The Murder of Brandon Teena

Brandon Teena was a transgender individual attacked and murdered in 1993 by two people after learning of his biological sex. The two raped Teena and one week later, shot and killed him upon learning that he reported the rape to local police. The case is one of the most notorious trans-hate crimes in U.S. history.

Story--

Born in Lincoln, NE, as the female Teena Brandon in 1972, his childhood was riddled with abuse and devastation. His father had been killed in a car accident before he was born, his mother 16-years-old when she gave birth. Teena and his sister, Tammy, were sexually abused by a male relative throughout their childhood.

He enjoyed sports and kept short hair. Learning at a religious private school in Lincoln, NE, Teena eventually relocated during his sophomore year, living with his girlfriend, Traci Beels, while he explored his sexuality. Beels abused Teena and he quickly moved back in with his mom.

Mom Refuses to Accept Teena

Teena self-identified as a male and dated females exclusively by his senior year. He was now the class clown, very popular by all means, but his mother did not support his new lifestyle. She refused to accept that Teena was a male and continued to refer to him as her “daughter.”

Teena then attempted to enroll in the U.S. Army but failed to pass the written exam. Coupled with the lack of support from his mom and family, depression sat in quickly. He attempted suicide once, sending him to the Lancaster County Crisis Center for inpatient treatment for several days. There, doctors diagnosed him as suffering from a “Gender Identity Crisis” and a personality disorder.

Teena did well for a while, regularly attending therapy sessions. However, this ended quickly and he began living somewhat of a rugged criminal lifestyle, forging checks, stealing credit cards, and other compulsive behaviors. He needed the money to buy gifts for his girlfriends.

Teena Skips Town

Teena left down in 1993, leaving behind several warrants -and the knowledge that he was born a female. He arrived in Humboldt, Nebraska shortly before his 21st birthday. He met new friends easily here. John Lotter and Marvin Thomas Nissen were two of the new friends. He found a new girlfriend as well, 19-year-old Lana Tisdel.

Girlfriend Learns the Secret

Teena soon began his life of forgery, landing himself in jail. His girlfriend came to pick him up on Dec. 19, 1993. Housed in the women’s section of the jail, Tisdel then learned that Teena was transgender. He tried to explain that he was intersex and interested in gender reassignment surgery.

Everyone in town soon learned that Teena was transgender when details of the arrest came out in the local newspaper. The notice listed his sex as female and his birth name as Teena Brandon.

A Violent Confrontation

Lottler and Nissen confronted Teena several days later at a Christmas party. Lotter was especially enraged that Teena was born a female. The pair forced him into a car, drove him to a remote area, physically restrained and raped him. They let Teena go, threatening to kill him if he told anyone what happened.

Teena fled to his girlfriend’s home who called an ambulance. A rape kit was conducted and a police report was filed. Sheriff Charles Laux blamed Teena for the assault and made many inappropriate comments about his identity. Teena’s mother filed a lawsuit against Richardson county because of this and was awarded nearly $100,000.

Laux interviewed Nissen and Lotter but did not arrest them.

Now infuriated that Teena went to the police, the pair sought revenge.

Teena Murdered by Enraged “Friends”

On December 31, 1993, Nissen and Lotter went to Teena’s home. The pair shot Teena at point-blank range, then stabbed him to death. Two other adults in the home, Lisa Lambert and Phillip DeVine, were also murdered in front of the woman’s eight-month-old son. DeVine was dating Tisdel’s sister at the time of the incident.

Arrests & Sentencing

Lotter and Nissen were arrested the same day. They both were found guilty of murder. Nissen testified against Lotter, given a life sentence in exchange for this testimony. Lotter was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2015 after Nebraska abolished the death penalty.