VERMONT'S NEWSPAPER FOR LESBIANS, GAY MEN, AND BISEXUALS

Volume VI, Number 3

 

April 1991

California Man Murdered in Waterbury

In the early morning hours of Tuesday,
March 26, John Scott Irons was brutally
murdered with a knife by Douglas Mason,
a resident of Barre. Mason claims that he
was defending himself against a sexual
advance made by the victim.

Irons, 49, was a resident of Long
Beach, California, and had returned to
Vermont to attend the funeral of his mother,
Lillian Irons of Montpelier, who had
passed away on Monday.

According to police records, Irons and
Mason met one another at a bar in Water-
bury before leaving together and checking
out a room at the Heiress Motel in Barre.
Police later found Irons lying naked on the
floor of the bathroom with multiple knife
wounds to the back and chest.

Police apprehended Mason later in the

Vermont Law School
Hosts Gay/Lesbian
Legal Seminar

On Thursday, March 14, alegal educa-
tion seminar was held at the Vermont Law
School (VLS) in South Royalton entitled
“Legal Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay
Concerns in the l990’s." Nearly seventy
people, many of them Vermont lawyers
and law students, attended the informative
session, which was sponsored by the VLS
Alliance for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual
Students; the VLS Student Bar Associa-
tion, and the Vermont Law School itself.

—Susan Sussman of the Vermont Hu-
man Rights Commission moderated the
panel discussion, which included Mary
Bonauto of the Gay and Lesbian Advocates
and Defenders (GLAAD) in Boston;
Heather Wishik, a practicing lawyer in
Vermont; and Evan Wolfson of the
Lambda Legal Defense and Education
Fund in New York.

day, reportedly after pulling him over for
driving with a suspended license. At the
time, Mason was driving a car belonging to
Irons’ father. He also had in his possession
a checkbook belonging to Irons himself,
along with the motel room key. Blood
stains were still evident on Mason’s cloth-
ing and sneakers.

Mason, 22, was arrested in the vicinity
of his 15-year-old girlfriend, Margaret
Cole. At the time, he was under a restrain-
ing order to stay away from her home.
Mason also has a previous criminal record
listing convictions for disorderly conduct
and petty larceny.

According to police, a call from an
acquaintance of Mason’s led them to inves-
tigate the crime. Ron Gabaree, a William-
stown resident, claimed that Mason had

told him about the incident andhad thought
that Irons might be dead.

Mason would later told police, “He
tried to rape me, I stabbed him.” Mason’s
attorney, Gabor Rona, also of Barre, is
looking to have the case tried as an act of
self-defense with a possible plea of tempo-
rary insanity in view of the circumstances
leading to the crime.

Bail for Mason was set at$150,000. At
press time, he was being held at the Com-
munity Correctional Center in St.
Johnsbury. Staff members had been in-
structed to make routine checks on him to
prevent him from attempting suicide.

Barre Police Chief Edward Fish re-
ported that Mason had told him “I hope they
execute me” following his arrest.

    

A Legal Perspectives panel members (I to r): Heather Wishik, Evan Wolfson,
Mary Bonauto, and moderator Susan Sussman.

The speakers were all intense and in-
formative and covered three major areas:

employment discrimination, lesbian and
gay family issues, and HIV/AIDS legal ~

matters. Over the coming months. 017' M
will feature synopses of each of the three
presentations in our “Law” pages. /

Special thanks are due to David Nel-
son, Dana Buker, Mary Ann Samaha, and

Phil Lewis of VLS for their hard work in or-

ganizing this impressive event.

The first feature article, on legal mat-
ters concerning families of lesbians and gay
men, appears inside on page 14.

(fig printed on recycled paper

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