Matthew Shepard

Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Pp-move Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on October 6, 1998.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was transported by rescuers to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days later from severe head injuries sustained during the attack.

Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were arrested shortly after the attack and charged with first-degree murder following Shepard's death. Henderson pleaded guilty to murder, and McKinney was tried and found guilty of murder; each of them received two consecutive life sentences.

Significant media coverage was given to the murder and what role Shepard's sexual orientation played as a motive for the crime, as he was gay. The prosecutor argued the murder of Shepard was premeditated and driven by greed. McKinney's defense counsel countered by arguing that he had intended only to rob Shepard but he killed him in a rage when Shepard made a sexual advance toward him. McKinney's girlfriend told police that he had been motivated by anti-gay sentiment, but later, she recanted her statement, saying that she had lied because she thought she could help him by lying.

Shepard's murder brought national and international attention to hate crime legislation at both the state and federal level.<ref name=life>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In October 2009, the United States Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (commonly the "Matthew Shepard Act" or "Shepard/Byrd Act" for short), and on October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following their son's murder, Dennis and Judy Shepard became LGBTQ rights activists and established the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Shepard's murder inspired a number of films, novels, plays, songs, and other works, including The Laramie Project (a 2000 play and 2002 film) and Judy Shepard's 2009 memoir The Meaning of Matthew.

Background

Matthew Shepard was born in 1976 in Casper, Wyoming; he was the first of two sons born to Judy (née Peck) and Dennis Shepard. His younger brother, Logan, was born in 1981. The two brothers had a close relationship.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Matthew was raised in the Episcopal denomination and had once served as an altar boy in the church.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He attended Crest Hill Elementary School, Dean Morgan Junior High School, and Natrona County High School for his freshman through junior years. As a child, he was "friendly with all his classmates", but was targeted and teased due to his small stature and lack of athleticism.<ref name=":0" /> He developed an interest in politics at an early age.<ref name=":0" />

During his high school years, Matthew moved with his family to Saudi Arabia, when his father was hired by Saudi Aramco, a Saudi oil and natural gas company. With the family based at the Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran, Shepard completed high school in Switzerland, at the American School in Switzerland (TASIS).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There, he participated in theater, and took German and Italian courses. In 1995, during a high school trip to Morocco, Shepard was abducted, beaten and raped.<ref name="abcnews"/><ref name="Bindel"/> This caused him to experience depression and panic attacks, according to his mother.<ref name="abcnews"/> One of Shepard's friends feared that his depression had driven him to become involved with drugs during his time at college.<ref name="abcnews"/> Shepard was hospitalized on a number of occasions due to his clinical depression and suicidal ideation.<ref name=":0" />

After graduating from high school in May 1995, Shepard attended Catawba College in North Carolina and Casper College in Wyoming, before settling in Denver, Colorado. Shepard became a first-year political science major at the University of Wyoming in Laramie with a minor in languages,<ref name=":0" /> and was chosen as the student representative for the Wyoming Environmental Council.<ref name=life/>

Shepard was described by his father as "an optimistic and accepting young man who had a special gift of relating to almost everyone. He was the type of person who was very approachable and always looked to new challenges. Shepard had a great passion for equality and always stood up for the acceptance of people's differences."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Michele Josue, who had been Shepard's friend and later created a documentary about him, Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, described him as "a tenderhearted and kind person."<ref name=Ring>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Murder

On the night of October 6, 1998, Shepard was approached by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson at the Fireside Lounge in Laramie; all three men were in their early 20s.<ref name=NYTref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="abcnews"/> McKinney and Henderson offered to give Shepard a ride home.<ref name=trutv/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They subsequently drove to a remote rural area and proceeded to rob, pistol-whip, and torture Shepard, tying him to a split-rail fence and leaving him to die.<ref name=mmatthew>Template:Cite book</ref> It was erroneously reported by the news that he had been tied to a barbed wire fence.<ref name="mmatthew"/> Many media reports contained the graphic account of the pistol-whipping and his fractured skull. Reports described how Shepard was beaten so brutally that his face was completely covered in blood, except where it had been partially cleansed by his tears.<ref name="Bindel" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The assailants' girlfriends testified that neither McKinney nor Henderson was under the influence of alcohol or other drugs at the time of the attack.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref> McKinney and Henderson testified that they learned of Shepard's address and intended to steal from his home as well. After attacking Shepard and leaving him tied to the fence in near-freezing temperatures, McKinney and Henderson returned to town. McKinney proceeded to pick a fight with two men, 19-year-old Emiliano Morales and 18-year-old Jeremy Herrara. The fight resulted in head wounds for both Morales and McKinney.<ref>James Brooke (October 16, 1998), Men Held in Beating Lived on the Fringes Template:Webarchive The New York Times</ref> Police officer Flint Waters arrived at the scene of the fight. He arrested Henderson, searched McKinney's truck, and found a blood-smeared gun along with Shepard's shoes and credit card.<ref name="abcnews">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Henderson and McKinney later tried to persuade their girlfriends to provide alibis for them and help them dispose of evidence.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Still tied to the fence, Shepard was in a coma eighteen hours after the attack when he was discovered by Aaron Kreifels, a cyclist who initially mistook him for a scarecrow.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Reggie Fluty, the first police officer to arrive at the scene, found Shepard alive but covered in blood. Shepard was transported first to Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie before being moved to the more advanced trauma ward at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He had suffered fractures to the back of his head and in front of his right ear. He experienced severe brainstem damage, which affected his body's ability to regulate his heart rate, body temperature, and other vital functions. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around his head, face, and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. He never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. While he lay in intensive care and in the days following the attack, candlelight vigils were held in countries around the world.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Shepard was pronounced dead six days after the attack at 12:53 a.m. on October 12, 1998.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="CNNBeaten">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was 21 years old.<ref name=NYTref/>

Arrests and trial

McKinney and Henderson were arrested and initially charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and aggravated robbery. After Shepard's death, the charges were upgraded from attempted murder to first-degree murder, which meant that the two defendants were eligible for the death penalty. Their girlfriends, Kristen Price and Chasity Pasley, were charged with being accessories after the fact.<ref name="CNNBeaten" /><ref name="NYTWitnesses"/> At McKinney's November 1998 pretrial hearing, Sergeant Rob Debree testified that McKinney had stated in an interview on October 9 that he and Henderson had identified Shepard as a robbery target and pretended to be gay to lure him out to their truck, and that McKinney had attacked Shepard after Shepard put his hand on McKinney's knee.<ref name="NYTWitnesses">Template:Cite news</ref> Detective Ben Fritzen testified that Price stated McKinney told her the violence against Shepard was triggered by how McKinney "[felt] about gays".<ref name="NYTWitnesses"/>

In December 1998, Pasley pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.<ref name="NYTGayMurder" /> On April 5, 1999, Henderson avoided going to trial when he pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping charges. In order to avoid the death penalty, he agreed to testify against McKinney and was sentenced by District Judge Jeffrey A. Donnell to two consecutive life terms. At Henderson's sentencing, his lawyer argued that Shepard had not been targeted because he was gay.<ref name="NYTGayMurder">Template:Cite news</ref>

McKinney's trial took place in October and November 1999. Prosecutor Cal Rerucha alleged that McKinney and Henderson pretended to be gay to gain Shepard's trust. Price, McKinney's girlfriend, testified that Henderson and McKinney had "pretended they were gay to get [Shepard] in the truck and rob him."<ref name=trutv>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> McKinney's lawyer attempted to put forward a gay panic defense, arguing that McKinney was driven to temporary insanity by alleged sexual advances by Shepard. This defense was rejected by the judge. McKinney's lawyer stated that the two men wanted to rob Shepard but never intended to kill him.<ref name="abcnews"/> Rerucha argued that the killing had been premeditated, driven by "greed and violence", rather than by Shepard's sexual orientation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The jury found McKinney not guilty of premeditated murder but guilty of felony murder and began to deliberate on the death penalty. Shepard's parents brokered a deal that resulted in McKinney receiving two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Henderson and McKinney were incarcerated in the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins and were later transferred to other prisons because of overcrowding.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following her testimony at McKinney's trial, Price pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor interference with a police officer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Subsequent reporting

20/20 report

Shepard's murder continued to attract public attention and media coverage long after the trial was over. In 2004, the ABC News news program 20/20 aired a report by TV journalist Elizabeth Vargas that quoted statements by McKinney, Henderson, Price, Rerucha, and a lead investigator. The statements alleged that the murder had not been motivated by Shepard's sexuality but was primarily a drug-related robbery that had turned violent.<ref name="abcnews"/> Price said she had lied to police about McKinney having been provoked by an unwanted sexual advance from Shepard, telling Vargas, "I don't think it was a hate crime at all."<ref name="abcnews"/><ref> Kirchick, James (October 22, 2013), "Book Review: 'The Book of Matt,' by Stephen Jimenez" Template:Webarchive The Wall Street Journal</ref> Rerucha said, "It was a murder that was once again driven by drugs."<ref name="abcnews"/>

The report was criticized by GLAAD as relying on speculation and statements by unreliable individuals changing their story.<ref name="Lee">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Judy Shepard's lawyer described the report as an oversimplification, while Michael Adams of Lambda Legal described it as an attempt to "de-gay the murder".<ref name="Lee" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The Book of Matt

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Stephen Jimenez, the producer of the 2004 20/20 segment, went on to write a book, The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard, which was published in September 2013.<ref name=Jimenez>Template:Cite book</ref> The book said that Shepard and McKinney—the killer who inflicted the injuries—had been occasional sex partners and that Shepard was a methamphetamine dealer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=jbfh/> Jimenez wrote that Fritzen told an interviewer "Matthew Shepard's sexual preference or sexual orientation certainly wasn't the motive in the homicide...".<ref name=Jimenez />

Some commentators have criticized Jimenez's views on the attack by classifying them as being sensational and misleading.<ref name=jbfh>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Other commentators, however, have spoken up to defend them.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Some police that were involved in the investigation have criticized Jimenez's conclusions,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> while other police said that there was evidence that drugs were an important factor that led to the murder.<ref name="Bindel"/>

Anti-gay protests

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, led by Fred Phelps, received national attention for picketing Shepard's funeral with signs bearing homophobic slogans, such as "Matt in Hell" and "God Hates Fags".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Church members also mounted anti-gay protests during the trials of Henderson and McKinney.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In response, Romaine Patterson, one of Shepard's friends, organized a group that assembled in a circle around the Westboro Baptist Church protesters. The group wore white robes and gigantic wings (resembling angels) that blocked the protesters. Despite this, Shepard's parents were able to hear the protesters shouting anti-gay remarks and comments directed toward them. The police intervened and created a human barrier between the two groups.<ref name="CNN-pleads"/>

Angel Action was founded by Patterson in April 1999.<ref name="CNN-pleads">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Legacy

In the years following her son's death, Judy Shepard has worked as an advocate for LGBTQ rights, particularly issues relating to gay youth.<ref name=Ring /> She was a main force behind the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which she and her husband, Dennis, founded in December 1998.<ref name=Pilkington>Template:Cite news</ref>

Gay rights activist John Stoltenberg has said that to portray Shepard as a gay-bashing victim is to present an incomplete account of his victimization: "Keeping Matthew as the poster boy of gay-hate crime and ignoring the full tragedy of his story has been the agenda of many gay-movement leaders. Ignoring the tragedies of Matthew's life prior to his murder will do nothing to help other young men in our community who are sold for sex, ravaged by drugs, and generally exploited."<ref name="Bindel"/>

In June 2019, Shepard was one of the inaugural 50 American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City's Stonewall Inn.<ref name=":23">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="SDGLN">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The SNM is the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the wall's unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Hate crime legislation

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also [[Template:Not a typo|alt=President Obama with Louvon Harris, Betty Byrd Boatner, and Judy Shepard|thumb|right|President Barack Obama greets Louvon Harris, left, Betty Byrd Boatner, right, both sisters of James Byrd Jr., and Judy Shepard at a 2009 reception commemorating the enactment of the legislation.]]

Requests for new legislation to address hate crimes gained momentum during coverage of the incident.<ref>Template:Cite news Press release.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news "Denounced nationwide as a hate crime" at 1:40 elapsed time.</ref> Under existing United States federal law<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Wyoming state law,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation could not be prosecuted as hate crimes.

A few hours after Shepard was discovered, his friends Walt Boulden and Alex Trout began to contact media organizations, claiming that Shepard had been assaulted because he was gay. According to prosecutor Cal Rerucha, "They were calling the County Attorney's office, they were calling the media and indicating Matthew Shepard is gay and we don't want the fact that he is gay to go unnoticed."<ref name="abcnews"/> Tina Labrie, a close friend of Shepard's, said "[Boulden and Trout] wanted to make [Matt] a poster child or something for their cause".<ref>The Myths of Matthew Shepard's Infamous Death Template:Webarchive The Daily Beast (September 22, 2013)</ref> Boulden linked the attack to the absence of a Wyoming criminal statute providing for a hate crimes charge.<ref name="Bindel">Template:Cite news</ref>

In the following session of the Wyoming Legislature, a bill was introduced that defined certain attacks motivated by a victim's sexual orientation as hate crimes. The measure failed on a 30–30 tie in the Wyoming House of Representatives.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Pilkington />

President Bill Clinton renewed attempts to extend federal hate crime legislation to include gay people, women, and people with disabilities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A Hate Crimes Prevention Act was introduced in both the United States Senate and House of Representatives in November 1997, and reintroduced in March 1999, but was passed by only the Senate in July 1999.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In September 2000, both houses of Congress passed such legislation; however, it was stripped out in conference committee.<ref>Template:Cite news Press release.</ref>

On March 20, 2007, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (Template:USBill) was introduced as federal bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Congress, sponsored by Democrat John Conyers with 171 co-sponsors. It would amend the existing federal hate crimes definition and expand it to cover gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, and require reporting by the FBI of those crimes included in the expansion. Shepard's parents attended the introduction ceremony. The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 3, 2007. Similar legislation passed in the Senate on September 27, 2007<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> (Template:USBill), however then-President George W. Bush indicated he would veto the legislation if it reached his desk.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Democratic leadership dropped the legislation in response to opposition from conservative groups and Bush, and because the measure was attached to a defense bill there was a lack of support from antiwar Democrats.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On December 10, 2007, congressional powers attached bipartisan hate crimes legislation to a Department of Defense Authorization bill, although it failed to pass. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, said she was "still committed to getting the Matthew Shepard Act passed". Pelosi planned to get the bill passed in early 2008<ref>"Caving in on Hate Crimes" Template:Webarchive, New York Times, December 10, 2007; retrieved December 11, 2007.</ref> although she did not succeed. Following his election as president, Barack Obama stated that he was committed to passing the act.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The U.S. House of Representatives debated expansion of hate crimes legislation on April 29, 2009. During the debate, Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina called the "hate crime" labeling of Shepard's murder a "hoax".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Foxx later called her comments "a poor choice of words".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The House passed the act, designated Template:USBill, by a vote of 249 to 175.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ted Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, and a bipartisan coalition introduced the bill in the Senate on April 28;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it had 43 cosponsors as of June 17, 2009. The Matthew Shepard Act was adopted as an amendment to S.1390 by a vote of 63–28 on July 15, 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On October 22, 2009, the Senate passed the act by a vote of 68–29.<ref>Roxana Tiron, "Senate OKs defense bill, 68-29", The Hill, found at The Hill website; retrieved October 22, 2009.</ref> President Obama signed the measure into law on October 28, 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Interment in Washington National Cathedral

On October 26, 2018, just over 20 years after his death, Shepard's ashes were interred at the crypt of Washington National Cathedral.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The ceremony was presided over by the first openly gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, and the Bishop of Washington the Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde. Music was performed by the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C.; GenOUT; and Conspirare, which performed Craig Hella Johnson's Considering Matthew Shepard.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His was the first interment of the ashes of a national figure at the cathedral since Helen Keller's 50 years earlier.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In popular culture

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Matthew Shepard's life, death, trial, and its aftermath have inspired numerous works, including documentary and narrative films and television shows, stage plays (such as The Laramie Project), and musical and written works. Additionally, NBA player Jason Collins wore the jersey number "98" in honor of Shepard during his 2012–13 season with the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards, and he would come out as gay following the season.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After Collins joined the Brooklyn Nets in 2014, NBA marketing reported high interest in his "98" jersey<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and high sales once the item became available for purchase.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed, is a 2009 biographical book by Judy Shepard about her son. Judy Shepard speaks about her loss, her family memories of Matthew, and the tragic event that changed the Shepards' lives and America. The Meaning of Matthew follows the Shepard family in the days immediately after the crime to see their incapacitated son, kept alive by life support machines; how the Shepards learned of the huge public response, the candlelit vigils and memorial services for their child; and their struggles to navigate the legal system.<ref name="mmatthew"/>

American musician Tori Amos frequently dedicated her 1998 song "Merman" to Shepard, at the request of fans following her tours at the time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 1999, American singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge released the song "Scarecrow" in Shepard's memory, from her sixth studio album Breakdown.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2006, American metal band Trivium released the song "And Sadness Will Sear", which was written as a tribute and reminder about Shepard's murder.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• Violence against LGBTQ people
• History of violence against LGBTQ people in the United States
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Further reading

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External links

• Matthew Shepard Web Archive at the American Heritage Center
• Matthew Shepard collection at the American Heritage Center
• Matthew Shepard Foundation
• Matthew Shepard Resource Site at the University of Wyoming Template:Webarchive
• The Celebration of Life and Interment for Matthew Wayne Shepard