Henderson pleaded guilty on April 5, 1999, and agreed to testify against McKinney to avoid the death penalty; he received two consecutive life sentences. The jury in McKinney's trial found him guilty of felony murder. As they began to deliberate on the death penalty, Shepard's parents brokered a deal, resulting in McKinney receiving two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.[15]
Henderson and McKinney were incarcerated in the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins but were transferred to other prisons because of overcrowding
Matthew Shepard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shawn Allen Berry
The driver of the truck, Berry was the most difficult to convict of the three defendants because there was a lack of evidence to suggest that he himself was a racist. Berry had also claimed that Brewer and King were entirely responsible for the crime. Brewer, however, testified that it was Berry who cut Byrd's throat before he was tied to the truck. The jury decided that there was little evidence to support this claim.[5] As a result, Berry was spared the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison.
Lawrence Russell Brewer
Brewer was a white supremacist who, prior to Byrd's murder, had served a prison sentence for drug possession and burglary. He was paroled in 1991. After violating his parole conditions in 1994, Brewer was returned to prison. According to his court testimony, he joined a white supremacist gang with King in prison in order to safeguard himself from other inmates.[6] A psychiatrist testified that Brewer did not appear repentant for his crimes. Brewer was ultimately convicted and sentenced to death.
John King
King was accused of beating Byrd with a bat and then dragging him behind a truck until he died. King had previously claimed that he had been gang-raped in prison by black inmates.[7] Although he had no previous record of racism, King had joined a white supremacist prison gang, allegedly for self-protection. He was found guilty and sentenced to death for his role in Byrd's kidnapping and murder.
Murder of James Byrd, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
While these crimes are like crimes of any nature vile and should be dealt with there is a reason we have laws, and that is to protect citizens. In the case of Matthew Shepard, and James Byrd those that committed the crimes were found GUILTY of murder and in some cases some are facing the death penalty for it. Hate crimes legislation serve no purpose other than to curb free speech no matter how vile that speech may be. Here is a novel idea, instead of bending down and kissing the feet of any group with an agenda and passing laws to make them feel good, perhaps we add some teeth to the laws already on the books? I wonder if after carrying our the death sentence in some of these cases should a hate crimes bill be in place, what then? the person that committed the crime is just as dead and an existing state law took care of it. So forgive me , no matter how well meaning these laws may seem, what they will end up doing is further seperating Americans into ethnic or groups based on sexual orientation when the real goal of this nation should be the goal reflected in the words of Dr. King.
"I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality."
So if your really upset with these sorts of crimes and all other violent crimes regardless of the color or sexual orientation of the victim then advocate in your state for the laws that exists to be brought down upon those that commit them. Anyone who suffers from a crime should NEVER be held above another simply because of the nature for the crime itelf and thats exactly what this legislation does and makes justice now dependant not o nthe nature of the crime but rather the color or sexual orienttation of the victim, try telling that to the mother of a murdered daughter or the husband of a wife lost to to a drunk driver.
