What happened to Matthew?
On 6 October 1998, Matthew Shepard met Aaron James McKinney and Russel Arthur Henderson in a bar. After Shepard admitted he was gay, they talked him into leaving with them.
According to Henderson, McKinney allegedly tied Shepard's beaten body to
a wooden split-rail post fence, robbed him of his wallet and patent leather
shoes, continued to beat him and then left him to die for over 18 hours bleeding profusely in near freezing temperatures.
The outcome:
Surprisingly neither of the boys suffered the death penalty. Their girlfriends were also charged as accessories to the crime.