Transgender woman, 62, blames her male persona for shooting dead 3 prostitutes in 1990

Donna Perry is accused of killing Yolanda Sapp, Kathleen Brisbois and Nickie Lowe and dumping their naked bodies in Spokane, Washington

Case fell cold for 20 years until DNA from Perry, who had a long rap sheet, 'matched samples found at the crime scenes'

Perry told detectives she underwent a sex change operation in 2000 in order to stop the violence she committed as a man, Doug Perry

'Douglas didn't stop it, Donna stopped it,' she told detectives

Accused: Donna Perry says she underwent a sex change in 2000 to stop being violent

A transgender woman accused of shooting dead three prostitutes in 1990 has blamed the killings on her violent male persona.

Donna Perry, 62, appeared in court in Spokane, Washington on Tuesday - 24 years after she allegedly murdered the women and dumped their bodies on the banks of the Spokane River.

When Perry was arrested in connection with the crimes in 2012, she claimed that she had transitioned into a female in 2000 to stop her male persona - Doug Perry - from being violent.

'Douglas didn't stop, Donna stopped it,' Perry told police about the killings, according to an affidavit filed in January. 'I'm not going to admit I killed anybody, I didn't. Donna has killed nobody.'

When asked if Doug was responsible, she responded: 'I don't know if Doug did or not, it was 20 years ago and I have no idea whether he did or did not,' according to ABC News.

In claims that experts say will only fuel misunderstandings about transgender people, Perry claimed she had the sex-change operation in Thailand - which involves removing the testicles and therefore affecting testosterone production - 'as a permanent way to control violence'.

She claimed when a person transitions from male to female, 'there's a great downturn in violence' - which experts deny.



She is accused of killing Yolanda Sapp, Kathleen Brisbois and Nicki Lowe, whom police say were prostitutes, and dumping their naked bodies on the river banks.

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In court: Perry appeared at a hearing in Spokane on Tuesday after initially refusing to go to court

Denial: The 62-year-old kept quiet in court apart from to say her name and birth date

Video Source KHQ

After the case ran cold for more than two decades, Perry was linked to the crimes through DNA and fingerprint evidence allegedly left at the murder scenes.

According to the affidavit, detectives also interviewed a woman who had shared a cell with Perry during a stint in an Oregon prison in 1998.

She claimed that Perry said she had killed nine prostitutes 'because she couldn't breed and the women had the ability to have children and they were wasting it being "pond scum".'

Perry is being held on $1 million bond in a Spokane County jail and initially refused to appear in court on Monday. On Tuesday, the judge issued a drag order and she was forced to appear, KHQ reported.



Victim: Nicki Lowe Shot: Kathleen Brisbois Loss: Yolanda Sapp

But experts have hit out at Perry's claim that her former identity was to blame, ABC reported.

'For some people, it's a metaphor: "I was a different person before I came out",' said Dr. Jack Drescher, a New York City psychiatrist.

'It's a certain way that they use the metaphor when transitioning for those who were very unhappy before and now are happy. But it's different when a person makes a claim that somehow they have no linkage to the person they used to be - that would be more of a disturbed presentation.'

Experts also say there is no evidence that hormone therapy in gender treatments helps reduce aggression or violence.



Scene: The women were shot and their naked bodies were dumped on the banks of the Spokane River

Mystery: The case was cold for more than two decades until Perry was linked to it through DNA evidence

Jack Halberstam, a transgender professor of American and gender studies at University of Southern California, said that Perry's publicized statements are a 'weak defense'.



'Even if we as a person are less aggressive once we resolved a gender disorder, it does not absolve the responsibility of killing three women,' he said.

'As a legal defense, putting away the science, it's absolute nonsense.'