News :: GLBT
Dorchester man denies involvement in stabbing by Ethan Jacobs
staff reporterThursday Jan 24, 2008Boston police have released few details about their investigation into the murder of Daniel Yakovleff, a 20-year-old Roxbury hairstylist found murdered in a Dorchester apartment, but an attorney representing the occupant of that apartment, Steven Odegard, told Bay Windows that his client is innocent.
"My client didn’t do it and is innocent. ... I know my client has cooperated fully with the police up to this point, told them everything he knows and has denied all involvement in the stabbing of this guy," said attorney John Swomley, adding that it was his "understanding that the police are currently" looking for a suspect.
Swomley declined to provide details about what his client witnessed, but he said Odegard called 911 the morning of Jan. 17 to alert them to the murder. Swomley declined to say whether or not Odegard was in or near his apartment, located at 56 Tuttle St., when Yakovleff was killed.
Officer James Kenneally, a spokesman for the Boston Police, declined to say whether or not Odegard was a suspect. He said there have been no arrests in the investigation.
On Jan. 22 about 200 mourners gathered in Ashford, Conn., Yakovleff’s hometown, to pay tribute to the young man who had made a name for himself as a popular hair stylist at the South End’s Liquid Hair Studios. The hall was packed with friends of Yakovleff and his family, both from the Ashford area and from Boston. A line of mourners and well-wishers stretched out the door of the hall and down the front walkway as people waited to offer their condolences to Yakovleff’s parents, Peg and Nord. The crowd was large enough that two police were on hand to direct traffic, and inside people consoled each other and pored over a photo collage showing scenes from Yakovleff’s life.
Yakovleff’s brother, Damon, told Bay Windows that his family is frustrated that Boston Police have not been able to provide them with more information about what happened to his brother.
"Frustration is a lot of it because we don’t know what happened and we feel that we should by now," said Damon.
He said his parents traveled to Boston to identify Yakovleff’s body and have spoken with the police, but they are concerned that Boston Police are not giving the investigation the attention it deserves. He said that they worry that because Yakovleff was a young gay man who was active in the bar scene that police will not take his murder seriously.
"The feeling my parents had was that it was not a priority for them," said Damon.
Officer James Kenneally, a spokesman for the Boston Police Department, said Yakovleff’s murder is currently under investigation and that police cannot make public any details of the investigation, other than the date, location and cause of death.
"Cause of the death was an apparent stab wound, and right now it’s being investigated as a homicide," said Kenneally.
He referred Bay Windows to the Boston Police blog, which says that at 6:10 a.m. on Jan. 17 police responded to a radio call reporting that a person had been stabbed at 56 Tuttle St. When police arrived at the scene they found Yakovleff’s body, and they pronounced him dead at the scene.
A Boston Globe report quoted police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll as saying that police did not consider the murder to be a random killing because there was no sign of forced entry into the apartment.
A Boston Herald story said that neighbors believed that Yakovleff had been killed after an argument, although they knew few other details about what took place. One neighbor told the Herald he was awakened that morning by the lights and sounds of the police and emergency vehicles on the scene, and he witnessed police frisk a young man and put him in the back of a cruiser. A neighbor who lived downstairs from the apartment where Yakovleff was found said she did not hear any commotion until police arrived that morning. She said her neighbor "rarely had visitors in his apartment."
At the memorial reception in Ashford, friends of Yakovleff remembered him as a gregarious young man with a magnetic personality who made friends easily. Yet while Yakovleff liked to have fun, his friends also said he possessed a drive and determination far beyond his years; he had set out to become a top hair stylist in Boston, and he was on his way to making that plan a reality.
’My client didn’t do it and is innocent. ... I know my client has cooperated fully with the police up to this point," said Steven Odegard’s attorney John Swomley. Melanie Rokes of Beverly, a former hair stylist at Liquid who worked with Yakovleff and grew to be one of his close friends, said he "just had such a thirst for life."
"I was so annoyed at him because he had more motivation than I had at 31. ... Of anyone I could think of at age 19 he had it all planned out until the age of 35," said Rokes.
She said from early on he knew he wanted to be a hair stylist, and through a combination of hard work and natural talent he advanced quickly. She said both through his work and his outgoing personality he quickly built up a following among Liquid’s clientele.
Jill Clarey, one of Yakovleff’s first roommates when he moved to Boston about three years ago, described him as "insanely caring and generous" and said he "was everybody’s friend." Yet she also noted that he seemed more mature than a typical 20-year-old.
"He just had an old soul," said Clarey. "He was very young but very mature for his age."
John Schreiber, a childhood friend of Yakovleff’s from Willington, Conn., who remained close to him in recent years, said that every time Yakovleff came home to visit all of his friends treated it like a major event. Schreiber said Yakovleff brought an infectious sense of fun to his circle of friends, and during his visits he would use his hair styling wizardry to give his friends amazing haircuts.
"Every time he came down and visited it was, ’Dan is here, it’s a good time,’" said Schreiber.
News of his murder left his friends in shock. Trevor Wright, a South Ender and a blogger at QueerToday.com, said that he and Yakovleff both regularly socialized at Tremont 647, a restaurant and bar right across the street from Liquid Hair. Wright, who lives around the corner from the bar, said Yakovleff would often crash on his couch at his apartment after hanging out with friends at 647.
Wright said managers at 647 first learned that Yakovleff was missing on Jan. 18 when his boss from Liquid called to say he had not shown up for work that day. That evening Wright said the managers gathered the staff at 647 and Yakovleff’s friends who were at the bar, including Wright himself, and broke the news about Yakovleff’s murder. Wright said the reaction among Yakovleff’s friends was shock, disbelief and anger.
"So Friday night was all of us sitting quietly at the bar, not knowing what to say to each other. A lot of us got very angry," said Wright.
He said as far as Yakovleff’s friends know he was last seen the evening of Jan. 16 at the Eagle, a bar in the South End. Wright said the bar’s managers told him he left with an unidentified man. Wright said he last saw Yakovleff that afternoon.
"We’d seen him earlier that day, Wednesday, in passing, and he wanted us to come out tonight," said Wright.
Damon said he hopes people remember his brother as someone who loved life and lived it without apologies.
"I would like him to be remembered as someone who lived without any regrets," said Damon.
Boston Police ask anyone with information on Yakovleff’s murder to call the homicide division at 617.343.4470. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call 1.800.494.TIPS (8477) or text the word "tip" to 27463.
Ethan Jacobs can be reached at ejacobs@baywindows.com
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