Matthew Wayne Shepard

Matthew 

Born: Dec 1st 1976 Casper Wyoming
Died: Oct 12th 1998 (21) Casper Wyoming

Parents: Dennis and Mary Shepard

Studied: Crest Hill Elementary, Dean Morgan Junior High, Natrona County, TASIS and University of Wyoming.


Interests: Politics and languages.

About Matt:

He was the eldest son over his younger brother, Logan, who was born in 1981. Matt and Logan had a very close bond.
It is recorded that during his junior high years, he was considered to be very friendly with all his classmates, but was a target of bullying due to his small stature and frame and lack of an athleticism.
He developed an early interest in politics.
He participated in theatre and took German and Italian.
Shepard became a first-year political science major at the University of Wyoming in Laramie with a minor in languages and was chosen as the student representative for the Wyoming Environmental Council.

He was described by his father as "an optimistic and accepting young man who had a special gift of relating to almost everyone. He was the type of person who was very approachable and always looked to new challenges. Matthew had a great passion for equality and always stood up for the acceptance of people's differences."

Michele Josue, who had been Shepard's friend described him as "a tenderhearted and kind person.”
February 1995, Shepard was beaten and raped during a high school trip to Morocco. This caused him to experience depression and panic attacks, according to his mother. One of Shepard's friends feared that his depression had driven him to become involved with drugs during his time in college. Multiple times, Shepard was hospitalized due to his clinical depression and suicidal ideation.

Murder Of Matthew Shepard

The night of October 6th, 1998, Matthew was at the Fireside Lounge, a bar in downtown Laramie. It was there that he met Russell Henderson and Aaron Mckinney. Matthew confronted these men and announced his sexuality openly. The two men decided to offer Matthew a ride home. It was there that they conspired to drive him into the rural farming land area of laramie. They took his shoes from him, and Matthew was beaten and tortured. He was pistol whipped (hit with the butt of a firearm) on the head leaving him with a fractured skull. He was soaked in blood and was unrecognisable. Matthew was tied to a fence and left to die on october 6th by Russell Henderson and Aaron mckinney. Matthew was in a coma for 18 hours after the attack, still tied to the fence in the freezing cold. He was found by a cyclist Aaron Kreifels, who was passing by who initially mistook him for a scarecrow. He was aided by Officer Reggie Fluty who then got Matthew transported to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. Matthew  died six days later in hospital.
It was also discovered that Matthew was HIV positive.

His death led to the passing of the Matthew Shepard/James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act.