Two years after the body of a popular bartender at Sidekicks and Images was found in her burned-out Jeep near her apartment on the city’s North Side, Pittsburgh Police are no closer to knowing who killed Jamie Stickle.
Stickle, who was 33 at the time of her death on Feb. 8, 2002, was found by Pittsburgh firefighters who responded to a call about a car fire. Police ruled Stickle’s death suspicious because blood was also found at the scene, but no suspects were ever identi fied. There was no evidence that suggested Stickle’s death had been a hate crime.
Joseph Meyers, the detective assigned to Stickle’s case, told Out that no new evidence or developments have come to light in the last year, “but the case is still under active investigation.” More than 100 individuals have been interviewed so far in connection with the case, and several individuals were interviewed within the past year, but Meyers said there have been no new leads. Because the case is still open, Meyers declined further comment.
A series of fund-raisers were held in the months following Stickle’s death to raise money for a reward fund to be distributed among individuals with information about the case. According to Buzz Pusateri, secretary of the Lambda Foundation, the group that serves as administrator for the fund, no one has come forward with information, and no funds have been disbursed.
“The money is still there, accruing interest,” Pusateri told Out. “It’s there and it’s protected.” A total of $16,910.40 is being held in an interest accruing account at PNC Bank, Pusateri said.
Other fund-raising efforts have taken place in the past two years under the auspices of the United for Jamie Fund, which was founded in Stickle’s memory by a group of her friends. Money raised through the United for Jamie Fund has been donated to the AIDS and breast cancer charities that Stickle supported and is separate from the reward money held by the Lambda Foundation, emphasized Susan Regan, president of the Lambda Foundation.
The funds currently under the stewardship of the Lambda Foundation will remain as reward money unless family members or other donors request otherwise, Pusateri and Regan said. So far, no one has requested that the reward money be used in any other way. Pusateri said he attempted to reach Stickle’s family last year, but did not receive a response.
Regan stressed that the Lambda Foundation will hold the reward money indefinitely, but if a decision is made to use the money in another way, “we’re ready to turn it into a named fund or distribute it to [charities]” or to use the money in a way that would “revive interest in the case,” she added.
The Lambda Foundation has pledged to contribute additional money to the fund when it is used, whether for reward money or for other purposes. “We’d convene a special conference call or meeting and we’d talk about what we would pledge. We would pledge from one to two thousand dollars” to the reward fund, Regan said.
David Morrow, owner of Pegasus and Sidekicks, downtown, said he believes the fund “should continue to be held as reward money.”
Morrow, one of the founders of the United for Jamie Fund, said another fund-raising event for the reward account is planned for March at Pegasus. More information about the fund-raiser will be available in time for the March issue of Out, Morrow said.
“The benefit we had last year and the one we’re planning for this year will be divided between AIDS and breast cancer [charities],” Morrow added.
Tony Rubino of the Liberty Avenue Saloon told Out that the bar would host a fund-raiser on Feb. 8 beginning at 9pm. Raffle tickets are currently on sale, and Rubino said proceeds from ticket sales would be used to replenish reward posters and pay for private investigations, among other expenses.
Last year, Chuck Honse, a co-founder of the United for Jamie Fund, said fund-raising efforts in Stickle’s name would be held around her April 1 birth date, rather then the anniversary of her death.
“We’d rather remember her life and the work she’s done over the years,” Honse said.
A benefit show held at Pegasus last March 29 raised more than $1,000, which was divided between the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force and the Cancer Caring Center of Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared Pittsburgh’s Out. This article is preserved as a part of the Q Archives project. Please consider donating to help preserve Pittsburgh’s Queer history.
