** This profile has been created and updated by friends of Matthew Shepard and the Matthew Shepard Foundation **
This profile is in memory of Matthew Shepard, who was murdered by two men for no true reason. Here is his story: My name is Matthew Shepard and this is my story. I was born on December 1, 1976. I grew up in a small town called Casper, Wyoming. I attended Crest Hill Elementary School, Dean Morgan Junior High, and the first two years of high school at Natrona County High School, and I was also a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church. I spent my junior and senior years of high school at The American School in Switzerland and graduated in 1995. I later attended Catawba College and Casper College before moving to Denver. Later, I became a first-year political science major at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. My parents lived in Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where my father worked for the Aramco oil company. Unfortunately, my blood was tested and it was discovered that I was HIV-positive.
Shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998, I met Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson in a bar in Laramie, Wyoming. When I asked for a ride home, I was robbed, severely beaten, tied to a fence and left to die by the two boys. My body was discovered by a bicyclist 18 hours later, still alive but unconscious.
I had suffered a fracture from the back of my head to the front of my right ear. I also had severe brain stem damage, which affected my body's ability to regulate heart rate, body temperature and other vital signs. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around my head, face and neck. My injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. I never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. Sadly, I was pronounced dead at 12:53 a.m. on October 12 at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado...
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