Details about the personality of the shooter who killed five people last weekend at an LGBT+ club in Colorado began to emerge on Wednesday, including the fact that this person identifies as non-binary, according to his lawyers.
Anderson Lee Aldrich appeared in court on Wednesday. The defendant remained seated, dressed in the orange jumpsuit of those detained in the United States, during a brief video appearance during the hearing in which no charges were pronounced.
Use of “they/they” pronouns
His two court-appointed attorneys said in court documents filed Tuesday that their client identified as non-binary, meaning he did not recognize himself as either male or female. Anderson Lee Aldrich uses the genderless pronouns “they/them” (“iel” in French).
The defendant spoke only to confirm his name and that he had been notified of his rights, and was held in custody on suspicion of murder.
Other details have emerged, such as his childhood marked by instability and drug-addicted parents. According to the American media, his birth name was Nicholas Brink. When the suspect took the name Anderson Lee Aldrich as a teenager, his father, Aaron Brink, had already been arrested multiple times in California for drug possession and traffic violations.
a homophobic father
Aaron Brink, who describes himself as a former pornographic actor turned conservative Republican, told a local San Diego newspaper that his ex-wife, Laura Voepel, assured him several years ago that their son was dead.
He believed so until a few months ago, when he received a phone call from Anderson Lee Aldrich that degenerated into an argument, the latter making threats against his father. Aaron Brink also told the New York Times that he had “expressed strong disapproval of homosexuals when his son was younger”.
Questioned by CBS, apparently in an unstable state, the suspect’s father said: “They started telling me there had been an incident, a shooting… And then I found out it was at a gay bar. I was scared, I was like, ‘Damn, is he gay?’ And finally, he’s not gay, so I was relieved.”
“There are no homosexuals in the Mormon Church,” he added.
A possible life sentence
Laura Voepel, the defendant’s mother, also had run-ins with California police, including for drunkenness on public roads and possession of illegal substances, according to the New York Times. In 2012, she received a suspended sentence for setting fire to a mattress at the psychiatric hospital where she had been confined, according to court documents cited by the Times.
Anderson Lee Aldrich could be prosecuted notably for murder and hate crimes, and faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The hearing came four days after the massacre that left five dead and 18 injured at Club Q in Colorado Springs, a Rocky Mountain city of about 500,000. A tentative date for Anderson Lee Aldrich’s reappearance was set for December 6.
Source: BFM TV
