s the time they caught him.”

Andrade was first arrested for outstanding parking tickets, and when Thornton police found the car was possibly involved in the Greeley homicide, they called Greeley police.

The affidavit stated Andrade had been driving the car since the homicide, and Zapata’s credit card also had been used to buy gasoline in Thornton.

When Greeley police questioned Andrade, he admitted to killing Zapata, according to the affidavit. He said they met through a dating Web site, Mocospace, and decided to meet each other face-to-face.

On July 15 — two days before the murder — Zapata drove to Thornton, picked up Andrade and drove back to Greeley. They stayed in Zapata’s apartment overnight, and Zapata had oral sex with Andrade, although “Zapata did not allow him to touch Zapata sexually or otherwise,” the affidavit stated.

Andrade said he was left alone in the apartment the next day — July 16 — and began to question Zapata’s sex after studying some of the photos in the apartment.

When Zapata came home, Andrade confronted her, asking her if she was a man or a woman. Zapata said, “I am all woman.”

But Andrade said he grabbed Zapata and realized she had male genitalia. He punched her in the face and head, then grabbed a fire extinguisher and beat Zapata unconscious.

Court records state Andrade thought he’d killed Zapata and began to clean up the apartment to hide evidence when Zapata regained consciousness and sat up. Andrade then beat her again with the fire extinguisher until she was dead.

When he talked about the homicide, Andrade told Greeley police detective Greg Tharp he thought he’d killed “it,” referring to Zapata.

When asked about Andrade’s reference to “it,” Garner called the statement a “disgusting and a horrible thing to say.”

Garner and Buck also were asked by a reporter if this type of crime is typical in Greeley, and both answered negatively. Said Buck: “Greeley is a very tolerant community, but we aren’t tolerant of someone who harms our people.”

The charge of second-degree murder may change in the next 72 hours, Buck said, as they study Andrade’s story. It could be changed to first-degree murder, or it could also be classified as a hate crime, which would add another felony to the charges against Andrade.

With tears rolling down her face, Angie’s sister Ashley said she is still finding it hard to find closure — even with the arrest.

“I don’t know because he still took my sister,” Ashley Zapata said. “Even if he’s in (prison), he’s still going to get fed, he’s still going to get taken care of — my sister’s not. He’s still going to be able to talk to his family. They’re going to be able to tell him they love him and what? We can’t tell Angie. Angie was a big part of our lives, she was.”

SUSPECT RECORD Although Allen Ray Andrade has no record in Greeley or Weld County, the Weld District Attorney’s Office said he has several Adams County convictions: • Attempted first-degree criminal trespassing, served 18 months in prison. • Attempted theft, 18 months in prison. • Possession of contraband, 1 year. • Attempted escape, two years. • Attempted theft by receiving, three years.

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