Blow to head kills man in Huntertown

HUNTERTOWN, Ind. (WANE) - A man was found beaten to death on Monte Carlo Drive in Huntertown early Sunday morning. He was identified Monday as Paul Michalik, 36, of Fort Wayne. A man with Michalik at the time, said he and Michalik were beaten because they were gay.  As a result, Brian Paul Brothers, 34, has been charged with Aggravated Battery.

According to the Allen County Sheriff's Department, around 4:00 a.m. Sunday, deputies were called to the 1300 Block of Monte Carlo Drive in Huntertown for a disturbance.  When police arrived they found Michalik dead.

The Allen County Coroner determined Monday the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

According to court documents filed in Allen Superior Court Monday, Michalik and Jerry Lee Chambers, were at a party at Brian Paul Brothers' house Sunday morning when the two were beaten up by Brothers.

Chambers told police they were beaten because they were gay. He said Brothers had punched and kicked Michalik in the face, head and body multiple times as he tried to get Michalik out of his home.  Chambers said, "At one point I played dead" and could hear Brothers kicking Michalik in the ribs.  He said while this was going on, he could hear the air coming out of Michalik. 

In the probable cause affidavit, Brothers admitted that he did punch and kick both Chambers and Michalik multiple times with his hands and feet. He said he started hitting them after Michalik pushed him.  Brothers stated, "It was an all out altercation."

Brothers also said he ended up helping Chambers carry Michalik, who was unresponsive at the time, out of his house and to the grass in the front.  He said that's when he left the two men and went back into the house without calling for help from police or medical personnel.

"That's an enormous amount of rage behind that. That's pretty incredible," says Dr. Jeannie DeClementi, an assistant professor of psychology at IPFW. She's also an advocate for the gay and lesbian community on campus. She believes Michalik's death could be a hate crime.

"When you put it together with the amount of rage and with the violence of the crime. And you add that up with the fact that the victim is gay. I think you have to consider that," said DeClementi.

There are some who disagree. A co-worker of Brothers' - who wouldn't go on camera - tells NewsChannel 15 Brothers was friends with Chambers and invited him to his party. The co-workers says the fight started, because the two men were making advances at other people attending the party and refused to leave Brothers' home.

Court documents said Brothers had swelling and bruising to the top of his right hand and possible swelling to the top of his left hand. He is the Allen County lockup, without bond for an unrelated probation violation. He could face more charges this week.

Michalik's death is the 14th homicide in Allen County.