LARAMIE, Wyo., Posted 1:30 p.m. October 11, 1998 -- He flirted with them.
That's the story from the girlfriend of one of two men charged with brutally attacking Matthew Shepard, says The Associated Press.
Shepard, 22, is a Wyoming college student - and he's openly gay.
Police suspect he was attacked because he is gay, but Kristen Price says the attack on Shepard was not a hate crime.
Price says her boyfriend was embarrassed that Shepard made passes at him at a bar Tuesday night. She says the boyfriend and a second man decided to get back at Shepard by luring him outside to rob him.
The girlfriend says they never set out to try to kill him.
In fact, Shepard was savagely beaten, then left tied to the fence shown at left, where he hung for nearly 20 hours before two passing bicyclists found him, according to Channel 4000, Channel 6000's counterpart in Minneapolis.
Two young men have been arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder. Two women have also been arrested as accessories.
Shepard's attackers are accused of torturing him and, according to the
affidavit filed in court, attempting, "To kill their victim by beating
him with the butt of a pistol." The affadavit goes on to say that Shepard
was begging for his life.
Shepard is now in intensive care at a Colorado hospital, where officals
say he's getting worse. He's in critical condition with hypothermia, a
fractured skull, bleeding, and pressure on the brain, according to Channel
4000.
Special To Channel 6000