Issue date: 12/1/04 Section: Opinion

The poster boy for the "hate crimes" movement in America is Matthew Shepard, the 21-year-old gay college student savagely beaten and killed by two young men in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. Even before any facts were collected, homosexual activists jumped at the chance to capitalize on this horrible crime to forward their radical political agenda.

The media was more than happy to run with the hate crime story and the rest was history ... until now. In a blatant attack on freedom of speech and freedom of the press, an agreement, signed by the judge, banned one defendant, his two public defenders and the entire public defenders office from ever speaking to the media about the case.

This meant that what was said in the trial would never be known ... until now.

The ABC news magazine "20/20" revealed Friday, through numerous interviews with many connected to the case, including the two men convicted of the crime, a very different scene than that painted in the months and years following in documentaries, television movies and a play.

Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were convicted of the murder of Matthew Shepard and will spend the rest of their lives in the prison for it. But as "20/20" discovered, it was not Shepard's sexuality that motivated the two that night, but drugs, and the prosecutor in the case agrees.

McKinney, a well-known user and dealer within the methamphetamine community, was on a drug binge for about a week leading up to the murder, according to a friend and drug associate at the time.

McKinney told "20/20" that on the night of the crime, he set out to rob a drug dealer of $10,000 worth of methamphetamine, but was unsuccessful, and went with Henderson to the Fireside Lounge. Henderson explains that it was his hope that if McKinney continued drinking, he would calm down. It was here, he says, that a well-dressed Shepard asked for a ride and the two agreed with the intention of robbing him.

After McKinney was successful in getting Shepard to give up his wallet, he continued to beat him.

Continued...

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