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What Happened in Laramie
Matthew Shepard was found tied to a fence on the prairie east of Laramie, Wyoming, unconscious after a brutal beating. He died several days later without having regained consciousness.
It was strange and disorienting for those of us in Laramie to be the focus of intense national publicity. For a while, we eclipsed the president and Kosovo as the top news story. News trucks were rolling down the streets, looking for people to interview. A friend from New York called to say that my wife was on national television; a crew had recorded the church service where she had sung. Tom Brokaw in the emergency department, reporters in Burger King.
Here in Laramie, we nurture the belief that we reside in a small, supportive, protective community, shielded from the random violence of urban areas. But this was the third savage murder in a year, each one tearing the community apart in its own way. Just a year ago, the nude body of a 15-year-old girl was found in the hills east of town, with 17 stab wounds. The man who was arrested and convicted was a long-time area resident; acquaintances could not believe he was capable of such horror. Then, in the spring, a 7-year-old child from Laramie who had been visiting family in northern Wyoming was abducted, assaulted, and murdered. Her body was found in a garbage dump. A man with a history of pedophilia was arrested. He pleaded guilty.
And now—the murder of Matthew Shepard. Matt, an undergraduate at the University of Wyoming, was apparently tortured before being savagely murdered. He was tied to a fence and left to die. Many people likened his torture and death to …
