Beating victim begged for life

Jim Hughes

Denver Post Staff Writer

10/10/98

Oct. 10 - LARAMIE - Tied to a wooden fence along an old dirt road, the weight of his small body sagging against the cheap utility cord, Matthew Shepard begged for his life as his attackers pistol-whipped him, according to allegations read in court Friday.

But the assailants kept hitting the 21-year-old gay college student with the butt of a .357 Magnum until they believed he was dead. They broke his skull. Then they took his wallet, his patent leather shoes and took off to burglarize his house.

Albany County Judge Robert Castor read the allegations against Russel Arthur Henderson, 21, and Aaron James McKinney, age unknown, on Friday during the pair's initial court appearance.

The judge read aloud from investigative reports that show prosecutors believe the University of Wyoming political-science major did nothing to provoke the attack except let his eventual assailants know he is gay.

Investigators believe Henderson and McKinney picked Shepard up at the Fireside Bar and Lounge in Laramie on Tuesday night. They drove about a mile from town, beating Shepard along the way, the judge read, tying him to a rough-hewn fence and continuing to pistolwhip him, finally leaving him for dead. He was found battered, unconscious and shoeless Wednesday evening by two passing mountain bikers.

Henderson and McKinney, who face felony kidnapping, assault and attempted first-degree murder charges, showed little emotion during the court hearing.

Shepard remained unconscious and in critical condition Friday in the intensive-care unit at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, said Rulon Stacey, hospital president and chief executive officer. Shepard had severe head injuries and was on a respirator.

The most serious wound, a crushing blow behind his right ear, caused a 2-inch depression to his skull, his family said. He had deep cuts on his head and face, his aunt and uncle said.

Shepard's parents, Dennis and Judy, arrived at the hospital Friday evening from Saudi Arabia, where they live and where Dennis Shepard works as an oil-rig safety inspector. Aunts and uncles also were at Shepard's bedside.

Stacey would not discuss Shepard's wounds or prognosis. However, close friends who saw Shepard at the hospital on Friday said the outlook was grim.

"I don't think he can survive,'' said Phil LaBrie, 26, one of Shepard's best friends in Laramie. LaBrie said he held Shepard's hand; Shepard's head was bandaged and his face distorted and swollen.

"Even through his injuries, he had a peaceful aura,'' LaBrie said. "He was bashed up physically, but he was still beautiful.''

The hospital has been flooded with calls and inquiries from around the country, including offers of support from people concerned about Shepard's condition, Stacey said.

Flowers from strangers awaited delivery in the hospital's lobby on Friday afternoon. In lieu of more flowers, Shepard's parents have asked that donation be sent to a benefit fund at First National Bank in Fort Collins.

In an unusual step, Poudre Hospital is providing updates on Shepard's condition on its Web site,

http://www.pvhs.org. Information will be updated at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. daily, Stacey said.

Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer on Friday called Shepard's beating a "heinous crime'' that outraged and sickened him, and he offered sympathy to the Shepard family.

"The challenge for our Wyoming community is to come to grips with the violence we're seeing,'' Geringer said from his office in Cheyenne. "What we need to do is work to change the anger in people's hearts and the motivations that cause such terrible acts to occur.''

Two women also arrested

In addition to the two male suspects, authorities arrested their girlfriends, Chastity Vera Pasley, 20, and Kristen Leann Price, 18. Authorities allege Price and Pasley supplied false alibis for their boyfriends after the two men were arrested.

The judge set bail for Henderson and McKinney at $100,000 and $30,000 for Pasley. Price bailed out of jail before Friday's hearing.

Pasley sobbed throughout the hearing, dabbing at her face with a tissue. Despite earlier reports that all of the suspects were University of Wyoming students, university officials said Pasley, a second-year freshman art major, is the only university student among the four.

The suspects are due back in court Tuesday.

Although Albany County prosecutor Cal Rerucha filed a request to seal all documents, the judge revealed much about what authorities think preceded the discovery of Shepard.

The nearly 100 spectators filling the courtroom heard a grisly retelling of what officials think happened late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

In a joint investigation by the Laramie Police Department and Albany County Sheriff's Department, investigators turned up the following sequence of alleged events, which Castor read:

* Sometime Tuesday night, Shepard met Henderson and McKinney while at the Fireside Bar and Lounge. Shepard told them he was gay. They invited him to leave with them. All three got into McKinney's father's pickup, and the attack began.

Throughout, Shepard begged for his life.

* Sometime later Tuesday or early Wednesday, the two suspects were contacted in downtown Laramie by police. The pair fled, abandoning the pickup. Police then discovered the blood-covered .357 Magnum in the bed of the truck and a pair of shoes and one of Shepard's credit cards in the cab.

For Shepard's friends, several of whom attended Friday's court hearing, Castor's reading of the official allegations sounded like confirmation of what they had suspected all along - that Shepard was beaten because he is gay.

The last time most of them saw Shepard was earlier Tuesday evening at the Village Inn restaurant on Grand Avenue in Laramie, where he and other members of the university's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance had gone for coffee after a final planning session for the university's upcoming gay awareness week.

The student-run support group's week-long series of events starts Sunday with Coming Out Day. Organizers now plan to replace one of the scheduled movies with another film, "Not In Our Town,'' a drama about violence against homosexuals.

A 22-year-old student who would only give her first name, Kim, was the last of the group to see Shepard that night when she dropped him off at home about 9:30 p.m.

Like Shepard, Kim had only come to Laramie this semester.

She watched Shepard go into his house before driving home. She found out about the attack when police called her the next evening.

Sometime after 10 p.m. Tuesday, just after bartender Matt Galloway began his shift, Shepard showed up at the Fireside Bar. Shepard is a pretty regular customer who tips well, Galloway said. He sat at the bar that night, as he usually does. He had three or four different kinds of beer over the two hours or so, he said.

"Generally, he sits alone at the bar,'' Galloway said Friday. "He doesn't talk much. I remember him talking to people, which is somewhat unusual.''

Galloway said he doesn't remember seeing Shepard talking to Henderson or McKinney. In the courtroom Friday were gay-rights and anti-hate-crime activists from Fort Collins and Denver. Gary Summers, executive director of Lambda Community Center in Fort Collins and a former University of Wyoming student, was moved to tears by Castor's reading of the alleged details of Shepard's kidnapping and attack.

"I used to live here,'' he said. "I'm very surprised - I was out and openly gay on this campus and in this town. People in Wyoming are generally live-and-let-live kinds of people. This is horrible.''

Denver Post staff writer Coleman Cornelius contributed to this report.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- [dpo] Beating victim begged for life [back to news] By Jim Hughes [Related stories] Denver Post Staff Writer

Oct. 10 - LARAMIE - Tied to a wooden fence along an old - Victim begged dirt road, the weight of his small body sagging against - Safe in the cheap utility cord, Matthew Shepard begged for his Laramie? life as his attackers pistol-whipped him, according to - Hate crimes allegations read in court Friday. legislation - Activists But the assailants kept hitting the 21-year-old gay outraged college student with the butt of a .357 Magnum until - Diane Carman they believed he was dead. They broke his skull. Then they took his wallet, his patent leather shoes and took off to burglarize his house.

Albany County Judge Robert Castor read the allegations against Russel Arthur Henderson, 21, and Aaron James McKinney, age unknown, on Friday during the pair's initial court appearance.

The judge read aloud from investigative reports that show prosecutors believe the University of Wyoming political-science major did nothing to provoke the attack except let his eventual assailants know he is gay.

Investigators believe Henderson and McKinney picked Shepard up at the Fireside Bar and Lounge in Laramie on Tuesday night. They drove about a mile from town, beating Shepard along the way, the judge read, tying him to a rough-hewn fence and continuing to pistolwhip him, finally leaving him for dead. He was found battered, unconscious and shoeless Wednesday evening by two passing mountain bikers.

Henderson and McKinney, who face felony kidnapping, assault and attempted first-degree murder charges, showed little emotion during the court hearing.

Shepard remained unconscious and in critical condition Friday in the intensive-care unit at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, said Rulon Stacey, hospital president and chief executive officer. Shepard had severe head injuries and was on a respirator.

The most serious wound, a crushing blow behind his right ear, caused a 2-inch depression to his skull, his family said. He had deep cuts on his head and face, his aunt and uncle said.

Shepard's parents, Dennis and Judy, arrived at the hospital Friday evening from Saudi Arabia, where they live and where Dennis Shepard works as an oil-rig safety inspector. Aunts and uncles also were at Shepard's bedside.

Stacey would not discuss Shepard's wounds or prognosis. However, close friends who saw Shepard at the hospital on Friday said the outlook was grim.

"I don't think he can survive,'' said Phil LaBrie, 26, one of Shepard's best friends in Laramie. LaBrie said he held Shepard's hand; Shepard's head was bandaged and his face distorted and swollen.

"Even through his injuries, he had a peaceful aura,'' LaBrie said. "He was bashed up physically, but he was still beautiful.''

The hospital has been flooded with calls and inquiries from around the country, including offers of support from people concerned about Shepard's condition, Stacey said.

Flowers from strangers awaited delivery in the hospital's lobby on Friday afternoon. In lieu of more flowers, Shepard's parents have asked that donation be sent to a benefit fund at First National Bank in Fort Collins.

In an unusual step, Poudre Hospital is providing updates on Shepard's condition on its Web site,

http://www.pvhs.org. Information will be updated at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. daily, Stacey said.

Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer on Friday called Shepard's beating a "heinous crime'' that outraged and sickened him, and he offered sympathy to the Shepard family.

"The challenge for our Wyoming community is to come to grips with the violence we're seeing,'' Geringer said from his office in Cheyenne. "What we need to do is work to change the anger in people's hearts and the motivations that cause such terrible acts to occur.''

Two women also arrested

In addition to the two male suspects, authorities arrested their girlfriends, Chastity Vera Pasley, 20, and Kristen Leann Price, 18. Authorities allege Price and Pasley supplied false alibis for their boyfriends after the two men were arrested.

The judge set bail for Henderson and McKinney at $100,000 and $30,000 for Pasley. Price bailed out of jail before Friday's hearing.

Pasley sobbed throughout the hearing, dabbing at her face with a tissue. Despite earlier reports that all of the suspects were University of Wyoming students, university officials said Pasley, a second-year freshman art major, is the only university student among the four.

The suspects are due back in court Tuesday.

Although Albany County prosecutor Cal Rerucha filed a request to seal all documents, the judge revealed much about what authorities think preceded the discovery of Shepard.

The nearly 100 spectators filling the courtroom heard a grisly retelling of what officials think happened late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

In a joint investigation by the Laramie Police Department and Albany County Sheriff's Department, investigators turned up the following sequence of alleged events, which Castor read:

* Sometime Tuesday night, Shepard met Henderson and McKinney while at the Fireside Bar and Lounge. Shepard told them he was gay. They invited him to leave with them. All three got into McKinney's father's pickup, and the attack began.

Throughout, Shepard begged for his life.

* Sometime later Tuesday or early Wednesday, the two suspects were contacted in downtown Laramie by police. The pair fled, abandoning the pickup. Police then discovered the blood-covered .357 Magnum in the bed of the truck and a pair of shoes and one of Shepard's credit cards in the cab.

For Shepard's friends, several of whom attended Friday's court hearing, Castor's reading of the official allegations sounded like confirmation of what they had suspected all along - that Shepard was beaten because he is gay.

The last time most of them saw Shepard was earlier Tuesday evening at the Village Inn restaurant on Grand Avenue in Laramie, where he and other members of the university's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance had gone for coffee after a final planning session for the university's upcoming gay awareness week.

The student-run support group's week-long series of events starts Sunday with Coming Out Day. Organizers now plan to replace one of the scheduled movies with another film, "Not In Our Town,'' a drama about violence against homosexuals.

A 22-year-old student who would only give her first name, Kim, was the last of the group to see Shepard that night when she dropped him off at home about 9:30 p.m.

Like Shepard, Kim had only come to Laramie this semester.

She watched Shepard go into his house before driving home. She found out about the attack when police called her the next evening.

Sometime after 10 p.m. Tuesday, just after bartender Matt Galloway began his shift, Shepard showed up at the Fireside Bar. Shepard is a pretty regular customer who tips well, Galloway said. He sat at the bar that night, as he usually does. He had three or four different kinds of beer over the two hours or so, he said.

"Generally, he sits alone at the bar,'' Galloway said Friday. "He doesn't talk much. I remember him talking to people, which is somewhat unusual.''

Galloway said he doesn't remember seeing Shepard talking to Henderson or McKinney. In the courtroom Friday were gay-rights and anti-hate-crime activists from Fort Collins and Denver. Gary Summers, executive director of Lambda Community Center in Fort Collins and a former University of Wyoming student, was moved to tears by Castor's reading of the alleged details of Shepard's kidnapping and attack.

"I used to live here,'' he said. "I'm very surprised - I was out and openly gay on this campus and in this town. People in Wyoming are generally live-and-let-live kinds of people. This is horrible.''

Denver Post staff writer Coleman Cornelius contributed to this report.