A parole board in Wyoming has turned down a request from one of the men convicted over the horrific murder of Matthew Sheppard to have his sentence commuted.
Russell Henderson has spent the last 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the 1998 murder of 21-year-old Shepperd. His plea deal meant he avoided the death penalty, and he was given two consecutive life sentences without parole.
However, under Wyoming’s laws a person with a life sentence without parole can apply to have part of their sentence commuted after they have served 10 years.
Henderson’s application was denied, and he will not be able to apply again until 2029.
Shepard’s murder occurred in the town of Laramie in Wyoming and drew international attention. The gruesome nature of the case raised awareness of hate crimes against the LGBT community, spurring action to fight for legal protections for LGBTIQA+ people.
Henderson and friend Aaron McKinney were arrested and charged for the murder soon after Shepard’s death. The men had pretended to be gay to lure Shepard into a trap, where they proceeded to rob and brutally beat Matthew – leaving him tied to a fence in a rural area.
Shepard was later found by a passing cyclist, who had believed from a distance that he was a scarecrow. It was too late for Shepard, who later passed away in a Colorado hospital.
Shepard’s murder, the media frenzy and the community outrage compelled many to take action, at grass-roots and federal government levels and his legacy continues to shape LGBTIQ activism and rights today.
One of the most notable responses to Shepard’s case is the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act (or Shepard/Byrd Act) that passed US Congress in 2009. The bill passed after years of community activism and calls for stronger protections for minorities after the deaths of Shepard and James Byrd Jr – an African American man who was tortured and killed in 1998 by white supremacists in Texas.
The Shepard/Byrd Act was the first overhaul of the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law in decades, adapting the law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
The Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama, expanded the original law to give federal authorities to follow up on hate crimes that local authorities do not pursue and requires the FBI to track statistics on crimes motivated by gender and gender identity – as well as provided expanded funding to investigators.
Outside of government, Shepard’s parents Dennis and Judy launched the Matthew Shepard Foundation. The non-profit organisation set out to raise awareness of discrimination, hate crimes and advocate anti-violence efforts.
Matthew’s mother Judy Shepard took to public speaking to tell her son’s story, recruiting a team of activists to tour the country speaking on the impacts of hate in America. Earlier this year she was awarded the Presential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honour.
