October 11, 1999
Web posted at: 1:18 p.m. EDT (1718 GMT)

In this story: Co-defendant to testify Shy mother turns activist 'Was killed just for being the way he was born' RELATED STORIES, SITES

LARAMIE, Wyoming (CNN) -- Jury selection began Monday in the murder trial of Aaron McKinney, the second of two men accused of brutally killing a gay University of Wyoming college student.

The death of Matthew Shepard a year ago shocked the nation and led to calls for stronger laws against hate crimes.

VIDEO CNN's Don Knapp reports on how the publicity has affected Laramie, Wyoming. (October 11) Windows Media 28K 80K Matthew Shepard's mother has gone from a private person to a vocal supporter of human rights. CNN's Maria Hinojosa shows Judy Shepard's transformation. (October 11) Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD Hate crimes Gay rights

Dozens of potential jurors showed up for the first day of a selection process expected to take about two weeks.

At the same time, small groups of anti-gay protesters and people dressed as angels with golden halos demonstrated outside the Albany County Courthouse.

The 17 angels stood silently, wearing costumes made of white bedsheets, in the street just west of the courthouse.

Representing Angel Action, Romaine Patterson, 21, of State College, Pennsylvania, said her colleagues wanted to send a message of love.

They faced about six protesters from Kansas who waved signs with anti-gay slogans. The Rev. Fred Phelps, 69, of Topeka, Kansas, said his followers wanted "to insert a little sanity and truth into this mad orgy."

McKinney, 22, is charged with murder, robbery and kidnapping. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

McKinney, who has said he had no idea Shepard was gay and he does not hate gay people, has pleaded innocent. But prosecutors believe he was the main instigator of the crime.

Shepard, 21, was lured out of a Laramie bar on October 7, 1998 -- allegedly because he was gay -- driven to a remote prairie, pistol whipped into unconsciousness, tied to a fence in freezing temperatures and left for dead.

A bicyclist who found him nearly hidden in the sagebrush 18 hours later at first thought the slight, 5-foot-2 Shepard was a scarecrow.

McKinney's friend Russell Henderson, 22, pleaded guilty to similar charges in April and received two life sentences.

Henderson has been subpoenaed by McKinney's public defenders to testify. The defense witness list also includes Henderson's girlfriend, Chasity Pasley, 21, and McKinney's girlfriend, Kristen Price, 19.

Pasley received up to two years in prison after pleading guilty to being an accessory to first-degree murder for helping to hide Henderson's bloody clothes. Price's trial on accessory charges was to begin January 3.

Prosecutor Cal Rerucha also plans to call as a witness Shepard's mother, Judy, who with her husband, Dennis, lived in Saudi Arabia at the time of the slaying.

Judy Shepard says the death of her son gave her courage to become an activist against hate crimes

The Shepards were in court on April 5 when Henderson pleaded guilty. "I hope you never experience another day or night without experiencing the terror, humiliation, the hopelessness and the helplessness that my son felt that night," the tearful mother told Henderson.

The public comments -- at the time -- seemed out of character for Judy Shepard. Months earlier, at her son's funeral, she sobbed on her husband's shoulder, unable to muster the strength to speak.

But, in the past year, Judy Shepard has become an outspoken advocate against hate crimes. Her activism has included an appearance in a public-awareness campaign intended to help reduce anti-gay taunting in public schools.

"By being a supportive mom of ... everyone in the gay community, I want kids to know that there are people out there who love them," she told CNN.

"We are trying to do what we think Matt would want us to do with this opportunity of having a voice," Judy Shepard said. "He's with me every day when I do this. I know it or I couldn't do this because I'm a shy, private person."

Shepard's parents were among 600 people who participated Sunday night in a candlelight vigil at the University of Wyoming.

Nearly 600 people attended a candlelight vigil in honor of Shepard on Sunday at the University of Wyoming

"We on this campus, in Laramie and in Wyoming, are people of peace, of inclusiveness," the Rev. Roger Schmit, of St. Paul's Newman Center, told the crowd.

University President Philip Dubois asked each person to light a candle that will generate "a tiny bit of energy along the road to a world that rejects prejudice, stereotypes, hatred and violence, but their combined force will light a highway of hope."

Many signed a "pledge of nonviolence" written on 8-foot-tall placards, then carried lit candles into a nearby auditorium where folk singers Peter, Paul and Mary dedicated a concert to Matthew Shepard.

The soldout crowd of 2,000 gave Peter Yarrow a standing ovation after a song he performed solo which included the lines: "Show me the gay man, hated and scorned, who was killed just for being the way he was born."

Yarrow wrote the lyrics after visiting the site where Shepard was tied up and beaten. "My heart broke," he said of seeing the fence.

Correspondents Don Knapp, Maria Hinojosa and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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