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Separate trial for accused Wyoming gay bashers
Updated Dec. 11, 1998
2:40 p.m. ET
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Court TV) — Despite opposition from prosecutors, the two men accused of the gay-bashing killing of college student Matthew Shepard will be tried separately.
District Judge Jeffrey Donnell set Russell Arthur Henderson's trial for March 22 and Aaron James McKinney's for Aug. 9.
Prosecutor Cal Rerucha had filed a motion asking for one trial, reasoning that two people accused of the same crime should be tried together. But defense attorneys opposed a combined trial, although they refused to say why.
McKinney and Henderson pleaded not guilty Nov. 2 to charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated robbery.
Rerucha must declare by Dec. 31 whether he will seek the death penalty.
On Oct. 7, Matthew Shepard was severely beaten and tied to a fence in southern Wyoming. Five days after the beating he died from his injuries in a Colorado hospital. He had sustained at least 18 blows to his head.
On the night of the beating, Shepard attended a meeting of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered Association. He then went to a bar, where he allegedly met McKinney and Henderson, who told him they were gay.
The suspects then allegedly lured Shepard into McKinney's pick-up truck, where they told him, "We're not gay — you've been jacked."
Shepard's brutalized body was discovered by a cyclist, who thought his limp form was a scarecrow.
The 5-foot-2, 105-pound Shepard already had been beaten twice, presumably because he was outspoken about his sexuality, since the beginning of the 1998 school year. And, while the primary motive for the October attack was robbery, court papers list sexual orientation as a factor.
Shepard, who spoke four languages and aspired to someday become a diplomat, chose to attend the University of Wyoming because his father went there.
The men's girlfriends, Chasity Pasley and Kristen Price are charged with helping them dispose of evidence. The women pleaded not guilty on Dec. 9. Their trial dates have not been set.
—Kathryn Rubenstein
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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