Sean Ethan Owen

Sean Ethan Owen (1981 — 2004) was a gay American white man who was murdered in Durham, North Carolina in February 2004. Owen's body was found in the Eno River after he was shot twice and apparently left for dead.cite news |author=Associated Press |publisher=News 14 |title=Teen sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping, murder |url=http://news14.com/Default.aspx?ArID=72519 |date=2005-07-22 |accessdate=2007-11-07 ]

Matthew Taylor, Derrick Maiden, and Shelton Epps met Owen through a gay.com chatroom and lured him from his hometown of Franklintoncite news |author=Associated Press |publisher=News 14 |title=Three indicted in death of Franklinton man |url=http://news14.com/Default.aspx?ArID=46238 |date=2004-04-20 |accessdate=2007-11-07 ] to Durham, where they intended to rob him and steal his car. When Owen attempted to escape, they shot him twice in the chest and disposed of his body in the Eno River, where it was found on February 21, 2004. The shooter, Shelton Epps, was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment,cite news |author=Sirius OutQ News |publisher=The Advocate |title=Gay chat room killer sentenced in North Carolina |url=http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid25474.asp |date=2006-02-15 |accessdate=2007-11-07 ] as was Matthew Taylor. Derrick Maiden testified against Taylor and Epps as part of a plea bargain.

The circumstances of Owen's murder were linked to the murders of other gay men that were connected to the gay.com chatrooms. Police denied a connection between the murders, although some viewed the murders as hate crimes against LGBT people.cite news |author=Aisling Swift |publisher=Independent Weekly |title=Murders put gay community on alert |url=http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A21875 |date=2004-06-09 |accessdate=2007-11-07 ] Bloggers have since compared Owen's murder to highly publicized LGBT hate crimes like the murders of Matthew Shepard and Brandon Teena.cite web |author=terrance |publisher=The Republic of T. |title=The LGBT Hate Crime Project: Sean Ethan Owen |url=http://www.republicoft.com/2007/10/29/the-lgbt-hate-crime-project-sean-ethan-owen/ |date=2007-10-29 |accessdate=2007-11-07 ]

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