The Brandon Teena Story: 1998 Documentary Outlines Tragic Hate Crime Murder Case

The Brandon Teena Story, a 1998 documentary film, outlines the tragic murder case of Teena, a transgender man, who was raped, beaten, and murdered. Susan Muska and Gréta Olafsdóttir’s gripping documentary used first-hand interviews of people who knew the victim. They also utilized interrogation tapes, trial transcripts, photographs, and file film footage.

Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of rape, hate crime, and murder. Readers’ discretion is advised.

An official synopsis, as per IMDb, says, “Brandon Teena (aka Teena Brandon), a transgender man, was murdered along with two others in 1993 in rural Nebraska. The story is told through interviews with people who knew Brandon, recorded interrogation and trial transcripts, and photographs and file film footage.”

The Brandon Teena Story’s real-life case, explained

The 1998 documentary, The Brandon Teena Story, looks back at the gruesome hate crime killing that occurred in Nebraska. Two men, namely John Lotter and Thomas Nissen, reportedly raped and assaulted the 21-year-old on Christmas Eve 1993. A week later, on New Year’s Eve, the same pair murdered Teena, along with two others in Humboldt.

According to Grunge, the ordeal began on December 24 when Teena was attending a party with friends in Richardson County, Nebraska. Lotter and Nissen, attending the same party, started obsessing over the 21-year-old after learning his trans identity. The duo forcibly removed his pants to look at his genitalia before taking him to a remote location. There, they took turns to rape him.

The Atlantic report claimed that “upon discovering Brandon [Teena] was a biological female, Lotter and Nissen became obsessed with proving his anatomy. Their attempts included “forcibly disrobing him in a bathroom on Christmas Eve, and hours later, raping him.”

Following this, the pair took Teena to Lotter’s house, threatened him, and asked him to take a shower. But Teena somehow escaped using the bathroom window. The outlet reported that according to The New Yorker, authorities never arrested the men claiming that there wasn’t sufficient evidence.

In the meantime, Lotter and Nissen started plotting Teena’s murder. They found the latter hiding at Phillip DeVine and Lisa Lambert’s farmhouse outside Humboldt. The duo broke into the house on December 31, 1995, and discovered the 21-year-old trans man hiding under a bed. One of them reportedly shot him while the other stabbed the victim in the chest.

The Grunge report further stated that after murdering Teena, the killers proceeded to attack Lambert, who was holding her baby in her arms. They took the baby and fatally shot her before shooting DeVine, causing his death. During the ensuing investigation, Lotter and Nissen gave conflicting stories and even tried to pin the blame on each other, as per The Atlantic.

Finally, in 2007, Thomas Nissen reportedly confessed to shooting all three victims. He had previously denied direct involvement in the killings but pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the crimes. He had also agreed to testify against John Lotter, in exchange for a reduced sentence of life in prison. Meanwhile, a jury found Lotter guilty of murder, sentencing him to death.

Reportedly, Nissen is currently serving his life sentence without the possibility of parole at the Lincoln Correctional Center. Meanwhile, Lotter remains on death row at Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.

Oscar-winning 1999 film, Boys Don’t Cry, also chronicles Brandon Teena’s tragic hate crime murder case. The film has garnered critical acclaim over the decades.

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