1. Matthew Wayne Shepard was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on October 6,1998.
32 Facts About Matthew Shepard
1. 2.
Matthew Shepard was transported by rescuers to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days later from severe head injuries sustained during the attack.
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The prosecutor argued the murder of Matthew Shepard was premeditated and driven by greed.
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Matthew Shepard's murder brought national and international attention to hate crime legislation at both the state and federal level.
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Matthew Shepard was born in 1976 in Casper, Wyoming; he was the first of two sons born to Judy and Dennis Shepard.
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Matthew Shepard was raised in the Episcopal denomination and had once served as an altar boy in the church.
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Matthew Shepard attended Crest Hill Elementary School, Dean Morgan Junior High School, and Natrona County High School for his freshman through junior years.
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Matthew Shepard developed an interest in politics at an early age.
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One of Matthew Shepard's friends feared that his depression had driven him to become involved with drugs during his time at college.
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Multiple times, Matthew Shepard was hospitalized due to his clinical depression and suicidal ideation.
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Matthew Shepard became a first-year political science major at the University of Wyoming in Laramie with a minor in languages, and was chosen as the student representative for the Wyoming Environmental Council.
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Matthew Shepard was the type of person who was very approachable and always looked to new challenges.
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Matthew Shepard had a great passion for equality and always stood up for the acceptance of people's differences.
14.
McKinney and Henderson offered to give Matthew Shepard a ride home.
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Reports described how Matthew Shepard was beaten so brutally that his face was completely covered in blood, except where it had been partially cleansed by his tears.
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Matthew Shepard arrested Henderson, searched McKinney's truck, and found a blood-smeared gun along with Shepard's shoes and credit card.
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Still tied to the fence, Matthew Shepard was in a coma eighteen hours after the attack when he was discovered by Aaron Kreifels, a cyclist who initially mistook Matthew Shepard for a scarecrow.
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Matthew Shepard was transported first to Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie before being moved to the more advanced trauma ward at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado.
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Matthew Shepard had suffered fractures to the back of his head and in front of his right ear.
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Matthew Shepard experienced severe brainstem damage, which affected his body's ability to regulate his heart rate, body temperature, and other vital functions.
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Matthew Shepard's injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate.
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Matthew Shepard never regained consciousness and remained on full life support.
23.
Detective Ben Fritzen testified that Price stated McKinney told her the violence against Matthew Shepard was triggered by how McKinney "[felt] about gays".
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At Henderson's sentencing, his lawyer argued that Matthew Shepard had not been targeted because he was gay.
25.
Matthew Shepard's parents brokered a deal that resulted in McKinney receiving two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
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Matthew Shepard's murder continued to attract public attention and media coverage long after the trial was over.
27.
Matthew Shepard was a main force behind the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which she and her husband, Dennis, founded in December 1998.
28.
In June 2019, Matthew Shepard was one of the inaugural 50 American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument in New York City's Stonewall Inn.
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On October 26,2018, just over 20 years after his death, Matthew Shepard's ashes were interred at the crypt of Washington National Cathedral.
30.
Matthew Shepard's was the first interment of the ashes of a national figure at the cathedral since Helen Keller's 50 years earlier.
31.
Judy Shepard speaks about her loss, her family memories of Matthew, and the tragic event that changed the Shepards' lives and America.
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The Meaning of Matthew follows the Shepard family in the days immediately after the crime to see their incapacitated son, kept alive by life support machines; how the Shepards learned of the huge public response, the candlelit vigils and memorial services for their child; and their struggles to navigate the legal system.