Do any statements from court records say Matthew Shepherd's death was due to his sexual orientation?

Question

I have not found any evidence to prove that he died for any reason except a drug deal gone bad in investigating every single story available about this tragedy. Why do people say it was a "hate" crime when every murder is a "hate" crime, especially that of innocent 13 year old Jesse Dirkhising's??? I want to see the evidence, a statement from the detectives who handled the case, the District or State Attorney's office, the College he attended, or witness or other statements in court records. Can you help me find it?

Here's what I've found. http://72.166.46.24//boston/news_features/this_just_in/documents/04285820.asp
Shepard’s murder was not a hate crime, but simply a robbery gone horribly wrong.

These facts are: 1) Shepard was HIV-positive and apparently very upset and depressed about it. 2) Shepherd was a frequent user of crystal meth, and was part of a Laramie bar-and-nightlife community that was involved in meth use. 3) Shepard knew his killer, Aaron McKinney, through this drug connection before the night of the murder, and the two had been seen socializing together. 4) McKinney was an active bisexual with a history of engaging in sex with men (something he denies during the 20/20 show, but several other people insist it’s true). 5) And most important, McKinney and Russell Henderson did not kill Matthew Shepard because he was gay; instead, their attempt to rob him went terribly wrong when McKinney flew into a meth-fueled rage and beat Shepard so severely that he died.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=277685&page=3
Statements from McKinney’s girlfriend including a retraction
Also from Laramie Police Detective and County attorney’s office
All attribute motive of crime to drugs and level of violence to met amphetamine use.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=277685&page=4
McKinney’s secret sex life and proof of him being bi-sexual (three way partner reveals)

Interesting links but not anything new. Somewhere I read the girlfriend of one murderer was later charged for saying that it had any relation to a possible homosexual advance or an aversion to it because she thought he would get a lighter sentence. The point is it is a proven fact this was not a heterosexual hate crime against a homosexual and it's time we stop getting the blame from the homosexual community for this particular crime when there is no evidence of such. There IS evidence that the homosexual community and the biasee liberal media in their pockets want you to believe a lie about the unfortunate demise of this young man for their own political purposes as one of my links reveal. His name is posted all over their gay sites full of hateful accusations that everyone who opposes their agendas must have played a role in his death. The only cure for this nazi style propoganda machine aimed at Christians mostly is to present the true unmitigated facts just as was done in court.

Answer 1

http://www.geocities.com/corkymcg/crime/proj005.html
http://www.courttv.com/archive/trials/mckinney/110399_verdict_ctv.html

The second link from Court TV says persecutors tried this as a "robbery gone wrong case". Unfortunately, people are beaten and killed for being gay or seeming to be gay, as a case of two beatings in my town.

When I lived in Connecticut in the mid-1970's,
I went to the gay disco because it was the most fun to dance there. The state police office was across the road. Once a month there was a brawl night between the gays and the cops. This was a common occurrence in Greenwich Village in NYC also.

Answer 2

Maybe it was, maybe it wasnt. Your point being?
What if he was actually killed for being homosexual? Since you dont know, stop being so disrespectful to someone who has died. As time passes you only proove how much of an evil person you are. Or a psycho.

Answer 3

YOU want to see the evidence.....WHY and does it really even matter?

Guess we may never know for sure....b/c those two thugs won't ever admit to saying...oh yeah...we killed him b/c he's gay.

And for you to say...."he died for any other reason except a drug deal gone bad".....AS if that's some sort of excuse?????...WTF.....does that in any way mitigate the culpability of these two losers?....NO! NO! NO!

End result is the same ...Matthew Sheperd is dead...beat up , tied to a fence and left to die....which he did.

Those two arseholes deserve life in prison!

Answer 4

There were conflicting statements made at different times by the two found guilty.

I honestly don't know.

If someone has sources I'll have a look too.

PS Thanks for links.

Answer 5

Here you go: http://hatemonitor.csusb.edu/Research_articles/levin16.html