Matthew Wayne Shepard was a 21 year old student who was targeted because of his sexual orientation and was the victim of torture and murder near Laramie in October 1998. He was attacked on the night of October 6–7, and died on October 12 from severe head injuries.
In February 1995 during a high school trip to Morocco, Shepard was beaten, robbed and raped, causing him to withdraw from school and experience depression and panic attacks. His friends feared that his depression drove him to become involved in drugs.
Shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998, Shepard met Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson for the first time a lounge in Laramie. It was decided that McKinney and Henderson would give Shepard a ride home. McKinney and Henderson subsequently drove the car to a remote, rural area and proceeded to rob, pistol-whip, and torture Shepard, tying him to a fence and leaving him to die. Still tied to the fence, Shepard was discovered 18 hours later by a cyclist, who initially mistook Shepard for a scarecrow. Shepard was in a coma. Shepard had suffered fractures to the back of his head and in front of his right ear. He experienced severe brain stem damage, which affected his body's ability to regulate body temperature, heart rate, and other vital functions. There also were about a dozen small wounds around his head, face, and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Shepard never regained consciousness and remained on full life support.
Shepard was pronounced dead at 12:53 a.m. on October 12, 1998. Police arrested McKinney and Henderson shortly thereafter, finding the bloody gun and Shepard's shoes and wallet in their truck. Henderson and McKinney had tried to persuade their girlfriends to provide alibis.
McKinney and Henderson allegedly pretended to be gay in order to gain Shepard’s trust. During the trial, Chastity Pasley and Kristen Price, girlfriends of McKinney and Henderson, testified that Henderson and McKinney had both plotted beforehand to rob a gay man.It has also been suggested that McKinney and Henderson, both being of slight build, targeted Shepard, who was a very small man, as an easy target. McKinney alleged that Shepard asked them for a ride home. After befriending him, they took him to a remote area outside of Laramie where they robbed him, assaulted him severely, and tied him to a fence with a rope from McKinney's truck while Shepard pleaded for his life. Media reports often contained the graphic account of the pistol whipping and his fractured skull. It was reported that Shepard was beaten so brutally that his face was completely covered in blood, except where it had been partially washed clean by his tears.
Henderson pleaded guilty on April 5, 1999, and agreed to testify against McKinney to avoid the death penalty; he received two consecutive life sentences. The jury in McKinney's trial found him guilty of felony murder. As they began to deliberate on the death penalty, Shepard's parents brokered a deal, resulting in McKinney receiving two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
The fence to which Shepard was tied and left to die became an impromptu shrine for visitors, who left notes, flowers, and other mementos. It has since been removed by the land owner.
Elton John, whose album included "American Triangle" a song about Shepard's murder. Lady Gaga performed John Lennon's 'Imagine' at the 2009 HRC Dinner and changed the lyrics from "above us only sky" to "with only Matthew in the sky.”
The Laramie Project is also often performed as a play. The play involves recounts of interviews with citizens of the town of Laramie ranging from a few months after the attack to a few years after. The play is designed to display the town's reaction to the crime. Ten years later, The Laramie Project created a second play, based on interviews with members of the town, Shepard's mother, and his incarcerated murderer.
