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) — Aaron McKinney's lawyers admitted to prospective jurors Monday that their client was responsible for Matthew Shepard's brutal 1998 slaying. However, to the surprise of some, McKinney's lawyers said they would not blame his former friend and co-defendant Russell Henderson and suggested their client's actions were caused by mental health problems and abuse of alcohol and metamphetamines.

McKinney's lawyers gave hints of their strategy as jury selection began in his trial Monday. Wyoming prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against McKinney, whom they say was the mastermind behind Shepard's brutal slaying last October. McKinney along with co-hort and former friend, Russell Henderson, met Shepard at a bar, allegedly pretended to be gay, and lured him into the pickup truck McKinney was driving. There, Shepard was pistol-whipped, beaten him, robbed, tied to a fence, and left to die in freezing temperatures.

Bloody and unconscious, Shepard was found 18 hours later and taken to the hospital. He died five days after being admitted.

Henderson pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of felony murder with robbery and kidnapping during jury selection in his trial in April. He claimed that he witnessed, but did not participate in, Shepard's murder and insisted he did not benefit from the proceeds of the robbery. According to Henderson, it was McKinney's idea to rob and beat Shepard.

Defense lawyer Dion Custis did not back away from his client's role in Shepard's murder Monday, telling potential jurors that McKinney was responsible for the gay student's murder and that he would not contest the findings of Shepherd's autopsy photos. But, Custis added, to understand McKinney's actions, jurors would have to understand his abuse of alcohol, metamphetamines and mental health problems.

Shepard's murder sparked national outrage against crimes on homosexuals and spurred a new movement to get a specific hate crime law passed in Wyoming. But during jury selection Monday, prosecutor Cal Rerucha did not specifically mention Shepard's sexual orientation or the suspicion that his murder was a hate crime. He only told jurors that all people, whether they are "Christian, Muslim, gay or straight" must be treated the same. Prosecutors have never said that Shepard's death was a hate crime. They have said that once Henderson and McKinney realized Shepard's sexual orientation, they pretended to be gay because they thought he wouldn't resist a robbery.

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. In a prison letter, McKinney also allegedly suggested an unwanted pass motivated the slaying. Price and Bill McKinney, Aaron's father, later told The Denver Post that he only killed Shepherd because he 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.

In court Monday, prosecutors listed Henderson, Henderson's girlfriend Chasity Pasley, and McKinney's girlfriend Kristen Price. Prosecutors say Price and Pasley tried to provide the defendants with alibis, 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. Price faces trial in January for accessory after the fact to Shepard's murder.

Perhaps the prosecution's greatest challenge during jury selection will be finding jurors willing to impose the death penalty. Wyoming is an historically death penalty-leery state; there are only two men currently on death row. The last executions in the state occurred in 1965 and 1992.

Jury selection is expected to last two weeks. Of the 250 prospective jurors, 60 were subpoenaed for Monday's hearing. Groups of 60 will meet with the judge and lawyers each day for general jury selection sessions this week. Opening statements are expected October 25.

— Bryan Robinson