Matthew Shepard Crime Scene Photos

MATTHEW WAYNE Shepard (1976-1998) :

Preface :

Out of respect for Matthew Shepard and his family and friends, this is a site operated by Memorial mild, reflective tone of the whole. There are no invective, not a politician, not a replay graphics.

Yes, the bitterness, the pathos, the agony - they are all there. It is natural and inevitable. I was deeply saddened by the untimely death of Matt, like millions of others who do not go to meet him in this life.

Yet, at the beginning, I wanted to offer a memorial site, which is to keep God and eternal life. I hope that visitors to the site you will feel better than them when they came - and that should be returned.

The first part of this site is my impression of the story of Matt, which shows the way that resonates with me personally. Following this is a selection of poems and short essays by friends who have shared their thoughts and honest feelings about Matt.

Background :

Matthew Shepard was the University of 21 years old Wyoming student who met an untimely death at the hands of Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, both about his age, after their meeting at the Fireside Lounge in Laramie, Wyoming on the night of Tuesday, October 6, 1998.

The main reason is said to have been robbery, but once the attackers had determined that his future goal was a young man who happened to be gay, then other factors come into play. It pretends to be gay themselves, earned him the bar of his truck, which belonged to the father of Louise McKinney. From there they went to a remote deer fence on the outskirts of the city. The gun, the rope, the barrier - the objects used in the crime - and are well known.Henderson pleaded guilty on April 5, 1999. McKinney was convicted after trial, nearly seven months later, on November 3. The two men are serving life sentences without parole.

First News - And The Reactions:

In general, I do not watch news on television. But Thursday night, October 8, 1998, I was in the right place at the right time to make the emotional connection with the story of Matt.

Networking during a break at The Weather Channel, I surfed to recover a portion of the cable broadcast news. There I first heard the name Matt mentioned. I learned of the attack which took place just outside of Laramie in the dark night, less than 48 hours earlier.

Picture of Matt - known profile photo of him in a plaid shirt - my feelings evoked parenting. I wanted a kiss to the child - you know, the way a father to his son - and encourage them not to let go of their life.

In the early evening of October 7, Aaron Kreifels, a member of the University of Wyoming student, on his motorcycle. He had wanted to move away from the difficult path and find another way back in town, but had instead felt the need to pursue the path he followed. His motorcycle then hit a stone, and is located on the ground. When he looked up he saw Matt on the fence, where McKinney and Henderson had left him about 18 hours earlier.Aaron initially thought he saw a scarecrow. However, he soon realized that this was a live person on the fence - someone who needed a heroic emergency assistance. Then he rushed into a house near the University of Wyoming Professor Charles Dolan to ask for help.

Difficult Journey :

Learning that someone is dead, I'm not the type that produce tears immediately. This is especially true if someone has ever known. In the case of Matthew, it took me four days. Perhaps it would have been only two days, I was busy on Monday and Tuesday, leaving ten-day road trip.

Wednesday, October 14th I left my home in Michigan to start the first day of travel. The destination was Boston, where I lived for three times. I had been waiting a long time to visit again.

But what should have been happy to drive the other hand, has been a painful stretch. I have not had a story by Matt - or in his image - from my mind. Being in a different city, and in a different room every afternoon and evening have worked especially hard, even though they were familiar in the cities where I knew familiar faces.

I did not have access to a computer for ten days.

So I had to endure a long wait before joining the discussion forums on the Internet. I was able to follow the updated news on the radio while I drove. In the morning, afternoon, evening and very early, some updates cable TV. Before starting the trip, I had already learned that the funeral will take place on Friday afternoon, October 16, in Casper, Wyoming, Matthew's hometown.

During this week became the first edition vigils in honor of Matt. The keeper of Boston was held in Boston on Thursday night, October 15, the day before my arrival. I so wanted to be here tonight. I felt like a child who just needed a hand to hold, a shoulder to hug. In fact, a packet with your hands and shoulders were nice.

Beginning Friday afternoon, after settling, I saw television coverage of the funeral, as practiced by the Church outside of San Marcos in Casper. It was a repeat of the earlier press conference that Matt's father, Dennis Shepard, had been given to the press earlier in the day. His wife, Judy, was at her side.

Matt's father thanked the public messages of love and support that the family had received from around the world. He thanked his son and asked that the family gets to say goodbye to Matt in a quiet, dignified, loving way.