Murder of Shelby Tracy Tom

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Shelby Tracy Tom
Born1963
DiedMay 27, 2003(2003-05-27) (aged 39–40)
North Vancouver, British Columbia
Cause of deathStrangulation
Body discoveredMay 31, 2003
Alma materSimon Fraser University

Shelby Tracy Tom (1963–May 27, 2003) was a Canadian

transgender woman who was strangled to death in North Vancouver, British Columbia, after 29-year-old Jatin Patel discovered that Tom was transgender during a sexual encounter.[1]

Personal life

Tom lived in

Vancouver, British Columbia where she was working as a sex worker in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.[2] Tom's friends and those who knew her best described her as a breathtaking beauty who was generous, genuine, respectful to everyone she met, and loved her life and her friends.[1][2]

Tom was often helping those who were underprivileged in the Downtown Eastside

social worker to help others in the transgender community.[4] Tom's family supported her and loved her deeply.[2]

Murder

On May 27, 2003, Jatin Patel was

gender confirmation surgery and became enraged, strangling Tom to death.[3]

Patel proceeded to hide Tom's body inside of a closet while she went to find another woman to have sexual relations with. When they arrived back to the hotel, Patel told the second woman that she was considering disposing of Tom's body by throwing it in the ocean, burning it, or chopping it up.[7] Tom's body remained in the closet for 3 days until Patel wrapped her body in a mattress cover and left it in a shopping cart behind a dry cleaning establishment nearby. Tom's body was found on May 31, 2003, four days after her murder.[2]

Trial and controversy

On July 26, 2005,

BC Supreme Court Justice Patrick Dohm rejected the application that Tom's murder was a hate crime under the premise that Patel did not intentionally target Tom because of her gender identity, because Patel did not know that Tom identified as a transgender woman when they initially met. This resulted in anger and outrage from the many who believe that this crime was committed with a bias that resulted entirely because of Tom's gender identity and status as a sex worker.[2]

Patel's defense argued that Patel's encounter with Tom caused her to feel rage, betrayal, and personal violation, which ultimately caused her to suffer from

posttraumatic stress disorder. The defense also stated that Patel had been sexually assaulted during her sentences over the past 14 years in different U.S. jails, which explained her raging reaction to Tom.[7]

Patel's defense issued a

second-degree murder down to manslaughter. This request was approved and Patel was sentenced to a total of 9 years in prison. However, in 2009, after a total of 4 years of jail time, Patel was released from jail and relocated to a halfway house, after she was granted double-time credit for the time she previously served in jail following Tom's murder. Patel was later taken back into police custody after failing to return to the halfway house before curfew. Police suspect Patel was on the Downtown Eastside around other sex workers.[1][3]

Remembrance

Tom's murder resulted in a great upset for the transgender community and its alliances. A candlelight vigil was held in Tom's honour in Vancouver in June 2013.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Bolan, Kim. "Convicted Killer Walks Away From Half-way House".
  2. ^ a b c d e f Hamilton, Jamie Lee. "Shelby Tracy Tom's Killer Sentenced".
  3. ^ a b c Hainsworth, Jeremy (13 September 2009). "Jatin Patel back in Vancouver police custody".
  4. ^ Law, Stephanie (19 October 2011). "Was Shelby Tom's Death a Hate Crime?".
  5. ^ Zytaruk, Tom (16 March 2018). "Surrey dangerous offender twice deported to Canada from U.S." Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  6. ^ Zytaruk, Tom (19 March 2020). "Surrey criminal's dangerous offender designation set aside by appeal court". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  7. ^ a b Hainsworth, Jeremy (9 September 2009). "Trans killing wasn't a hate crime, BC Supreme Court rules".
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