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Bush gets an F in foreign affairs
The Texas governor who would be president can't identify the leaders of Chechnya, Pakistan or India. Has he been taking lessons from Dan Quayle?
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[11/04/99]

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Henderson provided a detailed account of that plan. The killers identified Shepard as a lonely homosexual, an easy mark, and retreated to the bathroom to hatch their plot. Henderson made the first advance by whispering a come-on in Shepard's ear, and "McKinney tried to feminize his voice to continue the lure," DeBree said.

Henderson's confession confirmed one key aspect of the prosecution's claim of premeditation, but left another one unresolved. DeBree said Henderson told them the beating first began in the truck, when McKinney demanded the wallet, eight to 10 minutes before the main beating at the fence. The defense consistently maintained that the attack didn't begin until they reached the fence, and the entire beating amounted to one explosive fit of rage that lasted as little as two minutes.

However, Henderson said he did not observe another crucial exchange between McKinney and Shepard. Throughout the trial, prosecutor Rerucha insisted that McKinney ended the attack with a cold-blooded desire to finish off the witness. Rerucha contended McKinney feared Shepard would recognize him and asked if he could read the license plate on the truck; when Shepard complied successfully, McKinney delivered the final blows, crushing his skull.

The tape of McKinney's confession seemed to confirm that, but the defense tried to plant doubt in jurors' minds. Henderson said he was already in the truck at the time and never witnessed that event.

Henderson's statement that the beating began in the truck lends support to the idea that the crime was premeditated, but Henderson continued to deny that they planned to beat Shepard from the start.

"Henderson wouldn't come forward with the full aspect of that," DeBree said. "Of course the typical homicide suspect would not give you that." He believes Henderson was too ashamed to reveal the most heinous elements of the crime -- both defendants expressed shame for their actions at their sentencings, after their fates were sealed -- and he was also treading the line between complying with his plea agreement and saving his buddy's life.

"He did as much as he could to cover for McKinney, as well as covering his own rear end," DeBree said. "He had a reputation of being extremely loyal to a friend and not a 'snitch' on him."

Prosecutor Rerucha was disgusted by Henderson's double-cross, but O'Malley and DeBree sympathized with the plight of a convict who would be labeled a jailhouse rat. "It was self-preservation," O'Malley said. DeBree nodded. "It was survival. And I'm not sure I would blame him."

They also squelched rumors which had run rampant last week that Henderson had threatened to recant his confession and testify for the defense. "He said, 'I'm not testifying for either one,'" DeBree said.

Both detectives expressed relief that Laramie would be spared the penalty phase, which could have ripped this small town apart. "It certainly could have been ugly for a lot of people," O'Malley said. Much of the town was connected to one or both of the parties. For instance, O'Malley had known McKinney, both of his parents and several cousins, and also graduated from college with Shepard's uncle.

Outraged by the revisionist view of Shepard as a reckless adventurer who was complicitous in his own death, DeBree suggested reporters consider the indignity suffered by the victim's family the past two weeks.

He said there was "absolutely no proof" to support allegations of Shepard's advance on McKinney: "It's an allegation of a suspect that's looking down the barrel of a death sentence." He said he believed the other two witnesses presented by the defense to show Shepard came on to straight strangers also jumped to ridiculous conclusions. DeBree performed a rigorous investigation into Shepard's sexual history and found no evidence to support the characterization. "There was nothing in the history, never any attempt like that."

DeBree is a big, burly Wyoming sheriff's detective, a man who would be exceedingly out of place in the Castro or the East Village -- the least likely sort of person to be a shill for the gay community. "That is one thousand percent torture, what occurred to that boy," he said.
salon.com | Nov. 6, 1999

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