KILLERS SAY THEY DIDN'T CARE SHEPARD WAS GAY

2 Agree Robbery to Get Money for Meth Went Bad

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - In their first public interview since attacking gay
college student Matthew Shepard, his killers said they were motivated not
by homophobia, but the prospect of robbery to fuel a methamphetamine binge.

"He was pretty well-dressed, had a wallet full of money," Aaron McKinney
said of meeting Shepard at a Laramie bar in October 1998. "All I wanted to
do was beat him up and rob him. ... Seemed like a good idea at the time."

The interviews air today on ABC's 20/20.

The robbery got out of hand, said McKinney and his buddy, Russell
Henderson, and Shepard was beaten into a coma while tied to a fence outside
the small college town. The 21-year-old died five days later.

The crime drew condemnation from President Clinton, Congress and the
international community, and spurred debate on the effectiveness of hate
crime laws. McKinney and Henderson, both 27, are serving life sentences for
murder.

McKinney said it was because he was strung out on drugs that he killed
Shepard, not because Shepard was gay. Henderson agreed, saying "it's not
because me and Aaron had anything against gays or any of that."

Henderson said that McKinney, who had been bingeing on meth for days, set
out that night to rob a dealer of $10,000 worth of the drug. Henderson
thought if he could keep McKinney drinking, his friend would forget the plan.

McKinney said Shepard was sitting at the bar when he and Henderson arrived,
and at one point McKinney asked Shepard for a cigarette.

"He said he was too drunk to go home and then he asked me if I'd give him a
ride," Mc-Kinney said.

In the truck, McKinney claimed, the two learned Shepard wanted sex in
return for giving them drugs, but McKinney decided to rob Shepard instead.

According to McKinney, Shepard grabbed his leg and he struck Shepard with
his gun and demanded money. Although Shepard handed over his wallet, the
beating continued.

"Sometimes when you have that rage going through you, there's no stopping
it," McKinney said. "I've attacked my best friends coming off of meth binges."

They decided to dump Shepard in a secluded spot, and when they came upon a
rustic fence blocking the road, McKinney decided to tie him to it.

"Then when I'm leaving, he says he's going to tell on me," McKinney said.
"I went back and hit him one more time. I hit him real hard that time."