Hate Crimes: November 2004 Archives

Does it matter if the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard was a “hate crime” or not?

On Friday night ABC’s “20/20” will devote it’s full hour to determining if the brutal 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard was a crime motivated by hatred of homosexuals. I ask myself, where is this leading?

Russell Henderson has already tried to have his sentence reduced. He and Aaron McKinney are both serving the same sentence - two life terms in prison, to be served consecutively. That alone guarantees that they will never see life outside of a prison wall again.

It really doesn’t matter to me that they may have been high on drugs. They chose to take those drugs. At any point in time, they could have let Matthew go after they had his money. Instead, they drove Matthew out of town, beat him, burned him with cigarettes, kicked him in the groin (based on reports of bruising in that area of his body), and hit him no less than twenty times, mostly in the head, with the butt of a gun, until he lost consciousness.

They then left him to die alone on the Wyoming prairie in close to freezing temperatures. Matthew was found 18 hours later. He died 5 days later in a hospital, tied to life support.

These are the facts. Russell Henderson says he never struck Matthew Shepard. That may be true. He held Matthew while Aaron McKinney did the work. He stood by and watched another human being be beaten to death, and HE DID NOTHING TO STOP IT. He was also the one who tied Matthew’s hands behind him to the fence.

So you tell me. Should Henderson have gotten less time because he claims he never struck Matthew Shepard. Does that make him a model citizen? Should we pat him on that back and say, “We are so thankful that you only held and tied Matthew’s hands, but didn’t strike him. I’m so thankful that you aren’t a gay basher!”?

They deserve exactly what they got and I for one am deeply offended that ABC or any other network is giving them the time of day. As far as I’m concerned, prison was too good for them.

The hundreds of people who saw the Madison East High School production of “The Laramie Project” last weekend may find this week’s “20/20” broadcast of particular interest.

The ABC news show will devote its entire hour Friday to an investigative report that raises questions as to whether the murder six years ago of gay college student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo., was really a hate crime. The play is based on the crime.

In their first interviews since being sentenced, the two men convicted of killing Shepard - Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson - claim Shepard’s sexual orientation had nothing to do with his murder.

The two men tell “20/20” co- anchor Elizabeth Vargas that they set out to rob someone that night, happened upon Shepard at a bar and later attacked him because they were in the midst of drug-induced rages. [...]

At the request of the State Journal, the advance copy was watched by John Quinlan, executive director of OutReach, the Madison community center for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people.

Quinlan said the show does not change his belief that Shepard’s murder was a hate crime. He bases this on several factors, he said, including the brutality of the beating, statements made to police by the killers and the “gay panic” defense used by McKinney at his trial.

“They were willing to use the gay panic defense when it would have helped to lessen their responsibility, but now that it would make them look less prejudiced in the eyes of the world, they’re suddenly saying that Matthew’s being gay had nothing to do with it. There is little credibility in that.”

Quinlan said that although it’s impossible to get inside the heads of the killers, their use of the gay panic defense turned the crime into a hate crime.

“A hate crime is a crime that doesn’t just affect the victim. It’s also the fear that resonates out from there,” he said. “It’s an act against a whole group of people. They engineered the means for it to be a hate crime. They used homophobia to try and justify their actions.”(source)

Further reading
Remembering Matthew - my photo album for him
The Matthew Shepard Foundation
Dennis Shepard's Statements to the Court - November 4, 1999

A man authorities call a serial killer was indicted Tuesday in the two-year-old slaying of a gay Atlanta man in his Midtown home and faces charges in another similar homicide.

Howard Milton Belcher, 26, was formally charged with the Oct. 5, 2002, death of Mark Schaller, a 40-year-old gay man who lived in an upscale condo on Dutch Valley Road off Monroe Drive. In June, Belcher was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years for the murder of a gay Paulding County man on Oct. 10, 2002.

“We would characterize Belcher as a serial killer,” said Erik Friedly, public affairs director for the Fulton County District Attorney. “He’s suspected in a number of murders.” (source)

Police are hunting this man after a 25-year-old was stabbed four times in what officers believe was a homophobic attack.

The victim and a 38-year-old male friend were returning home on a bus from a night out in the West End when the assailant struck.

Police believe they were deliberately targeted by their attacker who followed them on to a night bus in the Tottenham Court Road area at about 4am yesterday.

Scotland Yard today released this CCTV image of the suspected attacker on board the N20 bus near Highgate.

The attack happened as the bus travelled past Highgate Underground station in Archway Road. (source)

Related Article
December 14, 2005 - 'Happy slap' gang guilty of barman killing

Mr Morley survived the Soho nail bomb blast on April 18, 1999, only to be savagely beaten to death by the Clockwork Orange style thugs.

The youths - Darren Case, 18, Reece Sargeant, 21, the 14-year-old girl and another 17-year-old - all from Kennington, south London - were cleared of murder but convicted of the alternative charge of manslaughter.

They were also convicted of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm, but were cleared of conspiracy to rob. The group will be sentenced in January and face lengthy terms.

Two others - Barry Lee, 20, and a 17-year-old who cannot be named because of his age - were cleared of all charges and freed.

11/12/2004 - Gay killing 'filmed on mobile'

11/09/2004 - Fourth Teenager Charged over Gay Barman Murder

11/08/2004 - Three charged in David Morley's murder

11/06/2004 - Hundreds join tribute to gay murder victim

Six people have been arrested in connection with the vicious murder of a gay barman on the South Bank.

Police believe 37-year-old David Morley was beaten to death by a gang targeting homosexuals. [...]

Mr Morley survived the anti-gay Soho nail-bomb while he worked as a barman in the Admiral Duncan pub. But late on Saturday night a mob savagely attacked him and a friend near Hungerford Bridge on the South Bank. He died later in hospital, suffering over 40 bruises. (source)

Original Posting

11/12/2004 - Gay killing 'filmed on mobile'

11/09/2004 - Fourth Teenager Charged over Gay Barman Murder

11/08/2004 - Three charged in David Morley's murder

11/06/2004 - Hundreds join tribute to gay murder victim

A gay barman beaten to death during a spate of attacks on Saturday had survived the nail bombing of a Soho pub, it has emerged.

David Morley (pictured left), 37, from Chiswick, west London, was subjected to a "savage beating" in a spate of attacks on gay clubbers in the early hours of Saturday. He later died in hospital.

Two teenagers, one white and one black, who had two young women at their sides, are being sought in connection with the attacks along the capital's South Bank.

A post mortem confirmed Mr Morley died from multiple injuries to his head and torso, having suffered 40 distinct bruises from a hail of blows.

Five years ago, Mr Morley was working behind the bar at the Admiral Duncan gay pub in Soho when it was targeted by fascist nail-bomber David Copeland, who had already struck at Asian and black targets in Brick Lane and Brixton. (source)