The Cincinnati Post |
NEWS
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Oct. 20, 1998 |
| LARAMIE, Wyo. - Matthew Shepard’s tears cleared blood from a small part of his blood-caked face after he sustained 18 blows to the head from assailants who laughed at him as he begged for his life.
Aaron McKinney, 22, admitted to authorities that he struck Shepard 3 times with his fists and six times with the butt of a stolen .357-caliber revolver the night of Oct. 6, and watched as partner Russell Henderson, 21 tied the University of Wyoming student to a fence, according to police testimony Thursday in court. Visiting Judge Robert Denhardt bound over McKinney, from Laramie, for trial on charges of first-degree murder, robbery and kidnapping following an all-day preliminary hearing in Albany County Court. Denhardt heard testimony about McKinney’s confession from Albany County sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Rob DeBree, lead investigator in a case that has drawn national attention, in part because Shepard was gay. Shepard, 21, was left tied to a fence for 18 hours before he was found. Albany County sheriff’s deputy Reggie Fluty testified that his head was covered in blood, except for a clean spot on his face "where he’d been crying." |
He later died of his injuries at Poudre Valley Hospital. His autopsy disclosed he was struck 18 times in the head.
McKinney confessed in an Oct. 9 interview with DeBree to joining Henderson in robbing $20 from Shepard. DeBree also said McKinney told him that although he and Henderson knew Shepard was gay, Shepard did not "make advances on him at the bar." DeBree testified that McKinney taunted Shepard before he struck the first of many blows. "Guess what? We’re not gay. You’re going to get jacked. It’s gay awareness week," Debree testified, relating what McKinney boasted of telling Shepard. Henderson will be arraigned next month.
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