A Dorchester man was found guilty today of murdering a popular hairstylist he met at a gay bar in 2008 and was immediately sent to prison for life without parole.
Steven Odegard, 42, stabbed Daniel Yakovleff, 20, over a dozen times with a foot-long chef’s knife, a jury ruled today following six days of deliberations. ~Boston Herald
UPDATE: Since this report, mainstream media has made a turn-around, and Daniel's story has been widely disseminated as it should have been from the beginning. If anyone has information, here's how you can help:
You may call the Homicide Unit directly at 617-343-4470. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call 1-800-494-TIPS (8477) or text the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463).
I challenge you to do a search on the web to find any coverage of the horrific fatal stabbing of the gentle and kind man once known as Daniel A. Yakovleff. Even when using the search engine on Boston.com you come up with no responses, and they are the ones who posted this obituary notice:
Daniel Yakovleff
Our beloved Dan, 20, of Boston and Ashford, CT, died Thursday, January 17. He was the victim of an unsolved homicide in Boston, where he lived and worked for the entirety of his short adult life. Dan grew up in Ashford, CT, where he attended Ashford School and graduated from E.O. Smith High School in 2005. He attended Blaine Academy in Boston, and has since worked as a cosmetologist at Liquid Hair Studios in Boston. Dan loved life and lived it fully. He always said that he lived without any regrets. He will be dearly missed by his family and friends. He is survived by his parents Nord and Peg, his brother Damon, both his grandmothers and numerous grieving aunts, uncles, and cousins. There will be a celebration of Dan's life Tuesday, January 22 at Knowlton Memorial Hall next to the Ashford Town Hall from 5-8pm. In lieu of flowers a donation in Dan's name can be made to Joshua's Trust, Gifts and Contributions, P O Box 4, Mansfield Center, CT 06250
Published in the Boston Globe on 1/21/2008.
I'd like to know why the media has chosen to ignore this story, and I'd like people to consider for themselves what this omission says about the level of journalistic integrity out there. I give thanks to Mark Snyder and QueerToday.com for once again being there to bring attention to another important matter where it seems few others have.
15 comments:
There was a story in today's Hartford Courant. www.courant.com
Such a sad sad thing. My daughter was friends with Damon. Didn't know Dan very well, but I know the family. I hope this is solved quickly so the family can move on.
I will miss Dan dearly. I will always remember our conversation a few weeks back at Liquid. I came into the salon at noon harried and worried about a business trip that day, and as usual left the salon with a relaxed sense of optimism. He had such a fresh sense of life and it pains me to think he is gone.
Its been a few years since me or my sister have seen Dan, I guess after highschool we just went separate ways but I will still miss him. I remember so many times he was over my house living, laughin, loving life. He was always so peaceful and loving. I can't believe this happened. RIP Hippie Dan. You will always be loved.
Dear Dan, I didn't know you well but knew your father at UConn. We enjoyed a wonderful evening at your home about five years ago and my children loved meeting you and your family. We always believed there would be another time together; we never anticipated this tragedy. Om Namah Shivaya, Dan. You are loved and remembered.
This was widely reported in the Globe and all the major media outlets. The stabbing occurred the same day as the gang shootings last week. The police didn't release his name, and mis-identified (possibly on purpose) his age. Everyone just assumed it was another black gang member, and yawned.
It is only getting attention now because the name was released.
My sincerest condolences to Dan's friends and family. Dan was found in Savin Hill, a relatively crime-free section of Dorchester; on Tuttle Street, normally a very quiet street with many families and a very diverse and accepting group of neighbors, including many gay men and women. It should be noted that Daniel was found in a gay man's apartment. This was not gang-related, or a hate crime. In fact, it has little to do with the crime taking place in Dorchester at all. Unfortunately, we don't know any of the details, and
I am bewildered as to why there has not been more news coverage. Someone should contact the network news shows and demand coverage. It took more than a week to release Dan's name, and a suspect still has not been named.
Here's the Globe article from last Friday's paper. There's also a column about the murder from Adrian Walker on the same page.
There's no hush hush conspiracy.
Tozz, I never said there was a conspiracy to hush, just a disgusting lack of coverage.
If you wish to debate this please wait until a respectful amount of time has gone by, but not right now.
We are all still trying to find some ground beneath our feet. This is an incredible tragedy.
John, I didn't mean any disrespect and possibly "conspiracy" is too charged a term. And on a closer re-read, I see some of the commenters here knew him personally. To them, I offer my condolences.
However, almost the entire thrust of your original message--the challenge--was that this was somehow underreported. That is incorrect. This received the same press as the other half dozen murders that have occurred around my Dorchester neighborhood during the first few weeks of January. The Globe, the Herald, and I am guessing, the four local news stations all reported this. The only difference is that his name was not released immediately, as were the names of the black kids who died the same week. And, of course, he is white, gay, and "cute."
Again, I mean no disrespect to those who knew someone who apparently was a sweet loving kid with his life before him. I am just responding to charges (not exclusively here), that there was a lack of media attention. There wasn't.
I was in ALT with Dan and had many classes with him. I am glad that I got a chance to get to know him. He gave me more confidence in myself as with many other people. He was such a wonderful person and will DEFINATELY be missed by many.
I live on Tuttle Street and have followed this story as carefully as possible and I am really beginning to wonder whether it was a hate crime. It is so very disconcerting to think that it was but I can't get it out of my mind that possibly, just possibly, this was crime was committed by some anti-gay zealot. How painful to consider that we could still be living in a time where this could occur.
Paul, once again you have shown an exceptional lack of character by posting here while the GLBT community grieves over its loss. You sir are despicable, and I'll not allow your hate to corrupt this blog.
Some Christian you are, you're more like a ghoul feeing off other people's pain. Get a life.
I'm very sad, and shocked, to hear the news. My condolences to family and friens.
Dan, I will miss you.
Your favourite client.
I didnt know Dan but I attended Blaine while he did and i just wanted to say my heart goes out to his friends and family...to take a life on judgement is horrible and from what i saw he was a great person with amazing talent. The cops need to stop worrying how tehre departments will look and get out there and find who did this how hard could it be.
Rest In Peace Dan!
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