The disturbing true story of the murder of a gay man that inspired Stephen King’s ‘It’

On July 7, 1984, three teenagers in Bangor, Maine, killed Charlie Howard because he was gay.

The crime shocked many Bangor residents, including Stephen King, the city’s most famous resident. King moved his family to Bangor in 1980 to write his horror novel He. He later acknowledged the horror of Charlie Howard’s murder and commemorated it in the second chapter of HeThe trio of killers, Jim Baines (15), Shawn Mabry (16) and Daniel Ness (17), killed Charlie at a festival celebrating Bangor’s 150th anniversary and American Independence Day. While King’s novel FSeen as an evil, murderous clown, King refused to let Bangor off the hook for killing Charlie. “It was that town,” a witness to the murder tells police in the novel.

This month marks the 40th anniversary of Howard’s murder. It is essential to honor Charlie’s life and mourn the violence that robbed him of his future.

In the aftermath of Charlie Howard’s murder, the Bangor Daily News The newspaper sought to control the narrative of the crime. On Tuesday, July 10, it reported the killing in two front-page stories, separating the attackers from the victim. The newspaper described the killers as “young people from Bangor,” “minors,” and children “in the care of their parents.” The reporter emphasized their vulnerability, noting that one of them was wearing a camp T-shirt and the other had red eyes as if he had been crying. The reporter also mentioned the presence of the defendants’ families and friends in court to emphasize their family ties and their connections to the local community.

In this last story, the Bangor Daily News The subhead immediately telegraphed Charlie’s status as an outsider: “Bangor gay man’s extravagance may have made him a target.” Charlie wore makeup, wore an earring, carried a purse, and “didn’t care who knew he loved other men.” The cover emphasized Charlie’s status as an outsider and sexual other by describing how he had “drifted” to Bangor from Ellsworth, Maine, after breaking up with “his lover.” Eventually, Charlie lived in a rooming house that he paid for with “welfare.”

Through these details, the journalist implied that Charlie, by choosing to present herself as “feminine” and “flamboyant,” ultimately “sealed her fate.”

It’s important to acknowledge that Charlie Howard, who had lived mostly alone since he was 16, lived openly as a gay person, which was a bold move in the early 1980s. Today, almost everyone in the United States has a connection to an LGBTQ+ person and knows it. In 1984, it was easy for straight people to believe that they didn’t personally know anyone who was gay or lesbian because so many people were in the closet.

Charlie knew it was risky to live openly. In Bangor, a woman had harassed him in a store, bigots had vandalized his first apartment, and someone had strangled his kitten and left it on his doorstep. Yet Charlie dared to believe that the homophobes were wrong. He built a network of friends and refused to isolate himself or become bitter. The night he died, Charlie had attended a gay support group in downtown Bangor with his boyfriend.

THE The Bangor Daily News On July 10, the double narrative blurred the defendants’ culpability in Charlie’s death. By reporting on the minor defendants, the Bangor Daily Investigators relied on official criminal justice sources to downplay the juveniles’ role in the killing. A police affidavit said Howard’s “acute asthma” contributed to his death. But Charlie died quickly when the boys threw him off the Main Street Bridge into Kenduskeag Creek, 25 feet below, after he told them he couldn’t swim. The Maine attorney general described bruises and lacerations around Charlie’s head and face, but stressed that they couldn’t pinpoint when the injuries occurred.

In the midst of their reporting on the accused, Bangor Daily News He also covered up another police statement claiming that Jim Baines, the youngest defendant, had “recognised” Charlie, aged 23, “as someone who had made sexual comments to him a few weeks ago”. This false claim implied that Charlie had an inappropriate interest in boys.

The actual trajectory of the murder, not reported by Bangor Dailybegan when Jim, while driving with his friends, saw Charlie walking arm in arm with his boyfriend after attending the gay support group at the Unitarian Church. Jim told his friends to pull over, got out of the car and approached Charlie and asked, “Are you gay?” The boys then attacked Charlie and his partner and drove off laughing. Charlie never expressed any romantic interest in Jim.

The newspaper began publishing editorials in an attempt to thwart any potential civil rights efforts on behalf of gays and lesbians. In one, the newspaper attempted to placate those shocked by the murder. The article acknowledged the depravity of the violence but claimed that homosexual assaults occurred everywhere, not just in Bangor. The anonymous author then attempted to link this supposedly common violence to the increased presence of gay men in the state. At one point, the author claimed that the state Department of Transportation had had to temporarily close a rest area to “make certain gathering places less attractive to homosexuals.” In an interview with Bangor police on July 26, Bangor Daily Authorities extended their criminalization of homosexuals to the geography of Bangor itself, designating a downtown street as “Gay Alley.” However, neither the police nor the newspaper provided any evidence to support their claims.

Unfortunately, this hasn’t stopped some homophobic Bangor residents from dubbing the bridge Charlie was thrown over “Chuck A Homo Bridge,” mixing their hatred with their obsession with mapping gay spaces in their city.

Despite the heavy, controlling hand of the Bangor Daily NewsCharlie’s murder sparked a massive civil rights backlash. The night after the miners’ first court appearance, two hundred members of the Gay Lesbian Straight Coalition, recognizable by their purple ribbons, gathered on State Bridge and threw roses into Kenduskeag Creek. Then they marched through town, holding candles, and gathered outside Bangor police headquarters to sing the refrain: “We are friends of Charlie Howard, and we sing for his life.”

Bangor Daily News responded with an editorial on July 14 titled “Not a Martyr.”

Writing that Maine citizens had “wisely rejected gay rights legislation” four times in the past, Bangor Daily LGBTQ+ advocates have warned against using Charlie Howard to push through pro-LGBTQ+ legislation. As some right-wing media outlets are doing today, their report claims that while gays and lesbians have equal rights under the law, LGBTQ+ people want their own “special rights.”

The Bangor Local School Board, however, recognized the importance of addressing the underlying causes of homophobic violence. It quickly organized a meeting with teachers and administrators to discuss the attackers who had attended their school, concluding that it would be too disruptive for them to bring them to school in the fall. While awaiting trial, they were assigned a tutor to homeschool them. Teachers also spoke with the board about the increase in homophobic remarks in their schools. In response, a subcommittee was formed to identify approaches to teach students tolerance and respect for gays and lesbians, which would eventually lead to new hiring and classroom policies to create a safe and respectful environment within the schools.

On August 22, Bangor Daily The newspaper criticized the school board for “overreacting” because schools “should not foster ideas, values, and lifestyles.” In its reporting, the newspaper focused on Hermann C. Frankland, the homophobic pastor of Bangor Baptist Church, to introduce the issue to readers. In an interview, Rev. Frankland accused the Bangor School Board of teaching “the homosexual lifestyle” to students. A few weeks later, on September 5, Paul Reynolds, the newspaper’s news editor, laid it out in an editorial in which he proudly declared himself “a heterosexual who opposes the removal of social sanctions against homosexuals.” Reynolds also attacked supporters of women’s rights and those who advocated for reparations for Native Americans and Japanese American citizens interned during World War II.

Finally, on October 5, 1984, the three youths pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and were sentenced to two years in prison by the Maine Juvenile Youth Authority. Shawn Mabry and Jim Baines have all spoken to the media since their release and have both spoken out about the dangers of instilling homophobic values ​​in youth.

While Charlie Howard’s murder shocked Maine residents, the violence he faced throughout his life — for living openly — is as real today as it was in 1984.

Since 2016, LGBTQ+ people in the United States have increasingly been targeted for harassment and murder, with Republican politicians proposing more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills. And as election season unfolds, the Heritage FoundationProject 2025 In the face of threats to LGBTQ+ rights, the question is no longer who Charlie Howard was, but how many people must die like Charlie Howard.

Dr. Warren Carsten Andresen is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at St. Edward’s University. His research focuses on gay and transgender homicides. Dr. Andresen’s work has been published in Homicide Studies and Women & Criminal Justice. He is currently working on a study of 750 homicides involving the gay and transgender panic defense from 1970 to 2024.

Voice The Advocate is dedicated to showcasing a wide range of inspiring personal stories and powerful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit Advocate.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines and email us at [email protected]. The opinions expressed in Voices articles are those of the guest authors, columnists, and editors, and do not necessarily represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.