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) — Despite having an incriminating — though barely audible — taped confession to the robbery and beating death of Matthew Shepard, jurors in the trial of Aaron McKinney deliberated 7 1/2 hours Tuesday without reaching a verdict. The Wyoming jury of seven men and five women returns Wednesday morning to continue its work.

McKinney has been on trial for first-degree murder for the 1998 beating death of Shepard, a gay student. Prosecutors say that McKinney and one-time co-defendant Russell Henderson met Shepard in a bar, pretended to be gay and lured Shepard into McKinney's truck where they intended to rob him. Shepard was pistol-whipped and beaten brutally and later tied to a fence. He was found 18 hours later and died in a hospital after five days in a coma.

If convicted of first-degree murder, McKinney could face the death penalty. Jurors are considering two kinds of first-degree murder charges: premeditated murder and felony murder. The felony murder charge refers to prosecution's murder/robbery and murder/kidnapping allegations in Shepard's beating and, unlike premeditated murder, does not require intent to kill. Felony murder only requires intent to commit the underlying felony. Both types of first-degree murder carry sentences of either life without parole or the death penalty. Henderson pleaded guilty to felony murder in April and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

The long wait for a verdict in McKinney's trial may be attributed to the long list of lesser additional charges jurors are considering. They include: second-degree murder, manslaughter, aggravated robbery, larceny, kidnapping, false imprisonment and felonious restraint.

In closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutor Cal Rerucha compared Shepard's encounter with McKinney and Henderson to a sheep meeting a wolf. Rerucha stressed McKinney's own confession where he admitted his intention to rob Shepard. In his taped confession, McKinney said he delivered the beating while Henderson stood by. McKinney also admitted hitting Shepard three more times when the gay student admitted he was still able to read back the license plate numbers on his assailant's truck.

Rerucha paused for 60 seconds to have jurors reflect on the beating Shepard endured from McKinney for a seemingly eternal one minute.

"Think what 60 seconds was to Matthew Shepard," Rerucha said. "It's a short time if you're eating an ice cream cone. It's a long time if you're descending into hell not knowing what fate will meet you there."

McKinney's lawyer, Dion Custis, told jurors in his closings that his client was in an "emotional rage" when he beat Shepard. He stressed that McKinney is not a murderer and urged the jury to consider why the beating occurred.

"[McKinney] is not a cold-blooded murderer, ladies and gentlemen; he reacted," Custis said. "There was no thought process ... He hit him [Shepard] too many times. The question is why."

Custis stressed that McKinney was reacting to an unwanted alleged sexual advance by Shepard. Shepard, the defense claims, grabbed McKinney's crotch, sparking his own fatal beating. However, Custis would have wanted to further explore the alleged reasons for McKinney's violent reaction to Shepard's alleged advances, but he could not. On Monday, Judge Barton Voigt barred McKinney's defense from presenting a so-called "gay panic defense.

The defense argued in opening statements that McKinney's "rage" — and his fatal beating of Shepard — was spurred partly by the defendant's own prior homosexual experience and aggravated by drug and alcohol abuse. The defense has contended that McKinney was sexually abused by a male neighborhood bully when he was 7 years old and had a "confusing" experience at age 15 with one of his cousins.

But Judge Voigt, unconvinced that McKinney's lawyers had found a legal basis or established relevance for their arguments, torpedoed that defense theory.

McKinney's lawyers insisted that they were not employing a so-called "gay panic defense." They argued that McKinney's prior homosexual experience and abuse would help explain why he reacted the way he did to Shepard's alleged advance and would give insight into his state of mind.

— Bryan Robinson

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