Shepard Jury Selection in 2nd Week

c The Associated Press
3/29/99

By STEVEN K. PAULSON

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) -- The trial of a young man charged with killing gay
college student Matthew Shepard will include graphic photos and witnesses with felony convictions, a prosecutor told prospective jurors today.

"Can you keep in mind that if you cast a play in hell, you're not going to get angels for actors?" prosecutor Cal Rerucha asked the jurors.

Jury selection entered its second week in the trial of Russell Henderson, one of two men charged in the beating death of Shepard last October.

Henderson's attorney, Wyatt Skaggs, put his arm around his client and told the jury pool that the case is not about politics or Shepard's lifestyle. "It's about judging a human being, possibly the life and death of a human being," he said.

"When we list the elements of this case, you'll not see hate as an element. It's not there. This crime is not about hate, it's about more mundane motives such as robbery and theft," Skaggs said.

Henderson remained expressionless through the morning court session.

Court officials plan to select 12 jurors and three alternates and begin opening statements early next week. Officials ended last week with 26 potential jurors, yet they wanted a larger pool; today, 70 more people were brought in, but five immediately were dismissed because of physical ailments.

Police allege Henderson and Aaron McKinney, both 21, pretended to be homosexuals, lured Shepard out of the Fireside Lounge and took him to a remote area east of Laramie and attacked him Oct. 6, leaving him bloodied and tied to a fence. The University of Wyoming freshman died five days later at a Fort Collins, Colo., hospital.

Authorities say believe Henderson and McKinney intended to rob Shepard, but also targeted him in part because he was gay. Henderson and McKinney face the death penalty if convicted.

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