hen Schindler went into a public bathroom, Helvey and Vins followed. Both hit and kicked Schindler, with Helvey striking the major blows. When the assailants left a few minutes later, Schindler's face was destroyed and several internal organs were injured, including mortal wounds to his heart and liver (Lavin A-14). There are many ways to rob a person. All police see many victims. Most of them, relieved of their wallets or purses, wear expressions of shock and walk warily. Some bear the marks of a gun pressed against the small of their backs or of the abrasions of a gloved hand on their throats. The Laramie, Wyoming police who were called to the scene of Matthew Shepard's murder, first were quoted as saying that robbery outside a bar was the primary motive for the attack, evidently by two men charged with the crime. Shepard, a student who made no secret of the fact that he was gay, did not getaway with only a bruise. He was not found outside a bar, left to gather his senses and his remaining possessions. Two men lured Matthew out of a bar and into a pick-up, where they began to pistol-whip him while driving to a remote location. They then tiedMatthew spread-eagled to a split-rail fence and bludgeoned his skull repeatedly with thebutt of a .357 Magnum. He was left tied to the fence, in below freezing temperatures,until a bicyclist, initially thinking he was a scarecrow, found him unconscious 18 hours later. Rushed to the hospital, Shepard remained in a coma and never regained consciousness. The girlfriends of the killers connected the murder to the fact that Shepard was gay (Scott’s). Russell Henderson, the first man charged for Shepard’s murder, plead guilty to the charges against him, and was given two consecutive life sentences on April 5, 1999. "It is my hope that Russell Henderson will die in Wyom...
