NYC- A real-life version of the movie "The Crying Game" turned into the dying game, investigators believe, when a Queens transvestite hooker allegedly pummeled a john to death with a pipe after a trick.
The sordid story was revealed yesterday as Pedro Tadeo-Morales, 25, pleaded not guilty to murder charges that could put him behind bars for 25 years to life.
Tadeo-Morales told cops he got into a fight with a strange man in Jackson Heights on March 15, 2004, after the customer demanded part of his $30 back.
Authorities believe the man got angry when he found out the hooker was a guy.
"He hit me with a rock and cut my head," Tadeo-Morales told cops. "I grabbed my face and saw blood all over my face. I got angry."
He told cops he then grabbed a lead pipe and hit 22-year-old Carlos Pesantes 10 to 15 times in the head and neck.
Tadeo-Morales fled to his native Mexico the next day.
He returned to New York a year later and was caught after being arrested for loitering for prostitution, officials said.
Eyebrows shaved and straight black hair hanging loosely to his shoulders, the youthful-looking Tadeo-Morales pleaded not guilty in Queens Supreme Court yesterday.
His lawyer later said he doubts authorities' account, which echoes the 1992 film "The Crying Game," in which a man unwittingly falls for a transvestite.
"I don't think that's what happened," defense lawyer Jonathan Latimer said.
"He was the victim of an attack."
