Minnesota Daily via U-Wire
University of Minnesota
June 6, 2007 Wednesday

Minn. rep’s new bill seeks to solve murder

By Mitch Anderson, Minnesota Daily; SOURCE: U. Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS

In May 17, 2004, Minnesota native and University of Minnesota alumnus
Joshua Haglund was found brutally murdered outside his apartment in
Yerevan, Armenia.

Three years later, Haglund’s family still searches for answers to
questions surrounding his death. Now, with the help of a new bill
introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Betty
McCollum, D-Minn., they hope to find some of those answers.

McCollum introduced the Joshua Haglund Justice and Peace Act of 2007
earlier this year. The bill calls for the U.S. government to work
with Armenia to resolve Haglund’s murder, in addition to allocating
$250,000 toward a University learning abroad scholarship established
in his honor.

Haglund, 33, taught English in the former Soviet Union republic as
part of a program at the state-run Linguistics University in Armenia,
an exchange program overseen by the U.S. State Department. He is
believed to be the first American citizen to die of violence in
Armenia.

"As a parent, it’s something you never really expect to hear," said
Haglund’s mother, Maxine Haglund-Blommer. "I was in shock for about a
year and a half after his death, and I’m still not over it
completely."

Haglund graduated from the University in 1995 with a degree in
political science, but not before studying abroad in Puerto Rico and
taking a year off from school to travel to India and Japan. He spoke
Spanish fluently and also dabbled in speaking Japanese, Hindi and
Russian.

He moved to Toronto in 2001 where he earned a Masters of Education in
second language education at the Institute for Studies in Education.

Job prospects for Haglund slowed in 2001 after a SARS outbreak in
Toronto and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It was at that point that
Haglund enrolled in the English Language Fellow Program, which sent
him to Armenia.

A case gone cold

The passage of time since Haglund’s murder has done little to clear
up details surrounding his death. The investigation was formally
suspended in 2004 when police failed to produce a suspect.

Haglund was openly gay, and Armenian officials have speculated that
his death was a hate crime in a society with a low tolerance for
homosexuality.

His family is not so sure. In October 2004, brothers James and John
Haglund, along with their mother, traveled to Armenia to seek answers
about their brother’s death. During their trip, the family hired a
team of prominent Armenian lawyers to further investigate the case.

The lawyers, Tigran and Marina Janoyan, insist that Armenian law
enforcement authorities badly mistreated innocent people and
deliberately ignored key facts connected to the murder. The lawyers
also hinted that police may already know who committed the crime.

In a written statement sent to the Yerevan prosecutor’s office and
several Armenian newspapers, the lawyers outlined what they believe
to be several deliberate missteps by Yerevan police as part of a
high-level cover-up. The lawyers cite prevailing prejudices against
gays in Armenia and allege certain suspects were given the benefit of
the doubt because of their influential acquaintances.

Shortly after releasing the document, the lawyers were forced to flee
Armenia because of repeated threats made on their family.

Barb McKenzie, Haglund’s sister, said she didn’t believe the official
explanation for her brother’s murder.

"Part of the reason is they can use Josh’s sexuality to conclude why
he was killed and cover up the real reasons," McKenzie said. "In my
heart and mind I think the theory that our attorney came up with (is
right)."

Pailak Mzikian, an Armenian native living in Germany, said he
believes that Armenia isn’t alone in dealing with issues of
intolerance.

"Gangsters, thugs and hooligans are everywhere in every country,"
Mzikian wrote in an e-mail. "To generalize from the deeds of those
few onto a nation or a country is wrong.

"I have seen some open homosexual bars and night clubs in Yerevan, so
there must be an active gay scene there," he said. "On the other
hand, Armenians are very tied to their Christian roots and their
church. I think you can compare it very well with some areas in the
U.S."

Fate of the bill

As for the fate of the proposed bill, congressional spokesman Josh
Straka said he felt optimistic about its chances.

"Family and friends of Joshua across the nation have worked hard to
get other members (of Congress) to sign on as co-sponsors," he said.
"I think there’s a very real shot for this bill to move forward this
year."

McCollum introduced a similar bill last year on the anniversary of
Haglund’s death, but a companion Senate bill was never introduced and
the House bill failed to make it through committee.

Remembering Joshua

Haglund’s family established a memorial fund in his name shortly
after the murder. The scholarship is given annually to a University
student planning to study abroad in one of the countries that Haglund
visited.

University Learning Abroad Center director of finance Trish Blomquist
said that the fund would need $25,000 to become permanently endowed,
which means it would establish the scholarship for as long as the
center exists.

Currently, the family has raised $13,000 through a golf tournament
fundraiser and personal donations.

McKenzie said although nothing will ever bring her brother back, the
scholarship is the best way to memorialize him.

"His passion was to educate people around the world and better their
lives," she said. "Now, there’s one less person in this world doing
that, and if we can encourage others to do it because of Joshua’s
interests, then we are continuing his legacy."

More information about the Joshua Haglund Memorial Peace Scholarship
and his life can be found at