10/12/98

http://www.koin.com/news/stories/news-981012-142437.html

Wyoming Gov: 'Strictest Punishment Possible'

Gov. Jim Geringer Says Alleged Attackers Could Face Death Penalty

CHEYENNE, Wyo., Posted 11:57 a.m. October 12, 1998 -- Wyoming's governor says the two men suspected of beating a gay college student to death should face the strictest punishment possible.

And Governor Jim Geringer says that punishment could include the death penalty.

Twenty-one-year-old Arthur Henderson and 22-year-old James McKinney are charged with the deadly attack of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard (pictured). He died at a Fort Collins, Colo., hospital early this morning, five days after he was beaten and left tied to a fence near Laramie, Wyo.

The Albany County Sheriff's Department says charges against the two suspects will be upgraded to first-degree murder.

Wyoming does not have a hate-crime law. Geringer says he's open to adopting such a law.