During the coming day, following their medical care, McKinney and Henderson would meet with their respective girlfriends, Kristen Price and Chastity Pasley, who would later be convicted for their roles that day in disposing of evidence and concocting alibis for the men in the Shepard case. Shepard, meanwhile, remained tied to the fence, most likely still unconscious, for approximately 18 hours until a passing mountain biker, Aaron Kreifels, fell from his bike.
He noticed what he thought might be a scarecrow slumped along the fence line, but which was in fact Shepard. Fluty later reported that Shepard, who was 5 feet 2 inches tall and boyish in appearance, looked at first to be a child and that his face was caked in blood except where tears had left tracks along his cheeks.
Collins, Colo. The police investigation had continued, meanwhile, and McKinney, Henderson, Pasley and Price were all ultimately arrested.
Shepard lingered in a coma state for about four days at Poudre Valley while his parents, Judy and Dennis, were notified of his condition and began an arduous journey to Fort Collins from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where Dennis was employed as a safety specialist by Saudi Aramco among many expatriate staff.
The Shepards were baffled to see front-page headlines on newspapers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport during transit. Matthew Shepard succumbed to his injuries in the early morning hours of October 12, and the charges against McKinney and Henderson were quickly upgraded to felony murder and kidnapping.
West, Jr. Wyoming legislators in considered a state-level hate crime bill that extended to anti-gay and -lesbian criminal motivations, but the measure failed the state House on a tie on two consecutive days and has not since been seriously debated. Motivated in part by the hate-crime legislative debate, Judy Shepard established herself as a prominent LGBT rights activist who played a key role in finally securing passage of a federal LGBT-inclusive hate crime bill in Henderson and his girlfriend traveled to Cheyenne to bury bloody clothes.
Drugs and drug paraphernalia were dropped in the trash at a fast-food restaurant. Shepard was still alive and breathing heavily when he was found. He read McKinney his Miranda rights. After the arrests, McKinney penned a letter to Henderson suggesting a common story they should tell investigators. Puls indicated that there was evidence that the beating could have been a gay hate crime. In response to a question about Shepard being tied to a fence, he even allowed that it might look to some like a crucifixion.
From that moment on, for most people following the Shepard case, the beating turned murder was a hate crime, plain and simple. He told the press that now was the time for Congress to pass a federal hate crimes bill. McKinney suggested his desire for drugs was the reason that he, Henderson, and Shepard got into his truck. Henderson r and McKinney c at arraignment October After Shepard died at AM on October 12, first-degree murder was added to the charges against both men.
Capitol for a candlelight vigil. On the 16 th , a funeral for Shepard took place in Caspar. In addition, he drove the vehicle in which he anticipated a robbery would take place. He faced charges of murder, kidnapping, and robbery.
He might not have been as morally culpable as McKinney, but he faced long odds against avoiding significant prison time. There was nothing in the record to suggest Henderson had any animosity toward gays. I am far from this. I have no hatred toward anyone. Wyatt Skaggs, a court-appointed lawyer, defended Henderson. Skaggs announced that his client would plead guilty to felony murder and kidnapping with the understanding that he would serve either concurrently or consecutively, that would be up to the judge two life terms.
The plea took the death penalty off the table. Skaggs might well have had better luck with a jury. Jurors might have given Henderson a break on the murder charge—perhaps find him guilty only of manslaughter. But fear of the death penalty makes decisions like this difficult for both the defendant and his attorney. No lawyer wants to see his client executed. A hearing was held on April 5 to consider the plea and determine sentence. Henderson walked to the lectern and turned to Dennis and Judy Shepard.
I know what I did was very wrong, and I greatly regret what I did. I hope that one day you will have it in your hearts to forgive me. Thank you. The judge asked the Shepards if they wished to say anything. Forgiveness was far from their minds. You bound him to that fence…You left him there for sixteen hours.
Henderson, will never go away. A week later, Henderson entered the state penitentiary in Rawlins. Henderson remains in prison at this writing, with little prospect of being released. The prosecution would have to proceed without the testimony of Henderson, who reversed an earlier decision, probably out of fear. In his opening statement on October 25, prosecutor Cal Rerucha told jurors that the case would not be about the life or lifestyle of Matthew Shepard, rather the crime that occurred one year earlier on the outskirts of Laramie.
An expert witness testified that the drug can produce both paranoia and hyperactivity, and a potentially dangerous cocktail of emotions.
The prosecution case did not include many surprises. The prosecution introduced the clothes worn by Matthew on the day of his beating.
His bloodied tan shirt and chinos shown pinned to a presentation board. A doctor testified about the level of consciousness Matthew likely experienced during the long hours tied to the fence.
Kristen Price was a star prosecution witness. For her own safety, she was kept hidden at a location outside Wyoming for almost a year before the trial. Price was full of regrets. She regretted hiding evidence. She regretted lying in her original statements to police. The first was a bartender at a lakeside party Matthew had attended in August The Cody bartender, who was straight, claimed Shepard made repeated sexual overtures.
McKinney drops off Haselhuhn though he will return to the house later. They continue to check on whether a dealer has returned home. After a few drinks, they leave to go to the Fireside bar. They get to the Fireside sometime around pm and sit down on stools at the bar, about 4 or 5 seats from where Shepard is sitting.
Shepard is scheduled to make a drug run to Denver. He is supposed to pick up 12 ounces of meth, drop off 6 in Fort Collins, and return to Laramie with the remaining six ounces. Shepard remains in the Library bar until 6 or After the meeting, the group gathers at the Village Inn. Shepard is dropped off at his apartment about 9 pm. About 10 pm, Shepard drives his Ford Bronco to the Fireside bar, where it is karaoke night.
He takes a seat at the bar and has a few drinks. According to the patron, Mike St. Clair, Shepard hits on him. Clair are seated. McKinney bums a cigarette from Shepard.
They exchange a few words and the two men get up and walk to the Fireside bathroom. Sometime, most likely between and am, McKinney, Shepard, and Henderson leave the bar together. The three men get into a pickup. With Henderson driving, they head off to the east. A few minutes later, McKinney begins to beat Shepard with his gun. Shepard hands over his wallet, but the beating continues. They stop on a dirt road. McKinney pulls Shepard from the vehicle. Henderson, as ordered by McKinney, ties up Shepard with a rope.
He is lashed to a rail fence. Henderson asks McKinney to stop the beating and McKinney responds striking Henderson in the face with his gun. McKinney delivers a final, violent blow rendering Shepard unconscious , and McKinney and Henderson drive off.
Police, suspecting McKinney and Henderson to be the actual vandals, pull up behind their truck. Both men take off, but Henderson is caught. Russell Henderson receives nine stiches in a Laramie emergency room as a result of the blow from McKinney.
Henderson has taken a victim empathy course, and even written a letter of apology to Judy Shepard, Matthew's mother, Belber said. Henderson believes that the United States should revamp its federal hate crime laws to protect everyone, even nearly a decade after the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. At a medium-security facility in Torrington, Wyoming, Henderson was working with hospice patients who were also serving jail time, and volunteering training shelter dogs, according to the report.
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