I think your retrospective on the tragic murder of Matthew Shepard's murder is heart rending, but journalistically incomplete. It fails to acknowledge, or even mention as supported assertions, the roles of crystal meth and the prior relationships with his killers as significant factors in Matthew Shepard's murder as extensively researched and reported by gay journalist Stephen Jimenez in his book "The Book of Matt." For starters, here is a 2013 NPR interview of Jimenez by Rachel Martin. https://www.npr.org/2013/10/06/226438148/book-of-matt-the-real-motive-behind-an-infamous-murder
Hi Reed, thank you for reaching out. I think you're reaching out in good faith and so I want to respond in kind. Frankly, I don't trust Jimenez. His account is at odds with nearly every other source, which is usually a good indicator that something's off. There's also more information that neither Jimenez nor Rachel Martin had at the time of the interview above. Obviously in a cosmic sense, we can never definitively know what was going through someone's mind as they committed a crime ... but we have a VERY good idea of what happened in Laramie in 1998.
There are facts that are unaccounted for by the "drug deal gone wrong" hypothesis, but that make perfect sense under the "hate crime" hypothesis. To list some, the sheriff found no drugs at Matt's apartment. That's really, really odd. Most people, especially young college students, would have *some* drugs. The killers kept referring to Matt in their interrogations as the f-slur and later used the gay panic defense, specifically that they weren't looking to kill him but then freaked out when he put his hand on one of the killer's thighs. They backed away from that legal strategy but did not recant that justification for their actions. One of the killers has since called for Wyoming to pass a non-discrimination ordinance. But beyond all of this, and the thing I find most compelling is, as Bob Beck said to me during my interview with him, "the brutality of the attack." A drug deal gone wrong can definitely end in murder, but it usually ends with someone getting shot, not tortured. You torture someone like that because you hate them.
I had not realized you had written on the subject and thanks for addressing the "elephant in the room". However, I will take some umbrage at what you find compelling as what the hell does Bob Beck know about drugs or the drug culture?
What I know about death with drugs involved is that the cleanup of the dead person's drug use happens long before the police arrive. My brother-in-law died of a heroin overdose away from his residence and by the time I got to his house there wasn't a bong, bud or seed around. So Beck asking O'Malley for any evidence of drug use means nothing and even less if there were relatives of Matt asking for that to be "overlooked".
I have been in Laramie long enough and made friends with those that knew Matt and the story I get is that Meth was involved and that story was shut down quite effectively. What I know about Meth is that it does not create "hate" but it fuels the hate. There are studies of this phenomenon as well as other confirming accounts that Meth drives hate. It is pretty evident when Meth like drugs exacerbate a crime as the the wanton violence and sexual assault perpetrated by the Caption eating Hamas fighters on October 7th, 2023.(https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/the-captagon-controversy-and-why-it-captivates) Here is another study on Meth use and morals (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1177083X.2024.2314493#d1e181)
America is a country that purposely ignores discussing drugs and drug use as BigPharma wants as little scrutiny as possible. By not including Meth as part of the story it diminishes the ability to discuss what different drugs do to people, as it robs the US of understanding the impact of one drug over another. Matthew Shephard's murder was a hate crime fueled by Meth use in my opinion.
Shutting down the links between different drugs and behavior is stifled in America and the lack of any reporting by the MSM of the linkage between Hamas terrorists and a meth like substance is par for the course and what BigPharma wants.
I think your retrospective on the tragic murder of Matthew Shepard's murder is heart rending, but journalistically incomplete. It fails to acknowledge, or even mention as supported assertions, the roles of crystal meth and the prior relationships with his killers as significant factors in Matthew Shepard's murder as extensively researched and reported by gay journalist Stephen Jimenez in his book "The Book of Matt." For starters, here is a 2013 NPR interview of Jimenez by Rachel Martin. https://www.npr.org/2013/10/06/226438148/book-of-matt-the-real-motive-behind-an-infamous-murder
Hi Reed, thank you for reaching out. I think you're reaching out in good faith and so I want to respond in kind. Frankly, I don't trust Jimenez. His account is at odds with nearly every other source, which is usually a good indicator that something's off. There's also more information that neither Jimenez nor Rachel Martin had at the time of the interview above. Obviously in a cosmic sense, we can never definitively know what was going through someone's mind as they committed a crime ... but we have a VERY good idea of what happened in Laramie in 1998.
There are facts that are unaccounted for by the "drug deal gone wrong" hypothesis, but that make perfect sense under the "hate crime" hypothesis. To list some, the sheriff found no drugs at Matt's apartment. That's really, really odd. Most people, especially young college students, would have *some* drugs. The killers kept referring to Matt in their interrogations as the f-slur and later used the gay panic defense, specifically that they weren't looking to kill him but then freaked out when he put his hand on one of the killer's thighs. They backed away from that legal strategy but did not recant that justification for their actions. One of the killers has since called for Wyoming to pass a non-discrimination ordinance. But beyond all of this, and the thing I find most compelling is, as Bob Beck said to me during my interview with him, "the brutality of the attack." A drug deal gone wrong can definitely end in murder, but it usually ends with someone getting shot, not tortured. You torture someone like that because you hate them.
Add to this Melodie Edwards' interview with the coroner in 2018 (in which the coroner speaks for the first time about the murder) and the details of the abuse and torture Matt received ... it's pretty hard to argue it was anything other than a hate crime. You can listen to that interview here, and I'd highly recommend it (with a strong content warning): https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/open-spaces/2023-10-06/the-coroners-story-autopsy-reveals-details-about-matthew-shepards-hate-crime
I'd also recommend Bob Beck's 20th anniversary reporting in which his sources, people very close to the case and in a position to know, unanimously agree it was a hate crime and that any other explanation falls short: https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/open-spaces/2018-10-05/three-people-look-back-at-the-shepard-case
I had not realized you had written on the subject and thanks for addressing the "elephant in the room". However, I will take some umbrage at what you find compelling as what the hell does Bob Beck know about drugs or the drug culture?
What I know about death with drugs involved is that the cleanup of the dead person's drug use happens long before the police arrive. My brother-in-law died of a heroin overdose away from his residence and by the time I got to his house there wasn't a bong, bud or seed around. So Beck asking O'Malley for any evidence of drug use means nothing and even less if there were relatives of Matt asking for that to be "overlooked".
I have been in Laramie long enough and made friends with those that knew Matt and the story I get is that Meth was involved and that story was shut down quite effectively. What I know about Meth is that it does not create "hate" but it fuels the hate. There are studies of this phenomenon as well as other confirming accounts that Meth drives hate. It is pretty evident when Meth like drugs exacerbate a crime as the the wanton violence and sexual assault perpetrated by the Caption eating Hamas fighters on October 7th, 2023.(https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/the-captagon-controversy-and-why-it-captivates) Here is another study on Meth use and morals (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1177083X.2024.2314493#d1e181)
America is a country that purposely ignores discussing drugs and drug use as BigPharma wants as little scrutiny as possible. By not including Meth as part of the story it diminishes the ability to discuss what different drugs do to people, as it robs the US of understanding the impact of one drug over another. Matthew Shephard's murder was a hate crime fueled by Meth use in my opinion.
Shutting down the links between different drugs and behavior is stifled in America and the lack of any reporting by the MSM of the linkage between Hamas terrorists and a meth like substance is par for the course and what BigPharma wants.
https://www.voanews.com/a/israel-says-amphetamines-played-role-in-brutality-of-hamas-october-attack/7426395.html