"Losing Matt Shepard" Part 4

Throughout the investigation of Matt Shepard's death, investigators and laymen speculated the reasoning of the murderers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. When sergeant Rob DeBree asked McKinney if he hated gays, McKinney replied, "I really don't hate them, but when they start coming on to me and stuff like that I get pretty aggravated". Later in the interview, DeBree had asked McKinney how many times he had been approached by a gay person and McKinney said that it was his first time with Matt Shepard. McKinney's story changed several times over the course of the investigation, but it is clear that McKinney does not accept gays in his little Wyoming world. Comparing it to murders displayed on TV, DeBree emphasized the fact that McKinney and Henderson did not plan out Shepard's murder for weeks prior to the tragedy. Rather, DeBree argued that McKinney and Henderson were simply vicious people. Loffreda wrote, "To Rob, figuring out what motivated McKinney and Henderson isn't complicated: 'They were vicious people.' He can't abide the excuses, the laying of blame on drugs or childhood traumas... 'There are people that are just plain vicious, that have absolutely no remorse for anything. They're cold. I don't care what caused it. There's nothing you can do about it. You can always find an excuse, I guess, or attempt to. But sometimes it's juts that this person is a vicious bastard, and they deserve to get what they're going to get. Why give these punks credence?'" (150). Although I do not want to agree completely with DeBree, I do agree with him that those "vicious" people such as McKinney and Henderson should definitely be punished for their crimes. However, I do believe that there is a bit of good in everybody. Of course this is me acting a bit naive with my youth-driven heart, but I truly do believe that although McKinney and Henderson consciously murdered Shepard, I would like to think that there is some sense of humanity still inside of them. But, from what I have gained from reading Losing Matt Shepard, I agree with DeBree that Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were down-right vicious the night that they caused Matt Shepard to slowly die in pain.