D.C.
police
are
seeking
help
from
local
gay
residents
in
an
investigation
into
the
killing
of
a
gay
music
promoter
whose
body
was
found
Dec.
9
inside
a
duffel
bag
in
his
Dupont
Circle
apartment.
United
States
marshals
called
police
to
the
apartment
of
Tymon
“Tymex”
Birchett,
28,
at
the
State
House
Apartments,
at
2122
Massachusetts
Ave.,
NW,
about
3:45
p.m.,
after
they
discovered
his
body
while
removing
his
belongings
during
an
eviction,
according
to
a
police
statement.
A
member
of
the
staff
of
the
D.C.
medical
examiner’s
office
pronounced
Birchett
dead
on
the
scene,
the
police
statement
said.
Two
days
later,
the
medical
examiner’s
office
disclosed
that
he
had
been
strangled
and
beaten.
District
Police
homicide
detective
Scott
Guthrie
said
Birchett
was
last
seen
alive
Sunday
night,
Dec.
7,
at
Lizard
Lounge,
a
weekly
gay
dance
party
held
at
1223
Connecticut
Ave.,
NW.
Guthrie
said
he
and
other
investigators
are
calling
on
anyone
who
may
have
seen
Birchett
between
late
Sunday
night,
Dec.
7,
and
Monday,
Dec.
8,
to
contact
him
or
another
detective
at
the
department’s
Violent
Crimes
Branch
at
202-645-9600.
Guthrie
said
that
in
addition
to
frequenting
Lizard
Lounge,
people
who
knew
Birchett
said
he
also
patronized
the
gay
nightclub
Apex
at
22nd
and
P
Streets,
NW.
The
detective
said
he
has
contacted
Sgt.
Brett
Parson,
commander
of
the
police
Gay
&
Lesbian
Liaison
Unit,
for
assistance
in
the
probe
into
Birchett’s
death.
According
to
Guthrie,
police
suspended
the
eviction
and
returned
Birchett’s
belongings
to
his
apartment
to
enable
Birchett’s
family
to
eventually
gain
access
to
the
items.
Parson
said
police
sealed
the
apartment
as
a
crime
scene
and
were
going
over
Birchett’s
belongings
with
the
hope
of
finding
evidence
that
might
lead
them
to
a
suspect.
Guthrie
said
there
were
no
signs
of
a
forced
entry
into
the
apartment.
The
killings
of
more
than
a
dozen
gay
men
in
D.C.
over
the
past
decade
remain
unsolved
in
cases
that
police
and
gay
activists
refer
to
as
“pickup”
murders.
In
each
of
these
cases,
police
have
said
they
found
the
victims
dead
in
their
houses
or
apartments,
with
no
evidence
of
a
forced
entry.
This
suggests
that
the
gay
male
victim
most
likely
met
his
killer
at
a
gay
bar
or
other
meeting
place
and
invited
the
assailant
to
his
house
or
apartment,
police
have
said.
Parson
said
investigators
have
yet
to
determine
the
motive
in
the
Birchett
killing
and
lack
sufficient
evidence
to
classify
the
case
as
a
pickup
killing.
Parson
said
people
who
knew
Birchett
told
police
he
associated
with
gays
but
did
not
identify
himself
as
being
gay.
However,
at
least
two
of
his
acquaintances
told
the
Blade
that
Birchett,
while
preferring
not
to
disclose
his
sexual
orientation
to
many
of
his
business
associates,
was
known
to
be
gay
among
a
wide
circle
of
gay
friends.
Glenn
Berkheimer,
a
gay
former
D.C.
resident
who
lives
in
Fort
Lauderdale,
Fla.,
said
he
met
Birchett
through
mutual
gay
friends
in
D.C.
and
occasionally
socialized
with
him.
 |
| Sgt.
Brett
Parson
said
investigators
have
yet
to
determine
the
motive
in
the
Birchett
killing
and
lack
sufficient
evidence
to
classify
the
case
as
a
pickup
killing. |
“Everyone
seemed
to
like
him,”
said
Berkheimer.
“Some
said
he
was
too
nice.
He
would
give
you
the
shirt
off
his
back.”
A
source
familiar
with
the
D.C.
music
and
nightclub
scene,
who
spoke
on
condition
that
he
not
be
identified,
said
Birchett
was
gay
but
not
out.
“
Anyone
who
knew
anything
about
him
said
he
was
gay,”
the
source
said.
Relatives
of
Birchett
told
the
Washington
Post
that
he
did
independent
promoting
work
for
record
labels.
“He’s
always
been
around
music,
from
DJ-ing
in
clubs
to
promoting,”
one
of
his
cousins,
T.J.
Miller
of
Los
Angeles,
told
the
Post.
The
Post
reported
that
relatives
said
Birchett
grew
up
in
Montgomery
County
and
attended
American
University.
None
of
the
relatives
could
think
of
any
reason
why
someone
would
want
to
harm
Birchett,
the
Post
reported.
Teresa
D.
Ruiz,
president
and
CEO
of
TC
Talent
Mix,
Inc.,
a
national
television
production
company
operating
out
of
Bowie,
Md.,
stated
on
her
firm’s
Web
site
that
Birchett
worked
as
a
crewmember
for
one
of
the
firm’s
television
programs.
In
a
tribute
to
Birchett
that
Ruiz
posted
on
the
site,
she
called
him
“sweet,
sincere,
hard
working
and
dedicated
to
music
and
his
way
of
life.”
“He
never
had
a
bad
word
to
say
about
anyone,”
Ruiz
wrote.
“[H]e
would
call
me
to
make
sure
that
I
had
received
invitations
to
the
most
‘hip’
or
‘gotta
be
there’
parties.
He
made
sure
I
had
all
the
new
‘must
have’
CDs
…
Tymex
was
my
friend.
I
feel
the
loss
deeply
and
really
will
miss
him.”
