ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

November 20, 1998

Slain student's last moments

Suspect describes how he beat gay Wyoming man, watched as pal left him bound

to fence

By Kevin McCullen, News Staff Writer

LARAMIE -- Matthew Shepard's tears cleared blood from a small part of his blood-caked face after he sustained 18 blows to the head from assailants who laughed at him as he begged for his life.

Aaron McKinney, 22, admitted to authorities that he struck Shepard three times with his fists and six times with the butt of a stolen .357-caliber revolver the night of Oct. 6, and watched as partner Russell Henderson, 21, tied the University of Wyoming student to a buck fence, according to court testimony Thursday.

Visiting judge Robert Denhardt bound over McKinney, from Laramie, for trial on charges of first-degree murder, robbery and kidnapping following an all-day preliminary hearing in Albany County Court.

Denhardt heard testimony about McKinney's confession from Albany County sheriff's Detective Sgt. Rob DeBree, the lead investigator in a case that has attracted national attention, in part, because Shepard was gay.

Shepard, 21, was left tied to a fence for 18 hours before he was found. Albany County sheriff's deputy Reggie Fluty testified his head was covered with blood, except for a clean spot on his face "where he'd been crying and the tears went down his face."

He later died of his injuries at Poudre Valley Hospital. His autopsy disclosed he was struck 18 times in the head.

He also was bruised throughout his groin area, indicating he'd been kicked, and the backs of his hands were bruised as he tried to cover his head, DeBree said.

McKinney confessed in an Oct. 9 interview with DeBree to joining Henderson in robbing $20 from Shepard. Police later recovered Shepard's wallet in a dirty diaper in McKinney's home.

DeBree also said McKinney told him that although he and Henderson knew Shepard was homosexual, the 5-foot-2, 105-pound Shepard did not "hit on him or make advances on him at the bar."

The pair lured Shepard out of the Fireside Lounge by pretending to be gay. But minutes later, as the three rode in a pickup truck, McKinney struck Shepard in the head with a pistol.

DeBree testified that McKinney taunted Shepard seconds before he struck the first of many blows.

"Guess what? We're not gay. You're going to get jacked. It's gay awareness week," DeBree testified, relating what McKinney later boasted of saying to Shepard.

McKinney, who showed no emotion during testimony Thursday from five Laramie or Albany County officers, was the only defendant in the case to go through a preliminary hearing.

Henderson, his co-defendant, waived his hearing on the same charges and will be arraigned next month in district court.

Kristen Price, McKinney's 18-year-old girlfriend, and Henderson's girlfriend, Chasity Pasley, 20, also waived preliminary hearings and face arraignment next month on accessory charges.

Albany County Attorney Cal Rerucha refused Thursday to say if he would seek the death penalty against either McKinney or Henderson.

Matthew Shepard's parents, Dennis and Judy, attended the preliminary hearing Thursday, but Dennis Shepard waved off reporters. The Shepards sat three rows in front of McKinney's family in a courtroom that drew more media than spectators.

New details emerged Thursday about the case:

Laramie police contacted McKinney and Henderson before 1 a.m. Oct. 7 after the pair confronted two teen-agers on a street near Shepard's home, which they intended to burglarize. Police initially responded to the area on a report of vandalism after one of the two teens involved in the altercation with Henderson and McKinney slashed the tire of a parked car.

Police who questioned McKinney and Henderson that night spotted a pistol in the pickup truck the pair was driving. The pistol was covered in blood and appeared to have hairs stuck to it, Laramie police Cmdr. Dave O'Malley testified. Police later recovered Shepard's credit card and his size 7 shoes from the truck, along with a blood-spattered coat that belonged to Henderson.

Price recounted in an interview with Laramie police Detective Ben Fritzen what McKinney told her about the night of Oct. 6. He said he was "pretty sure he killed a guy," Fritzen testified.

Henderson laughed as McKinney struck Shepard after they led him to a fence line on the outskirts of Laramie.

"He (Shepard) was basically begging, asking them to stop, saying they were hurting him, to stop and to let him go," Fritzen testified, recounting his interview with Price.

Shepard's shoes were taken, although McKinney "originally had considered stripping him down to his underwear," the detective said.