Elaine Richardson

Though short—less than an hour with commercials—"American Justice" takes a look at not only what happened to Matthew Shepard, but the ensuing court and public opinion battles, offering intriguing new perspectives on the case that rocked the country.

In October 1998, Shepard, a gay man attending the University of Wyoming, was having a beer at a local bar when two small-time criminals, perceiving him to be gay, lured him out of the bar an into their truck to rob him. They did, but, apparently, that wasn't enough. Though police still aren't sure how things went so far, the two drove him out of town and beat him savagely with a.357 Magnum, leaving him bleeding and tied to a fence. Discovered eighteen hours later, his head wounds were so severe—police reports say his brain stem was crushed—he never regained consciousness and died five days later.

Unless you were out of the country at that point, you couldn't have missed how this incident galvanized the gay community and increased the clamor for hate crime legislation. "The Matthew Shepard Story" (hosted by Bill Kurtis and produced locally by the folks at Towers Productions) features interviews with the investigating officers—who admit their lives and, especially, their attitudes toward gays were transformed by the case—the attorneys and, most fascinating, Shepard's mother Judy, who has become an activist for hate crime legislation.

This is not an easy program to watch—especially when you see the police photos of all the blood at the crime scene. The splatter goes around 50 feet and there's a pretty frank discussion of what must have happened to cause that, coupled with shots of the pools of blood on the ground where Shepard was found. Also from the "never before seen" file comes a look at Shepard as he lay in a coma, and seeing the savage brutality may be a little much for some. But it's worth it to understand how things unfolded, especially if you didn't follow the details of the case.

One of the most fascinating discussions is how the Shepard family, who could have understandably pushed for the death penalty, agreed to plea deals that put both killers behind bars for life, without parole. Foregoing, as Kurtis notes, a sense of vengeance for a sense of justice. Another part of the deal—lawyers and he defendants had to agree never to talk to the press, because, as Judy Shepard says, "I didn't want to wake up one day and see him on 'Good Morning America' talking about what he'd done to Matthew." You have to wonder if this isn't more satisfying to the family swift and controversial lethal injection, which would have caused more controversy and eliminated their ability to control how Matthew is remembered. These two men will spend their lives in prison, remembered only as murdering bigots, unable to yack out their story or push their agenda to any enterprising journo who comes passing by. They get to fade away, forgotten and unheard. Sounds pretty good—maybe the Tim McVeigh prosecutors need a page out of this book.

"American Justice: The Matthew Shepard Story" airs May 30, 8pm on A&E. Check local cable listings.

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