Dan White
Daniel James White (September 2, 1946 – October 21, 1985) was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who on 27 November 1978 killed San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, who was among the first openly gay elected official in the United States.
White was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, causing the White Night riots on 21 May 1979.
Even the leftist Wikipedia states that the motive for the crime was not anti-gay views but a variety of other reasons.
One part of White's defense was that he suffered diminished capacity as a result of his depression. His change in diet from healthful food to Twinkies and other sugary foods was said to be a symptom of depression. Contrary to common belief, White's attorneys did not argue that the Twinkies were the cause of White's actions, but that their consumption was symptomatic of his underlying depression. This led to the coining of the legal slang "Twinkie defense",
White served five years of a seven-year prison sentence. Less than two years after his release he returned to San Francisco and committed suicide.
