A Texas jury has acquitted Ezekiel “Zeke” Gilbert in the 2009
murder of Lenora Frago, an escort he met on Craigslist. The defense
argued that Gilbert’s actions were “justified” because he was attempting
to “retrieve stolen property” when he shot Frago in the neck and back
after she refused his request for sex and fled his home with $150 he
paid her. The jury, apparently, agreed.
Frago died of her injuries seven months after Gilbert shot her.
Texas law allows the use of deadly force to recover property during
a nighttime theft, but prosecutor Matt Lovell argued that a theft never
occurred, as the San Antonio Express-News reported in May:
“This case is about a man who got upset about the services he felt he deserved,” [Lovell] said. “He felt he deserved sex.”