An openly gay Dallas man was murdered and dismembered inside his apartment on or before Sept. 4, according to police, and the jailed suspect’s father speculated that his son was involved in prostitution.
However, one longtime friend of the victim maintained it wouldn’t have been like 38-year-old Richard Hernandez to solicit sex, while another warned against jumping to conclusions.
Hernandez is presumed dead after Dallas police discovered a gruesome murder scene inside his apartment at 3939 Rosemeade Parkway in Far North Dallas, according to an arrest warrant. As of Thursday, Sept. 11, Hernandez’s remains had yet to be found.
Purchases made on Hernandez’s debit card led police to the suspect, 29-year-old Seth Lawton Winder, who’s now in Dallas County jail charged with capital murder.
Police reportedly found pornographic images of Winder that had been taken inside Hernandez’s apartment, the warrant states. The images were on a digital camera that was recovered from a garage at the home of Winder’s father.
But Winder’s father said he doesn’t think his son is gay.
“To my knowledge, Seth wasn’t that way,” Rodney Winder said. “I’m pretty sure he was probably prostituting himself just because he was homeless. If he’s gay I don’t know it. I’m sure that he was probably just trying to survive, being homeless like he was. Plus he’s mentally ill.”
Read the full story from the Dallas Voice.
