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Matthew Shepard SEE THE TAPED INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW AT BOTTOM OF POST.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (FOR COMPLETE STORY SEE URL AT THE BOTTOM OF POST)
| Matthew Shepard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Matthew Wayne Shepard December 1, 1976 Casper, Wyoming, US |
| Died | October 12, 1998 (aged 21) Fort Collins, Colorado |
| Cause of death | Torture (officially, homicide) |
| Parents | Judy Peck and Dennis Shepard |
Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming, U.S.A., in October 1998. He was attacked on the night of October 6–7, and died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 12 from severe head injuries.
During a pre-trial hearing, a Laramie police officer testified that
the violence against Shepard was due to how the attacker "[felt] about gays," per an interview of the attacker's girlfriend who said she received that explanation. Shepard's murder brought national and international attention to the contention of hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels.
In 2009, his mother Judy Shepard authored a book The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed. On October 22, 2009, the United States Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (Matthew Shepard Act for short), and on October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law.[3]
Shepard was born in Casper, Wyoming, the first of two sons born to Judy Peck and Dennis Shepard. His younger brother Logan was born in 1981. He attended Crest Hill Elementary School, Dean Morgan Junior High School, and Natrona County High School for his freshman through junior years. Saudi Aramco hired his father in the summer of 1994, and his parents subsequently resided at the Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran. During that time, Shepard attended The American School In Switzerland (TASIS),[4] from which he graduated in May 1995. Shepard then attended Catawba College in North Carolina and Casper College in Wyoming, before settling in Denver, Colorado. Shepard became a first-year political science major at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, and was chosen as the student representative for the Wyoming Environmental Council.[2]
He was described by his father as "an optimistic and accepting young
man who had a special gift of relating to almost everyone. He was the
type of person who was very approachable and always looked to new
challenges. Matthew had a great passion for equality and always stood up
for the acceptance of people's differences.
In February 1995, during a high school trip to Morocco,
Shepard was beaten and raped, causing him to experience depression and
panic attacks, according to his mother.
Murder
Shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998, Shepard met Aaron McKinney
and Russell Henderson for the first time at the Fireside Lounge in Laramie, Wyoming. It was decided that McKinney and Henderson would give Shepard a ride home. McKinney and Henderson subsequently drove the car to a remote, rural area and proceeded to rob, pistol-whip, and torture Shepard, tying him to a fence and leaving him to die.
For the complete story of thhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt8fA8x_Eegis senseless killing of a 22 year old man go to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt8fA8x_Eeg
