Paul Broussard (1964–1991), a 27-year-old Houston-area banker and Texas A&M alumnus, died after a gay bashing incident outside a Houston nightclub in the early hours of July 4, 1991.
Nine teenaged youths, ages 15–17, and one 22-year-old were intoxicated on drugs and alcohol when they left a high school party in the suburb of The Woodlands and headed for Houston's heavily gay Montrose area in an attempt to gain admittance to dance clubs located in the vicinity.
When Houston gay rights leader Ray Hill confronted police about solving the murder, he was told that they had no intention of doing so.
[1] Ultimately, the juveniles – labeled "The Woodlands Ten" – were apprehended and plea bargained into prison without a trial for the murder of Broussard.
Paul Broussard was walking across a parking lot just after 2:00 a.m.,[2] on July 4, 1991, in the heavily gay Montrose neighborhood of Houston, Texas, accompanied by his friends Cary Anderson and Richard Delaunay, when the trio encountered ten juveniles from The Woodlands: Jaime Aguirre, Javier Aguirre, Derrick Attard, Jon Buice, Chance Paul Dillon, Rafael Grable Gonzalez, Gayland Randle, Leandro Ramirez, Brian Spake, and Jeffrey Valentine.
The juveniles then reportedly exited their vehicles and attacked the men with fists, steel-toed boots, bear claws and a small pocket knife wielded by Buice.
Once he learned that police had no intention of pursuing the murder, he met with television and newspaper outlets while helping to organize the largest gay rights protests in the city's history.
[6] Queer Nation Houston helped organize the large public protests, some of which took place in front of Mayor Kathy Whitmire's house, with Rodriguez participating.
Buice was ultimately granted parole in November 2015 and released to the custody of his father on December 30 under strict and intensive supervision.
In 2006, while visiting Houston to report on a story about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Canadian filmmaker Alison Armstrong heard about an "unusual friendship" between Hill and Buice.
In another scene, expert medical examiner Dr. Alan Taylor amends Broussard's cause of death to include "a delay in treatment."
Other revelations include questionable practices by the Texas penal system and an unusually closed parole process that may violate the civil rights of the accused by withholding key information.
In April 1999, Buice wrote an open letter to the gay community apologizing and seeking to make amends for his role in Broussard's murder, which was addressed to the radio station KPFT and printed in the Houston Voice.
[13] He was denied again on October 21, 2014, but was ultimately granted and released on December 30, 2015 into the custody of his father, Jim Buice, under strict supervision.
Others also speaking on behalf of parole for Buice included Gonzalez, Berryhill, and the late Houston Chronicle crime reporter Susan Bardwell.
When police were called to the scene, they found a silver car in a ditch with a missing tire and Buice in the drivers seat.