Matthew Shepard Act Passed In Congress

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The Matthew Shepard Act was passed in Congress today, and after it is signed by President Obama it will expand the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include incidents when people are targets of a crime due to their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

Matthew Shepard was a student at the University of Wyoming when he was brutally attacked the night of October 6 - 7 1998 and died later in hospital due to severe head injuries.

Witnesses during his murder trial said that he was targeted because he was gay and his death sparked the Matthew Shepard Act to expand the hate crime legislation.

Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney were conviced of felony murder and kidnapping and are both serving two consecutive life sentences, but McKinney has no possibility of parole.

It was after midnight on October 7, 1998 that Shepard met McKinney and Henderson in a bar and they offered the 21-year-old a ride. They then robbed him, pistol whipped and tortured him, tied him to a fence and left him for dead. He was found by Aaron Kreifels the next day and he was still alive but in a coma.
Shepard had severe brain damage and dozens of lacerations on his head, face, and neck and doctors were never able to operate.

He was pronounced dead at 12:53 am on October 12, 1998 at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collilns.