Editing Matthew Shepard (section)

==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 (United States)|ABC News]] news program ''[[20/20 (U.S. TV series)|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>[[James Kirchick | Kirchick, James]] (October 22, 2013), [https://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304410204579143612270644276 "Book Review: 'The Book of Matt,' by Stephen Jimenez"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704041321/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304410204579143612270644276 |date=July 4, 2021 }} ''[[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">{{cite news|title=ABC News Revisits Student's Killing, and Angers Some Gays|author=Lee, Felicia R.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/26/us/abc-news-revisits-students-killing-and-angers-some-gays.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 26, 2004|access-date=June 11, 2013|archive-date=July 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712070129/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/26/us/abc-news-revisits-students-killing-and-angers-some-gays.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=GLAAD: 10 Questions About ABC'S 20/20 Show on Matthew Shepard|url=http://www.glaad.org/matthewshepard2020|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514015646/http://www.glaad.org/matthewshepard2020|archive-date=May 14, 2009|access-date=June 11, 2013}}</ref> Judy Shepard's lawyer described the report as an oversimplification, while [[Michael Adams (lawyer)|Michael Adams]] of [[Lambda Legal]] described it as an attempt to "de-gay the murder".<ref name="Lee" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Charles|first=Casey|title=Critical Queer Studies: Law, Film, and Fiction in Contemporary American Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtNwyfhHcEC&q=%22matthew+shepard%22+%2220/20%22+controversial+OR+controversy&pg=PT67|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|year=2012|isbn=978-1409444060|access-date=July 4, 2021|archive-date=July 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704041350/https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtNwyfhHcEC&q=%22matthew+shepard%22+%2220%2F20%22+controversial+OR+controversy&pg=PT67|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=O'Donnell|first=M.|year=2008|title=Gay-hate, journalism and compassionate questioning|journal=Asia Pacific Media Educator|issue=19|pages=113–126|url=http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1304&context=apme|access-date=June 11, 2013|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215812/http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1304&context=apme|url-status=live}}</ref>

===''The Book of Matt''===
{{Main|The Book of Matt}}
[[Stephen Jimenez]], the producer of the 2004 ''20/20'' segment, went on to write a book, ''[[The Book of Matt|The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard]]'', which was published in September 2013.<ref name=Jimenez>{{cite book|title=[[The Book of Matt]]|publisher=Steerforth|author=Jimenez, Stephen|year=2013|isbn=978-1586422141}}</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>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/12/stephen-jimenez-matthew-shepard_n_3914707.html|title=Matthew Shepard Murdered By Bisexual Lover And Drug Dealer, Stephen Jimenez Claims In New Book|work=Huffington Post|date=September 12, 2013|access-date=September 30, 2013|archive-date=September 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916172842/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/12/stephen-jimenez-matthew-shepard_n_3914707.html|url-status=live}}</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>{{cite web|url=http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2013/10/18/2802871/book-matt-prove-size-stephen-jimenezs-ego|title='The Book Of Matt' Doesn't Prove Anything, Other Than The Size Of Stephen Jimenez's Ego|work=ThinkProgress|date=October 18, 2013|access-date=October 18, 2013|author=Rosenberg, Alyssa|archive-date=October 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018161518/http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2013/10/18/2802871/book-matt-prove-size-stephen-jimenezs-ego/|url-status=live}}</ref> Other commentators, however, have spoken up to defend them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2013/09/13/have-we-got-matthew-shepard-all-wrong?page=0,0|title=Have We Got Matthew Shepard All Wrong?|last1=Hicklin|first1=Aaron|website=Advocate|date=September 13, 2013|access-date=March 1, 2014|archive-date=October 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024135906/http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2013/09/13/have-we-got-matthew-shepard-all-wrong?page=0,0|url-status=live}}</ref> Some police that were involved in the investigation have criticized Jimenez's conclusions,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=69201|title=Shepard book stirs controversy|work=The Bay Area Reporter|date=October 24, 2013|last=Hemmelgarn|first=Seth|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110042205/http://ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=69201|archive-date=November 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.out.com/news-opinion/2014/11/24/book-matt-author-responds-media-matters-steve-jimenez |magazine=Out |date=November 24, 2014 |first=Stephen |last=Jimenez |title=Book of Matt Author Responds to Media Matters |access-date=October 12, 2018 |quote=two police officers, Dave O'Malley and Rob DeBree, have quarreled with some of the findings |archive-date=October 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013014249/https://www.out.com/news-opinion/2014/11/24/book-matt-author-responds-media-matters-steve-jimenez |url-status=live }}</ref> while other police said that there was evidence that drugs were an important factor that led to the murder.<ref name="Bindel"/>