THE MATTHEW SHEPARD SLAYING
				Discuss the case Nov. 19 1998 Update Dec. 11, 1998 Update Russell Henderson's Guilty Plea and Sentencing June 25 Update Oct. 8 1999 Update (Background Report) Oct. 11 (Jury Selection) Oct. 14 Update Oct. 22 Update Oct. 25 Update (Opening Statements) Oct. 26 Update Oct. 27 Update Oct. 28 Update (Morning) Oct. 28 Update (Afternoon) Oct. 29 Update (Morning) Oct. 29 Update (Afternoon) Nov. 1 Update (Morning) Nov. 1 Update (Evening) Nov. 2 Update (Closing Arguments) Nov. 3 Update (Jury Deliberations) Nov. 3 (The Verdict) "Gay Panic" Ruling

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Court TV) — With his former friend having already pleaded guilty and blamed him for Matthew Shepard's murder, Aaron McKinney prepares to face a first-degree murder charge — and possibly the death penalty — when jury selection in his trial begins Monday.

McKinney's trial begins nearly a year after Shepard died from injuries prosecutors say the defendant inflicted on the gay student. McKinney and Russell Henderson spawned a wave of national outrage over hate crimes, when Shepard's bloody, battered body was found tied to a wooden fence outside Laramie, Wyo. last October 7. Prosecutors alleged Henderson and McKinney beat Shepard with the butt of a pistol, tied him to the fence, robbed him and terrorized him as he repeatedly begged for his life.

Then, prosecutors claim, the two left the 21-year-old University of Wyoming student to die in near-freezing temperatures. Shepard was taken to a Colorado hospital, where he died five days later without regaining consciousness. Doctors said Shepard's skull was so badly fractured they couldn't operate; an autopsy showed he received 18 severe blows to the head and bruises to his groin and inner thighs. Shepard also suffered a massive brain stem injury.

Police found Shepard's credit card and black patent leather shoes in McKinney's truck, and a bloody Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum pistol in the back of the pickup. In addition, Shepard's wallet was found hidden in McKinney's home.

During jury selection in his trial in April, Henderson pleaded guilty to felony murder with robbery and kidnapping and blamed McKinney for the slaying. He said he witnessed — but did not participate in — Shepard's murder and that it was McKinney's idea to rob and beat the victim. Henderson insisted that he did not benefit from the proceeds of the robbery and even tried to prevent McKinney from further beating Shepard. However, Henderson said, McKinney smacked him in the face for his trouble. Henderson also admitted helping McKinney tie Shepard to the wooden fence. Despite an expression of remorse, McKinney's cohort was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole.

Shepard met McKinney and Henderson at a local bar, the Fireside Lounge. He went to the bar alone after dining with a few college friends. Prosecutors believe Shepard told McKinney and Henderson that he was gay, and the two men in turn pretended to be homosexual to lure him outside the bar and into a pickup truck owned by McKinney's father.

According to Henderson, McKinney told him where to drive outside of town. Once Henderson drove them out of town, Mckinney allegedly pulled a gun on Shepard, ordered him to surrender his wallet, and the beating began.

"He [McKinney] hit him [Shepard] with the gun," Henderson said at his guilty plea. "I'm not sure how many times."

There is speculation that Henderson may testify against McKinney at trial.

McKinney's defense remains unclear. His lawyers have not commented publicly, and there is a gag order on the case. However, McKinney and his supporters have insisted that Shepard's murder was not a hate crime. In an interview with Vanity Fair, McKinney's girlfriend, Kristen Price, suggested that her boyfriend killed Shepard because the gay student had made a pass at him. She and Bill McKinney, Aaron's father, later told The Denver Post that he only killed Shepherd because he wanted to rob him.

"I guess they [the bar patrons] knew that Matt Shepard was gay, and maybe it got around that Aaron was gay or something," Price told the newspaper. "Later on, Aaron did say he told him he was gay just to rob him, because he wanted to take his money for embarrassing him ... It wasn't meant to be a hate crime. They just wanted to rob him."

Aaron McKinney himself called a local Wyoming radio station from jail in June and insisted he was not homophobic. While he did not comment on his guilt or innocence, he insisted Shepard was not killed because of his sexual preference.

"People are saying just because [Shepard] was gay that this is a hate crime, that I targeted him because he was gay," McKinney said. "I don't have anything against anybody. I don't hate gay people. I have a good friend that's gay."

Still, McKinney's motives in the killing are disputed. Sheriff's detective sergeant Rob DeBree, the lead investigator in the case, testified at a preliminary hearing that McKinney said that Shepard did not make advances toward him at the bar. However, according to DeBree, McKinney said the assault started when Shepard put his hand on the defendant's leg in the pickup truck. According to DeBree, McKinney said he told Shepard, "Guess what? We're not gay. You're gonna get jacked."

In addition, letters McKinney allegedly wrote while in prison might further incriminate him and provide insight into the reasons behind the killing. When Henderson pleaded guilty in April, Dion Custis, McKinney's lawyer, said Henderson made up the story and blamed McKinney to save himself from the death penalty. This prompted Wyatt Skaggs, Henderson's lawyer, to release undated prison letters allegedly written by McKinney. (McKinney's lawyers deny the letters are his, but Henderson's attorney says a handwriting expert supports his claim.)

In one of the letters, allegedly to the wife of a fellow inmate, McKinney said that Shepard asked for a ride home from the bar. As he and Henderson approached Shepard's apartment, McKinney was getting ready to commit a robbery when Shepard made a pass at him, according to the letter.

"When we got out to where he was living, I got ready to draw down on his ass, and all of the sudden he said he was gay and wanted a piece of me," McKinney wrote. " While he was 'comming out of the closet' he grabbed my nuts and licked my ear!! Being a verry drunk homofobic [sic] I flipped out and began to pistol whip the fag with my gun, ready at hand."

McKinney allegedly wrote that after he took Shepard's wallet, he told Henderson to drive to a remote area outside of town. McKinney allegedly planned to release Shepard after the victim revealed his home address and disclosed he had $200 in his apartment.

"I thought it would be a good idea to tie him up and take his shoes so that he would have a hard time getting away, at least give me enough time to get home and get that money before he found his way to a phone," McKinney wrote.

McKinney added that as he began to leave the scene, Shepard "mouthed off" and made him so angry he struck Shepard with his gun again.

"I thought he was just simply knocked out when I left him there," he says. "I mean hell if I wanted to kill him I would have just shot his ass. I had no intention to kill anyone and did not single him out because he was gay."

It is not clear whether these letters will be admitted at McKinney's trial.

McKinney's girlfriend Kristen Price faces trial in January for accessory after the fact to Shepard's murder. Prosecutors say Price and Chasity Pasley, Henderson's girlfriend, tried to provide the defendants with alibis and threw Henderson's bloody clothes in a dumpster at Cheyenne and hid Henderson's bloody shoes in a storage shed. Pasley, who pleaded guilty to the accessory charge last December, was sentenced to 15 to 24 months in jail in May.

Jury selection in McKinney's trial is expected to last two weeks. Opening statements are expected to begin October 25.

— Bryan Robinson