Episode Transcript
Amanda: Hey there, all you true crime fans. I'm Amanda.
Kori: And I'm Kori.
Amanda: And welcome back to Colorado Crime. Let's go ahead and get started with a little joke before we discuss today's tragic case.
Kori: Why did the vampire need mouthwash?
Amanda: Why?
Kori: He had bat breath.
Amanda: Oh, that one's cute.
Kori: It's going to be a whole month of Halloween jokes, people. Whole month.
Amanda: Very seasonally appropriate. I like it. Guys, I'm still working on Manson. I'm so sorry. I'm hoping it'll be done for next week's episode. But before we jump into today's case, we have to talk about this. Did you see that funeral home in Fremont County?
Kori: I did see that.
Amanda: What the heck is happening?
Kori: I don't know.
Amanda: So, for those of you who haven't heard, there's a funeral home that's being investigated for improperly storing bodies. The funeral home in question is called Return to Nature Funeral Home, and it's located about 30 miles south of Colorado Springs. So it's a 2500 square foot building that was storing 115 unembalmed bodies.
Kori: That's so sad and gross and creepy all at the same time.
Amanda: It's so sad. This company they were offering, they're called green burials, which is essentially the vegan way of being buried. The bodies aren't embalmed. There's, like, no grave vault or liner. You can only put biodegradable material into the plot. And the bodies typically.
Kori: Do they go in like a box or how are they doing that? So it's biodegradable and not smelly.
Amanda: I think they're putting them in pine.
Kori: Okay.
Amanda: And then they lower it in with ropes and call it it's super environmentally friendly, if you are into that. That'd be a really good way to bury somebody.
Kori: But serial killers do it all the time, right?
Amanda: Well, sorry, they didn't not quite finish out that whole process.
Kori: They decided they got the money and that kind of stuff. They didn't bury any bodies.
Amanda: Yeah, pretty much.
Kori: Okay, nice.
Amanda: They were actually reported this business was reported after people smelled smells coming from it. So the coroner was notified, and the coroner let the sheriff know, and they got a warrant, and that's when they entered the building. And they were met with what was described by the Fremont County Sheriff, randy Keller, as a hazardous scene. So officials are estimating that it's going to take several months for them to clean it up and identify the next of kin again and identify the bodies. Because as of now, they're going to have to be identified by DNA because they I'm guessing are they just like.
Kori: All on slabs or in boxes or what?
Amanda: Not sure. They haven't really gone into much detail as to how they're being improperly stored.
Kori: But bodies decompose pretty quick, especially if they're not embalmed. So I'm confused as to why they were storing them and not burying them right away. Because usually at a funeral, somebody dies. They do all that stuff. It's usually like a week later and you have the funeral and the body is buried. So were they having funerals and burying, like, not burying bodies? Like, what was happening?
Amanda: I'm not sure. It didn't say. I went to the website and they had tributes to people who have passed. I think, like the most recent one, it was in August of this year, and I would imagine if the body isn't embalmed, you wouldn't need that full week turnaround, right.
Kori: You could just do it.
Amanda: Yeah. But then it's like, okay, were you guys just, like, pushing these off? Or who were you burying? Or what were you burying boxes in the ground?
Kori: That's what I'm confused about. Then what were they doing with the bodies? Selling it. Like, that weird. Yeah, that's what I was just going.
Amanda: To I don't know.
Kori: Body farming.
Amanda: It I don't know which I saw.
Kori: A show about that once.
Amanda: Yeah?
Kori: Was it gross? Like an actual discovery documentary about it? And body farming, I mean, it's not gross if it's done correctly. If you die and you say you want your body given to science or whatever, that's really how body farming is. The type of body farming that I'm talking about is this type where they just store bodies and then they use parts of the dead person. They sell black market style to hospitals and stuff. But you can't really do that. You're not supposed to do that because it's not like if I donate my body to science, then it's properly stored and not in a hot box where you cut off my arm and give it to somebody else. Not my arm, but like yes.
Amanda: Well, that's the interesting part, too, is, like I said, a body decomposes quickly. So what are you going to do with these parts? I mean, you got to use them pretty quick, especially if they're not embalmed.
Kori: Right.
Amanda: So then I don't know. All I know is that no charges have been filed yet and the owner is cooperating. Well, but I would imagine charges are going to follow because I hope so. I would be furious.
Kori: Horrifying. I would be too, if my loved one loved one went to that funeral home and their body was one of the 115 stored in a closet.
Amanda: Right.
Kori: That's a lot of bodies.
Amanda: Right? Like, were you making people soup?
Kori: Gross.
Amanda: I know. It was too sad and too bizarre not to share with you guys. And I want to know. I know in real estate, we have regulators and there's rules we have to follow. So I feel like with a funeral home, someone would come in and do checks. I don't know how frequently. But don't you think that's kind of like something they would do to prevent this sort of thing from happening?
Kori: You would think so.
Amanda: I know. Well, if anyone's listening and knows, let us know in the comments, because I'm actually genuinely interested in knowing Zachariah runs a funeral. I know. That's what I was thinking. We should call him put him on. Who's your boss?
Kori: He owns his own.
Amanda: I know, but does someone come in and check your to make sure you're not creating Bobby Soup in your building? Because I feel like that's kind of a necessary thing just go unchecked.
Kori: Like, what happens here?
Amanda: Who does this? I know. I want to know.
Kori: I have some questions.
Amanda: So many questions.
Kori: And I don't think it's the first time that this type of story has happened. I'm pretty sure it happened like a previous time, a couple, maybe 510 years ago in Colorado as well, where they weren't actually cremating bodies. Which is so awful.
Amanda: I would be so upset.
Kori: I'm pretty sure that when you get cremated, you're cremated with other people. So I think so the ashes you get back are not just your loved ones.
Amanda: Oh, Grandpa John. And really, it's like somebody else's Uncle Paul.
Kori: Right.
Amanda: Poor, poor Uncle Paul.
Kori: Which, I mean, makes sense because you can't that's a heck of a lot of fire for one person. Yes, I totally understand that. I'm totally okay with my family not getting my full ashes back.
Amanda: Oh, gosh, me too.
Kori: I don't really care.
Amanda: I always joke with Chris and I'm like, if I go, I want you to cremate me, take my ashes to Hawai and everyone just has a big party out there. I mean, maybe like not now because it just burned down, volcanoes and stuff, but that's what I want. Yeah, just have a big party. I don't care who you I mean, like, I do care in the sense of like if you sent me off to be burned up and then they actually put me in a pot and cooked me forever or didn't cook me and let me kind of just rot in a yeah. Like I would be if you're if you actually take Grandma IDA to Hawai and not me. Just know. I understand. And the sentiment was there also. I think I maybe did have a Grandma IDA that I digress.
Kori: I did not.
Amanda: I'm going to have to ask my mom, but I think I might have.
Kori: This is in no way funny. No. We just deal with sad stuff with humor because that's just who we are as people.
Amanda: Yes. Welcome to anybody who worked in any kind of law enforcement.
Kori: Law enforcement. Corrections. Yeah. Sorry.
Amanda: Yes. Cool. Well, do you want to take it away?
Kori: Yes.
Amanda: All right.
Kori: So today we are going to be covering the tragic case of Matthew Shepherd. Matthew died October 12, 1998, 25 years ago in Laramie, Wyoming. He was just 21 years old. Matthew was killed just for being gay. So we wanted to cover this because it will be the 25th anniversary on October twelveTH. Matthew shepherd was born on December 1 976 in Casper, Wyoming to his parents, Judy and Dennis Shepherd. He was the oldest of two boys. His younger brother Logan was born in 1981. Logan and Matthew were as close as brothers could be. Matthew attended school in Casper until his junior year of high school, when he and his family moved to Saudi Arabia because his dad worked for the oil company and he got a transfer out there.
Amanda: I was just going to say Casper. Chris's family is actually from Casper, and it's a huge.
Kori: Town.
Amanda: Thank you, town.
Kori: You're welcome.
Amanda: State was what was coming out, and I'm like, no, I mean, Wyoming is a pretty big oil state, but I meant the city of Casper. Go on.
Kori: Yep. Matthew ended up finishing high school at the American School in Switzerland because there were no American schools in Saudi Arabia. While he went to that school, he participated in theater and took both German and Italian courses at both of his high schools, the one in Casper and the one in Saudi Arabia. Well, Switzerland, he was elected by other students to become a peer counselor. He was a friendly kid, but he was teased for being smaller than the other kids and not as athletic. He was only about five two and about maybe 110 pounds, so he was a pretty small dude. He graduated from the American School in Switzerland in May of 1995, which is when I graduated. After he graduated, he went to Catawaba College in North Carolina, and then he transferred to Casper College in Wyoming, where he was introduced to his friend Romaine, who was a very outgoing lesbian woman. They became roommates and then they decided to move to Denver. Matthew quit going to school in Casper after they moved to Denver, and he worked a bunch of part time jobs before he decided to move back to Wyoming. He knew his passion was helping people, so in early 1998, he decided to go back to school and he enrolled in the University of Wyoming in Laramie. He majored in polySi and minored in languages. He felt like moving to a small town would help keep him safe. I know. He was chosen as the student representative for the Wyoming Environmental Council. Matthew had always known that he was gay since he was very young, but had only come out to his mother when he was in high school. I'm going to tell you guys, back in 94, 95, in the 90s, we really didn't know a lot about being gay or gay people.
Amanda: No.
Kori: And it was not yeah, we just knew that from TV because there wasn't a whole big internet thing either from the TV that being gay gave you AIDS, and that was pretty much the whole news thing about it. Now, being gay does not give you AIDS. That is not a thing. Gay men did have AIDS, but they also had, I think, in the 90s, unprotected sex was a big thing, and unprotected sex between gay men was also a big thing. But AIDS was transferred also by doing drugs, and it was transferred in straight people. So you can't say that AIDS just came from being gay. But that was the whole thing. People didn't want to be like you didn't want to be with it, stand beside a gay person because right. You didn't want to use the bathroom after a gay person because you were afraid you're going to get AIDS. And it was a whole big it was so horrible for gay people in the 90s.
Amanda: Well, and that's why it was so newsworthy. Ellen DeGeneres and I think Rosie O'Donnell also came out in the 90s, but that was huge because for a while, they did not right. Everyone was kind of afraid to, in all honesty, because it was very scary. It was very taboo. It was unsafe. It was scary. Matthew was killed solely for the reason of him being gay, and that was very prevalent and a real fear for people to have.
Kori: Right. Like I said, back in 94, 95, we didn't really know much about being gay or gay people. It wasn't something we talked about for sure, and you didn't talk about it with your friends, and you didn't hint at any of that, so let alone something that happened much in Wyoming. Yeah, his mother reassured him that she had known about his sexual identity for years and that they loved and supported him. While attending college, he became active in the school's LGBT student alliance. Now, back in 94, it was just LGBT. There was no QIA Plus or anything like that, was just the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans. And even in 94, 95, trans wasn't a huge thing, either. People who wanted to be different genders was also highly hidden and highly made fun of. I know that when I in probably 96, I knew a really beautiful trans man who well, he was a trans woman, so she was super beautiful. And she had gone to a party, like a Halloween party that we had gone to, and she had dressed up as a woman, and she was super tall, probably like 6263. And all the dudes at this party made serious fun of her. And I told them, I'm like, you guys are just jealous because she's more beautiful as a woman than you guys will ever be as dudes. She was just gorgeous. And I think men back then felt threatened by that. Men now feel threatened by that. I'm sorry. Gay men and lesbians and trans people are not coming on to you. That doesn't happen. It's not a thing.
Amanda: Right.
Kori: I don't walk around hitting on straight people. What? I know.
Amanda: I thought you were secretly in love with me.
Kori: Yeah, I love you, but not like that, you creep. Not like that. You freak.
Amanda: Wrong with you, amanda no, but it's true.
Kori: Yeah. We're not looking at your shoes under a bathroom stall and thinking, oh, man, that's a hot straight, or that's a hot straight person. I'm going to convert them. Now, I'm sure there are some people who do that but it's not all of us.
Amanda: Well, and I think you should be more worried about the pedophiles.
Kori: Right. Drag queens aren't trying to convert your children.
Amanda: Oh, my God. Right?
Kori: Your church might be, but your drag queens won't, right? So Matthew had gone on a trip to Morocco during his senior year of high school with three of his friends. On this trip, he was actually beaten and raped by a gang of locals. Some people say it's because he was small. He was 5200 pounds. But the people that did this to him were never caught. After he was assaulted, he did go to therapy, but he continued to have panic attacks, nightmares and flashbacks. His friends and family say that he still had periods of depression, suicidal ideation, paranoia, severe and severe anxiety for the remainder of his short life. That was also a thing because you really couldn't come out. And if you did come out, people were always mean to you. So there was a lot of suicides among gay people, which is also really sad.
Amanda: It is sad.
Kori: I did not come out in 94, 95. It was too scary. I wasn't out until 2004, so there you go.
Amanda: And even then, I mean, ten years later yeah, I'm sure that had to be scary even then.
Kori: Yeah, it still was, because people were like, what? That's weird. Later in life, lesbian is what we like to call that.
Amanda: Now you're just my owl. My older, wise lesbian. Yes.
Kori: Now I'm just an owl.
Amanda: So on October 6, 1998, matthew had decided that he wanted to go out. So he went to a local pub called the Fireside Lounge. While he was there, he met Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. So Aaron McKinney, who was 22, and Russell Henderson, who was 21, had already been drinking beer when they ran into Matthew, they started talking about politics and the struggle of the gay movement, leading Matthew to believe that they were gay as well. Matthew followed them to their truck to get a ride home. The two men had made a plan to rob Matthew because they knew that he would be an easy target. Once Matthew had gotten into the truck, aaron pulled out a gun and told Matthew to hand over his wallet. Aaron then said, quote, guess what? We're not gay and you're going to get jacked. End quote. Matthew refused to hand over his wallet. When that happened, Aaron hit him with the gun. So Russell started driving and they drove about a mile outside of Laramie. While they were driving, Aaron continued to beat Matthew. Once they stopped at a rural area, aaron told Russell to get a rope out of the back of the truck. Russell then said that Aaron tied Matthew to a split rail fence with the rope, continued to beat him, and stole his wallet and his leather shoes. They then got back into their truck and left him to die. The two men went back into town and proceeded to pick fights with two other men. This resulted in a head wound for Aaron. Police arrived on the scene and arrested Russell and searched Aaron's truck. When the search of the truck was conducted, they found Matthew's coat and credit cards. The two men later tried to get their girlfriends to provide an alibi for them. The two women allegedly hid Russell's ****** shoes in a shed at one of the women's mother's homes. Matthew's wallet was found wrapped in a dirty diaper in the trash can at Aaron's home.
Kori: Matthew was bleeding profusely in near freezing temperatures for more than 18 hours. He was found on October 7, 1998. Purely by chance, a cyclist named Aaron Kreffles happened to be riding by and came upon the body. He rushed to the nearby home of University of Wyoming Professor Charles Dolan to phone the police. Because we didn't have cell phones.
Amanda: That is true. We did have pagers. No, I don't even know if we had pagers back then.
Kori: We did have pagers and people did have cell phones. But it wasn't like you carried your cell phone around with you because it was the size of a small it was bigger. Yeah, it was a brick. So you didn't carry your cell phone around with you if you did have one. So Aaron told the police that it sounded like Matthew's lungs were full of blood. Aaron and Charles then both went back out to sit with Matthew until help arrived. Matthew was super ****** with a large pool of blood near his right ear. When Patrol Officer Flutie arrived, she found that Matthew's hands were bound behind his back so tightly to the fence that they had trouble cutting them free. Flutie tried to cut the ropes for Matthew's hands, but when she tried to bend him over just a little bit to cut them, he would stop breathing. So she had to turn him back over. She said, quote, his hands were tied tight and I just wanted to free him. End quote. Matthew's face was caked in blood. The only clean spots were the streaks of where his tears had fallen. A watch and Matthew's school ID were found near his body. Matthew was taken to Pooter Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, where doctors determined his full extent of injuries. What was earlier reported as burns turned out to be welt marks from the bee eatings via a blunt object. Matthew's skull was so badly crushed that his brain stem was seriously damaged, meaning that vital functions, including his heartbeat, breathing and temperature control were critically impaired and doctors were unable to operate. Hospital staff inserted a drain in his skull to reduce the pressure caused by his swollen brain, used a ventilator to keep Matthew breathing, and inserted a tube in his throat to keep his airway open. Even with these measures, Matthew's blood pressure began to dive. Around midnight, his parents had flown in from Saudi Arabia where his father worked. They remained at his bedtide until Matthew passed away. Matthew never regained consciousness and remained on life support. He was pronounced dead on October 12, 1998 at the tender age of 21. Russell and Aaron were arrested and charged with first degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated robbery. His girlfriends were then charged with accessory after the fact.
Amanda: Russell pleaded guilty on April 5 to avoid going to trial and agreed to testify against Aaron to avoid the death penalty. He received two consecutive life sentences. But once he arrived at the courthouse, he declined to testify for either side. At Russell's sentencing hearing on April 599, appearing solemn and wearing gray pants in a light gray shirt, he rose and made a brief apology to Matthew's parents. Judy Shepard, Matthew's mom, told him through her tears quote I hope you never experience a day or night without experiencing the terror, humiliation, hopelessness and helplessness my son felt that night. He was my son, my firstborn, but more. He was my friend, my confidant, my constant reminder of how good life can be. End quote. Dennis Shepard described Matthew as a son who was, quote, blind to people's differences a friend to people of all nationalities, religions and lifestyles. He asked Russell, who will be their friend now? End quote. Recalling moments from his son's childhood, shepard described how he taught Matthew to sing row, Row, Row, Your Boat frequent and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Turning to face Russell at the sentencing, he said, quote you, Mr. Henderson, sank the boat, ruined Jacques and shot down the star. End quote. Judge Jeffrey Donnell told Russell he did not believe that Russell was truly sorry for this savage and brutal crime. He stated, quote Quite frankly, the court does not believe you really feel a true sense of remorse for your role in this matter. End quote. Prosecutor Cal Rousha said after the hearing, quote my hope is that Russell Henderson will die in the Wyoming State Penitentiary. End quote.
Kori: In court, the defendants used a varying rationale to defend their actions. They attempted to use the gay panic defense arguing that they were driven to temporary insanity by alleged sexual advances by Matthew. At another point, they stated that they had only wanted to rob Matthew and never intended to kill him. The prosecutor in the case charged that Aaron and Russell pretended to be gay in order to gain Matthew's trust to rob him. During the trial, Chasity Paisley and Kristen Price, the respective girlfriends of Aaron and Russell at the time, testified under oath that Russell and Aaron both plotted beforehand to rob a gay man. Aaron and Russell then went to the Fireside Lounge and selected Matthew as their target. Aaron alleged that Matthew asked them for a ride home. After befriending him, they took him to a remote area where they robbed beat him and tied him to a fence with a rope from Aaron's truck. While Matthew begged for his life. Media reports often contained the graphic account of the pistol whipping and his smashed skull. Both of the girlfriends testified that neither Aaron nor Russell were under the influence of drugs at the time.
Amanda: Jury selection in the Aaron McKinney trial began Monday, October 11, 1999 with opening statements and the actual trial began Monday, October 25. The jury was made up of ten men and six women, including four alternates. Three students attending the University of Wyoming where Matthew was a freshman studying human rights were also seated on the jury. Defense lawyers Jason Tangman and Dion Custis outlined their strategy in their opening statements to the jury by clearly blaming everything but the accused for the murder. Tangman told the jury that drugs, alcohol and past instances of sexual abuse on defendant Aaron, as well as overt sexual advances by Matthew, all conspired against Aaron to commit the crime. Tangman told the jury several instances in which Aaron, starting at age five, had been abused by other boys. In one case, when he was seven, aaron had been forced to perform oral sex and engage in sexual acts with another seven year old neighborhood bully who deemed Aaron a homosexual. Tengman also noted a confusing experience at age 15 with one of Aaron's cousins. Tangman said the defendant was sexually abused as a child and lost control when Matthew made a pass at Aaron. Coupled with the fact that he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol, his past sexual abuse provoked the rage that led to him beating Matthew. Tengman quoted Aaron's testimony to the police, quote I don't know what happened. I blacked out. I felt possessed. It was like I left my body. It's like I could see what was going on, but somebody else was doing it. End quote. Aaron said he and Russell spent the $20 he took from Matthew's wallet on cigarettes, coke and gas in the car.
Kori: I'd like to know where you could get coke for $20.
Amanda: I know.
Kori: Plus cigarettes and gas.
Amanda: Do you think it's coke coke or like, drinkable coke?
Kori: I think it's coke. Coke.
Amanda: Oh, okay.
Kori: Because they wanted to make it seem.
Amanda: Like he was under the influence.
Kori: Yeah, but I don't know anywhere that you can get coke, cigarettes and gas for $20.
Amanda: No.
Kori: I mean, it was 1998, so gas would have been cheaper, but I'm guessing not like, well, cigarettes.
Amanda: Cigarettes.
Kori: Yeah. By the time you bought cigarettes and gas, how much did you have left for coke?
Amanda: Right. Even if you had $10, $5s.
Kori: Like, how much coke can you get for that? Not that I did drugs or anything like that. So I honestly don't know. How much coke was in 1998?
Amanda: I'm not sure. Seeing if anybody knows. DM, seven years old.
Kori: Awesome.
Amanda: I wasn't really well versed in my drug expenses.
Kori: Right.
Amanda: Pointing as evidence to Aaron's intent to hurt but not kill, Matthew, Tengman again quoted a testimonial to the police by Aaron stating, quote I didn't intend to kill him. I just hit him too hard. End quote. On this basis, Aaron's defense admitted Aaron's involvement and participation in the crime, even instigation of it, but instead asked jurors not to convict on charges of first degree murder, but instead on manslaughter, which does not carry the death sentence as a penalty. Quote did Matthew Shepard deserve to die? No. That's ridiculous. No manslaughter victim deserves to die. That's what Aaron McKinney is guilty of. Manslaughter. End quote. Kangman claimed that while Aaron and Russell were at the bar, matthew came onto Aaron, groping him and licking his ear.
Kori: There is no validation to that claim after the gag order went didn't. That was not a valid argument. Nobody saw that.
Amanda: I just can't imagine a man walking up to 1998 walking up to two potentially gay but potentially straight men and being so forward, right? Especially someone with his past abuse, right?
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: That's ridiculous.
Kori: In Wyoming in 1998.
Amanda: Right?
Kori: At a straight bar, right? Yeah. Russell Henderson's girlfriend, Chasity Paisley testified at the murder trial of Aaron McKinney thursday, October 20 eigth, 1999, saying that she and Aaron's girlfriend, Kristen Price became accomplices in the crime. Russell kept telling me that it's all right, matthew will be okay. She told the court at the time she did not know who Matthew was. Chasity went on to say that Kristen telephoned her in a panic when the two men stayed out late on the night of the attack. Quote she was kind of freaking out. She said that Aaron just came in and said that he killed somebody. End quote. This led to objections by the defense that the marks were hearsay. Chastity said she had misgivings about getting involved and was mad at herself the next day as she, Russell, Aaron and Kristen were at first going to burn Russell's ****** clothes but ended up stashing them in a trash container near Cheyenne. Wyoming police never found the clothes, but they did find Russell's ****** shoes in a shed belonging to Chastity's mother. Chasity said the shoes had been hidden rather than thrown away because they were expensive kids. It looked like there was flesh on the clothes. Chasity testified about the ****** clothes during testimony. Chasity told jurors that Russell and Erin got together after the beating so they could get their story straight. She said, quote, I knew that they beat somebody up and he was tied. Chasity and Kristen also arranged to get their story straight by at first telling the police that the two women watched movies together on the night of the attack and knew nothing of it. Aaron sat back in his chair at the defense table and smiled briefly when Chasity pointed to him.
Amanda: And I just have to say, I just looked it up. So Casper to Cheyenne for them to.
Kori: Dispose of is like a two hour drive.
Amanda: It's a two hour and 30 1 minute drive.
Kori: Yeah. It's really far.
Amanda: It is. It's 177. Miles. That's not like, oh, gosh, what are we going to that takes some planning.
Kori: Yeah, that's some planning.
Amanda: That's ridiculous. According to Kristen Price, who was Aaron's girlfriend, who testified shortly after chastity Aaron told her that, quote, a gay guy had been hitting on him, they decided in the bathroom to pretend they were gay, get him in the truck and rob him, end quote. Kristen told the jury that she was at home when Aaron, covered in blood, returned from a night out with Russell and told her, quote I think I just killed someone. End quote. Kristen said she didn't think Aaron was telling the truth about the killing. Quote he always exaggerated so much. I didn't believe him, end quote. And she claimed that Russell later reassured her that Aaron was just exaggerating. Kristen said Aaron washed off the wallet, two driver's licenses and a voter registration, all presumably belonging to Matthew. Kristen also said she did not see any signs that Erin had been using drugs that night, even though she had frequently shared methamphetamine with him in the past, though she did acknowledge that she was not in Aaron's company continuously in the hours before the attack. Kristen testified that Aaron had said that Matthew touched either his leg or Russell's leg while they were in the truck. Despite that concession, Price's testimony countered defense claims that Aaron did not intend to rob Matthew and that he was drunk and on drugs when he killed Matthew.
Kori: That October, dr. Patrick Allen of the Larimer. County Coroner's Office, which performed the autopsy on Matthew Shepard, testified in the Aaron McKinney trial that some of Matthew's injuries were caused by fists, quote but the skull fractures were caused by a blunt instrument consistent with that of a gun. Matthew Shepard died as a result of the blunt trauma injuries he sustained to his head and face, end quote. Albany County District Attorney Cal Rousha questioned Dr. Allen. When Matthew Shepard was tied to the fence, could he feel the pain? Could he be thirsty? Could he feel the cold? Quote yes, he may have felt pain because he may have never completely lost consciousness, end quote, dr. Allen said. Judge Baron Voight told defense attorney Dion Custis that he found no provisions in the state law that allowed him to present a gay panic defense as the defense had been building, he noted, unless the defense could satisfy him with a defense brief on the issue, that he would disallow testimony and evidence to support it. Voight has called the gay panic defense a fraud and said that someone who did not like people of a different race could kill such a person and then tried to introduce evidence about his own feelings and experiences. When the defense could no longer produce an effective strategy, aaron's attorney rested their case after calling only a handful of witnesses. After deliberating 10 hours, the jury returned a verdict of felony murder, kidnapping and aggravated robbery. On Wednesday, november 3, 1999, but they found him not guilty of first degree premeditated murder, meaning they were not convinced that Aaron intended to kill Matthew Shepard. The verdict still left open the possibility of either life in prison or the death penalty. Before the jury could hear opening arguments in Aaron's death penalty sentencing hearing, trial watchers were stunned when Aaron agreed to serve life in prison without parole and promised never to appeal his conviction and thereby avoided the death penalty. The jury was prepared to hear arguments on Thursday, November 4, 1999 on whether or not Aaron should get the death penalty or life in prison. Instead, he accepted the deal that his lawyers had proposed to the prosecutors and Matthew's parents. I will never get over Judy Shepard's capacity to forgive, prosecutor Cal Rusha said. Rusha also said he found it ironic that the defense proposed the deal and then asked the shepherds to, quote, give some relief, some type of pity to a person who had murdered their son, end quote. Exactly why the Shepherds agreed to the deal was unclear, although it may have been just to avoid years of appeals. I don't blame for that, right? I don't either. I think because it's like, what, every two years or every three years or something, it's just too much like every year you have to go back and.
Amanda: Relive it and relive it and relive it.
Kori: You're already reliving it. Why do you have to see your son's murderer all the time, right?
Amanda: So that he can tell his side of the story and ask to be.
Kori: Set free every time. Rorusha said the appeals process is almost inhumane. Dennis Shepard spoke in court to Mr. McKinney, quote I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney, but now is the time to begin the healing process. Every time you celebrate Christmas, a birthday or the 4 July, remember Matthew isn't every time you wake up in a prison cell, remember that you had the opportunity and ability to stop your actions that night. You screwed up, Mr. McKinney. You made the world realize that a person's lifestyle is not a reason for discrimination intolerance persecution and violence. As Shepard spoke, he paused many times to wipe away his tears, his voice breaking. Several of the jurors wept along with members of both legal teams and spectators matthew's mother, Judy and friends of the Shepherds. And even Aaron's eyes welled up as he listened. Aaron's stepsister afton, walked out crying, her head resting on Aaron's father's shoulder. I really don't know what to say other than I'm truly sorry to the entire shepherd family, aaron McKinney said in, quote, quote never will a day go by that I won't be ashamed for what I have done. End quote. Dennis Shepard said his family wanted the trial to show that this was a hate crime, pure and simple, with the added ingredient of robbery. He also asked Congress to pass a stronger hate crime law and said that he also supports the death penalty.
Amanda: Kristen Price pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of interfering with a police officer, which is a misdemeanor. She was sentenced to 180 days in jail with twelve days credit for time served. Her remaining 60 days were suspended. Chastity Paisley was sentenced to 15 to 24 months for accessory. During Matthew's funeral. The antigay notorious Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, picketed. They also picketed his assailants trials, sporting horrible signs with slogans we're not comfortable saying on here. Matthew's friend Romaine started a counter protest with people wearing white robes and wigs resembling angels, effectively blocking protesters.
Kori: This case brought on a lot of media attention, most of it good, some of it bad. Russell and Aaron were not charged with a hate crime, as no Wyoming criminal statute provided for such a charge. The nature of Matthew Shepherd's murder led to requests for new legislation addressing hate crime, urged particularly by those who believe that Matthew was targeted on the basis of his sexual orientation. Under the 1998 United States federal law and Wyoming state law, crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation were not prosecutable as hate crimes. In the following session of the Wyoming legislature, a bill was introduced defining certain attacks motivated by victim identity as hate crimes. But the measure failed on a 30 30 tie in the Wyoming House of Representatives. At the federal level, then President Bill Clinton renewed attempts to extend federal hate crime legislation to include gay and lesbian individuals, women, which is crazy, and people of disabilities. These efforts were rejected by the United States House of Representatives in 1999. Not surprising, in 2000, both Houses of Congress passed such legislation, but it was stripped out in the Conference Committee. On March 20, 2007, the Matthew Shepherd Act was introduced as a federal bipartisan legislation in the US. Congress sponsored by Democrat John Conyers, with 171 co sponsors. Matthew's parents, Judy and Dennis, were present at the introduction ceremony. The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 3, 2007. Similar legislation passed in the Senate on September 27, 2007, but then President Bush indicated he might veto the legislation if it reached his desk. He did veto the bill in 2007. On December 10, 2007, congressional powers attached bipartisan hate crimes legislation to a Department of Defense authorization bill. Though it failed to get passed, nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, said she was still committed to getting the Matthew Shepherd Act passed. Pelosi planned to get the bill passed early in 2008, but did not succeed with that plan. Following his election as the 44th President of the United States, barack Obama stated that he was committed to passing the act. The US. House of Representatives debated the expansion of hate crimes legislation on April 29, 2009. During the debate, Representative Virginia Fox of North Carolina called the hate crime labeling of Matthew Shepherd's murder a quote unquote hoax. Matthew Shepherd's mother was said to be in the House gallery when the Congresswoman made this comment. Fox later called her comments, quote, a poor choice of words, end quote. The Matthew Shepherd Act was adopted as an amendment, finally to S 1390 by a vote of 63 to 28 on July 15, 2009.
Amanda: It only took ten years.
Kori: Yeah, ten years. Then finally, on October 28, 2009, a little over eleven years after his horrible murder, the Matthew Shepherd James Bird Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law. The new legislation expanded the definition of the federal hate crime law by including crimes instigated by an individual's perceived gender or gender identity which were previously not included in the FBI hate crime data, and revising the collection standard for biases motivated by sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity. The Shepherd Bird Act gives the Department of justice the power to investigate and prosecute bias motivated crimes against LGBTQIA plus victims. Matthew's life and death have served as an inspiration for the activism against hate matthew's parents have created the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which go on the Internet. It's a really amazing page whose mission is for, quote, individuals to embrace human dignity and diversity and to, quote, replace hate with understanding, compassion, and acceptance. End quote. Matthew's younger brother, Logan, is currently a staff member at the foundation and oversees its daily operations. This case happened 25 years ago, on October twelveTH. Although we have made great strides in protecting the LGBTQIA plus community, we still have a lot of work to do. This is a cause that we feel deeply about, as I am part of the LGBTQIA plus community, and there still is so much hate against our community, especially with trans people. So this was a case that really affected all of us in that community quite a bit. And it sucks that it's only 25 years ago. That's not very long ago. And though we've made a lot of strides, we've gone backwards on some things. So, I don't know, it just sucks.
Amanda: It does suck. It's very sad.
Kori: It sucks that you think that it sounds like this happened like 30 or 40 years ago, but on all reality, it happened 25 years ago. I just barely graduated high school.
Amanda: Right? And if you guys are interested in checking out the Matthew Shepard Foundation, we will have that linked in our show notes. All right, crime fans, until next time. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you haven't already, please subscribe so you can be notified every time we upload. If you enjoy listening to us every week, please leave us a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. New episodes are released every Friday at 10:30, a.m. Mountain Standard Time. Please follow us on Instagram at Colorado Crimepod or on Facebook at the Colorado Crime Podcast or on YouTube at Colorado Crime Podcast. For information on next week's episode, as well as other true crime happenings, we hope you have a beautiful day wherever you are. And as always, stay safe.
Kori: Until next time, podcastians, have the weekend you deserve.
