Dan White (Born 1946; Died October 21, 1985) is the man infamous for the Twinkie Defense in the assassinations of San Francisco mayor John Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk. A paratrooper in Vietnam, White returned to his hometown of San Francisco in 1969 and promptly joined the San Francisco Police Department, resigning in 1973 to become a highly decorated fireman. It was in 1977 that White decided to run for a position on the city's Board of Supervisors and resigned about a year later in November, stating that he could not live on the $9,600 salary.
White's resignation from the board would lead up to the event that would put him in the history books. Shortly after stepping down, White tried to take back his resignation but was strongly opposed by Milk. Moscone also had other things to consider. He would be up for re-election the following year and White was the only vocal anti-gay person on the board. So, on the Monday (November 27, 1977) that Moscone would announce White's replacement, Dan White snuck into city hall through a basement window with a .38 caliber to avoid the metal detectors, and entered the mayor's office. After a short conversation, he shot Moscone 2 times, once in the chest and the other in the head while the mayor was getting him a drink. He then walked to the other end of the building and executed Milk in a similar fashion, adding 2 bullets to the head.
Following the assasinations, White left city hall, called his wife to meet him, and turned himself into the police which apparently were quite proud of White. He was eventually convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 7 years in prison. A few months after his release on parole in January 1985, he killed himself by sticking a hose to his car's exaust pipe and dying by carbon monoxide poisoning. So ended the life of a Vietnam veteran, a former police officer, and decorated fireman who will live in most minds, including mine, not for his awards, but for the murders of 2 San Francisco city officials because of an intense hatred of homosexuals, and got away with it because of the unbelievable bias of his jurors.
Sources
http://www.backdoor.com/CASTRO/milk/whitepage.html
http://www.findagrave.com/pictures/3579.html
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