Murderers of Matthew Shepard

          This past week reading The Laramie Project has been very depressing yet skeptical. As dearly as Matthew was he always found a way to put people before himself and to be happy with what he had unlike his murderers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. When growing up Aaron was the kid who just wanted to fit it and have people like him. "Aaron was a good kid, I liked Aaron a lot, that's why I was shocked when I heard this…he just wanted to fit in you know acting tough, acting cool, but you know, you could get in his face about it and he would back down…"(Kaufman 31) Aaron McKinney was a typical young man who cared a lot about money, how he looked, and acted around people. He wore designer clothes, lived with his girlfriend, having a kid as a young adult, and needed money to keep paying for his trailer house. Dr. Cantway, the doctor that helped Matthew when he came in several hours after the crime had occurred also helped and cared for Aaron the same time of day. "Now, the strange thing is, twenty minutes before Matthew came in, Aaron McKinney was brought by his girlfriend... Now at this point I don't know that there's a connection--at all. So I tell Aaron to wait  and I go and treat Matthew. So there's Aaron in one room of the ER and Matthew in another room two doors down"(Kaufman 36). This quote is very important because why would Aaron be in the ER knowing that Matthew would have been found and sent to the same hospital at the same time? After Dr. Cantway made the connection that Aaron had murdered Matthew he got very suspicious, questioning why Aaron would be in the same hospital at the same time as Matthew was. While the crime was taking place, Russell Henderson was the "helper" for Aaron, tying Matthew up but not the one that did the physical beating, he left Aaron to do the dirty work. "Russell was just so sweet. He was the one who was the Eagle Scout… now I just want to shake him, you know, what were you thinking? What the hell were you thinking?"(Kaufman 31, 32) Russell's coworker, family, and friends were used to having a sweet kid that they also knew but never knew Russell would ever do such a thing. They were shocked to see him become a murderer because yet once they believed he was just an innocent young kind man enjoying his life being an Eagle Scout. Although Russell Henderson wasn't the direct murderer in this hate crime, he is still has the reputation of being a murder because he didn't stop Aaron from beating up Matthew Shepard. Russell did confirm that he did drive Matthew to the remote area outside of Laramie and tied Matthew up to fence. He said he tried to stop Aaron from doing anymore damage to Matthew but Aaron hit Russell across the cheek so eventually Russell shut up and let Aaron finish his work.

          Matthew came from a wealthy family growing up in his short period of life, but didn't care much about it. "Money meant nothing to Matthew, because he came from a lot of it. And he would hand over his wallet in two seconds--because money meant nothing. His--shoes--might have meant something" (Kaufman 28). If Aaron and Russell wanted to rob Matthew so badly, why wouldn't they just do it an easier way than to beat him up? When thinking through this situation, it's confusing to think that to be able to rob someone, one needs to literally kill oneself. When Aaron and Russell came into the bar, the mysterious part of it all was that they sat down right next to Matthew and ordered pitcher of beer just for themselves. "And I remember thinking to myself that I'm not gonna ask them if they want another one, because obviously they just paid for a pitcher with dimes and quarters, I have a real good feel in they don't have any more money"(Kaufman 28). When the bartender quoted this statement from the book he knew something was going on after hearing about the crime later on that week. As one can tell from this quote, Aaron and Russell didn't have much money and needed more than what they already had. Kaufman interviewed Aaron's girlfriend after the crime had happened and told him a totally different story than what he had already heard from several others in Laramie. "… He said that is when he and Russell went to the bathroom and decided to pretend they were gay and get him in the truck and rob him. They wanted to teach him a lesson not to come on to straight people"(Kaufman 28). Evidence from the bartender and other people that were in the bar that night said Aaron and Russell came up to Matthew and started talking to him. On the other hand, Kristin Price (Aaron's girlfriend) said they pretended which was a lie and never happened. The fact that Aaron's girlfriend is trying to cover for Aaron and Russell but failing is very strange and leaves a mystery to whether or not she is lying which in this case she was. There are many stories out there today that gives the wrong evidence out to the world and certain people believing different stories based on what they had been hearing. She was trying to cover up the crime by saying something that was not as bad as the reasoning behind it all. To some people money means everything and brings happiness to oneself, but to others, money is just a thing and the money given to whether it's a gift, will make oneself happy for the giving of that gift.