Matthew Shepard Beating Death Trial: 1999

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Matthew Shepard Beating Death Trial:
1999

Defendant Aaron James McKinney
Crimes Charged: Murder, kidnapping, robbery
Chief Defense Lawyers: Dion Custis, Jason Tangeman
Chief Prosecutor: Calvin Rerucha
Judge: Barton Voigt
Place: Laramie, Wyoming
Date of Trial: October 25-November 4, 1999
Verdict: Guilty
Sentence: Two life terms with no possibility of parole

SIGNIFICANCE: The murder of Matthew Shepard, an openly gay college student, by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson was publicized worldwide and gave a tremendous impetus to the drive to include hate crimes in criminal statutes.

After downing what they admitted were "several pitchers of beer," two 21-year-old high school dropouts, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, decided to rob another patron of the Laramie, Wyoming, bar they were in. The mark, Matthew Shepard, 21, looked good because he was small—5′2″ and 105 pounds—and homosexual. McKinney hated "queers." The two got into a conversation with Shepard, a freshman at the University of Wyoming, told him they were gay, and invited him to ride with them. In McKinney's father's pickup, Shepard told them he had just left a planning meeting for a Gay Awareness Week celebration.

"Guess what—we're not gay," McKinney said. "This is Gay Awareness Week." He hit the student with a stolen revolver. He hit him again, and again. He told Henderson, driving the truck, to pull over at a spot outside the city. He got out, pulled Shepard out of the truck, and hit him again. While beating the student, he told Henderson to get a rope from the truck and tie Shepard to a fence. He hit and kicked the bound student a few more times and stole his wallet and shoes.

Then the two dropouts drove off, leaving Shepard tied to the fence. It was the night of October 6, 1998. Winter comes early to the high plains of Wyoming. The temperature dropped to well below freezing.

Back in town, the two young thugs picked a fight with two Mexican-American teenagers. That didn't go as well for McKinney as his encounter with Shepard: he got a cut on his head. In a way, though, it was lucky. When police stopped the fight, McKinney told them the blood on his clothes came from that cut. But there was a lot of blood. Police became suspicious. When, the next day, a bicyclist reported seeing the unconscious Shepard tied to a fence—18 hours after the attack—Detective Sergeant Robert DeBree went after McKinney and Henderson. He found the stolen revolver, covered with blood, plus Shepard's credit card and shoes in the truck. He found the student's wallet at McKinney's home. Police also arrested Kristen Price, 18, who lived with McKinney and Chastity Paisley, 20, who lived with Henderson. The women had helped dispose of the bloody clothing.

Four days later, Shepard died without regaining consciousness. His attackers were charged with murder as well as kidnapping and robbery.

Worldwide Publicity

The attack and Shepard's death got worldwide publicity. The New York Times, which seldom notices news from Wyoming, ran more than 50 items about the murder. The Times could not resist throwing in a bit of bogus Old West lore, comparing Shepard's being tied to the fence to the "practice of nailing a dead coyote to a ranch fence as a warning to future intruders." Coyotes, among the most observant of creatures in nature, can spot real danger hidden in high grass, but will not be deterred by canine scarecrows.

The Shepard case also generated at least 27 national magazine articles and numerous websites. President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno both called for more hate crime laws. There were demonstrations against hate crime, particularly crime against homosexuals, in cities from San Francisco to New York. In New York, the, demonstration turned into a riot, in which 120 persons were arrested.

State Seeks Death

In Laramie, County Attorney Cal Rerucha, locally famous as a hard-nosed prosecutor, said he would seek the death penalty. Not everyone agreed. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, a coalition of a dozen gay rights groups, adopted a resolution saying the death penalty is not a deterrent and would not reduce hate crimes. The victim's parents, Dennis and Judy Shepard, however, said they favored the death penalty for such crimes as the recent murder of a black man, James Byrd, Jr., by bigots in Texas.

When he came to trial April 5, 1999, Henderson pleaded guilty and testified against McKinney. It was said that he had made a deal with the prosecution to avoid execution. He received two life terms, one for murder and one for kidnapping, to run consecutively.

Surprise Ending

When McKinney came to trial, October 25, his court-appointed attorney, Jason Tangeman, tried the "gay panic" defense. In his opening statement, he said that McKinney had suffered homosexual abuse as a child. When Shepard made a homosexual advance to him, the lawyer said, it drove him to an insane rage. "Gay panic" has no place in statute or case law, but it has been used successfully to reduce charges in several cases. Judge Barton Voigt, however, ruled that what Tangeman was trying to prove was temporary insanity, which is no defense in Wyoming.

Tangeman and McKinney's other court-appointed lawyer, Dion Custis, then tried to show that their client was less responsible because he had been taking drugs and was drinking heavily the night of the attack.

The jury found McKinney guilty of both kidnapping and murder. The next day, it was to consider whether or not to recommend the death penalty. But when it met, there was a surprise.

Dennis Shepard, the dead man's father, stood up and addressed the murderer.

"I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney," he said. "However, this is the time to begin the healing process, to show mercy to someone who refused to show any mercy."

The Washington Post said, "Judy and Dennis Shepard tempered justice with mercy and may have spared the life of the man who killed their son."

"Parents of gay obtain mercy for his killer," headlined the New York Times.

The situation, however, was a bit more complicated. The day before Dennis Shepard made his statement, when the jury delivered its guilty verdict, it had not agreed with the prosecution that the murder was premeditated. In that case, most Wyoming legal experts agreed, there was little chance that McKinney would be sentenced to death.

McKinney's lawyers, however, did not want to risk even a small chance. Tangeman approached Rerucha to see if the family would agree to a life sentence instead of death. Rerucha was flabbergasted and outraged. He denounced the audacity of the defense team—lawyers he personally disliked—in asking mercy of the parents of the dead man.

Two other members of the state team looked at the situation more realistically. Sergeant DeBree, who made the arrests, and his superior officer, Commander David O'Malley, knew that McKinney would probably get life anyway. And in that case, there was a chance he might again be turned loose on society. They brokered the meeting between the defense team and the Shepards. Rerucha went, too, but he walked out after five minutes. What Tangeman and Custis finally offered was two consecutive life terms, with no appeals allowed and no possibility of parole. After some discussion, Judy Shepard agreed. Dennis didn't. Neither did Rerucha, who had the final decision. Eventually, Judy Shepard's arguments and the police officers' cool assessment won over Dennis Shepard. Rerucha reluctantly agreed to forgo asking for death.

Judge Voigt sentenced McKinney to two consecutive life terms. There could be no appeal. McKinney will never leave the prison.

—William Weir