A transgender teenager who said he murdered his parents because of disagreements they had regarding his gender identity has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Andrea Balcer — formerly Andrew — stabbed his parents Alice and Antonio to death in their house in Winthrop, Maine, on Oct. 31, 2016, according to the Kennebec Journal.
During a jailhouse interview, Balcer claimed his mother repeatedly molested him and his father abused him, both mentally and physically. Now, the convicted felon is saying he would reverse his actions “in a heartbeat.”
Balcer, now 19 years old, reportedly killed his mother, father and family Chihuahua with a hunting knife. He left his brother, Christopher, alone to discover the horror that had unfolded in their New England home.
“Only a monster would not feel remorse at that kind of thing,” Balcer said. “I’m not happy that all of this happened. It just traded one hell for another.”
In a 911 call recording, Balcer said he stabbed his mother, then his father when he woke up to his wife’s screaming. On the call, the teenager told police his mom was hugging him in his bedroom, trying to comfort him before he plunged the knife into her back and continued to stab her until she fell onto his bed and finally slipped to the floor.
The friction between Balcer and his parents arose over his struggle with gender dysphoria.
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“I wanted to grow up and be a woman,” Balcer explained. “They kind of sat me down and told me and kind of physically forced into me that that was something that was not acceptable.”
Balcer never shared the details of his gender issues with his brother.
“I spent however many years being raised as a boy, as a man,” he continued. “It was drilled into me what men do, what they’re supposed to be. I was never raised the way I wanted to be. So I am conflicted between the person that I was raised to be and the person who I want to be.”
For his part, Christopher said he believes their parents would have supported his brother, regardless of his gender identity.
Balcer told the Journal he sent a letter to Christopher, who lives in Ohio, apologizing for his heinous actions. But his brother was uninterested in his apology.
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“I still hear our dearest mother’s screams, every night as I fall asleep,” Christopher wrote in response. “Every morning as I awaken, they echo in my head. Her screams as she was stabbed by the son she doted on so much, the son she only wanted the world for, and would accept nothing less.”
He continued, “I remember the foul things you accused her of, and the looks of horror upon the family’s faces as they heard about them. You are an inhuman creature and the fact that you continue to pretend otherwise sickens me.”
Carl Pierce, the brother of Balcer’s slain mother, said it is an “insult to our family, an insult to our society and an insult to the LGBTQ community” to suggest the family was not accepting of Balcer’s gender identity.
“There was no hatred. There was no malice. There was no ill will. There was resignation to be sure but ultimately there was acceptance,” Pierce said, according to CBS News. “To justify these killings because of sexual identity or gender dysphoria beliefs is truly a cowardly act. Andrea should be ashamed of herself for it.”