Summary of Stephen Jimenez's The Book of Matt

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 I went to Laramie, Wyoming, to research a screenplay about the October 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard. The story had been told again and again in the media, and the media had painted a harrowing picture of the crime.

#2 I was drawn to Matthew’s story because of the contrast between his parents’ forgiveness and McKinney’s brutality. His parents showed him mercy, even though he had shown them only hate.

#3 I had only been to Wyoming once before, in 2000, when I was visiting the Ucross Foundation for a writing residency. I was blown away by the quiet solitude and the friendly people.

#4 I struggled to understand the brutality of the Matthew Shepard murder when I was in my mid-thirties and single. I remembered how safe I felt when I was in my twenties, but I also recalled those nights when I wandered out alone to bars in Ucross.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822515246

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Insights on Stephen Jimenez's The Book of Matt

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I went to Laramie, Wyoming, to research a screenplay about the October 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard. The story had been told again and again in the media, and the media had painted a harrowing picture of the crime.

#2

I was drawn to Matthew’s story because of the contrast between his parents’ forgiveness and McKinney’s brutality. His parents showed him mercy, even though he had shown them only hate.

#3

I had only been to Wyoming once before, in 2000, when I was visiting the Ucross Foundation for a writing residency. I was blown away by the quiet solitude and the friendly people.

#4

I struggled to understand the brutality of the Matthew Shepard murder when I was in my mid-thirties and single. I remembered how safe I felt when I was in my twenties, but I also recalled those nights when I wandered out alone to bars in Ucross.

#5

As I drove on the outskirts of Cheyenne and headed west on I-80 for Laramie, I tried to hold those decade-old memories at bay. But as I looked through stacks of case documents in a busy reception area at the Albany County Courthouse, I recognized Cal Rerucha, the prosecutor who had won McKinney and Henderson’s convictions.

#6

I spoke with Cal Rerucha, the elected county sheriff, about the case. He was not interested in jumping on the Hollywood bandwagon, and he advised me that the Shepards had suffered enough. I understood that he was not looking for money or fame, only accuracy.

#7

I began to realize how difficult Rerucha’s job was. He had a lot of detractors and political adversaries, but I admired his ethics and integrity.

#8

In 1997, Daphne Sulk, a 15-year-old white girl, was savagely bludgeoned, stabbed, and discarded in the wilderness. Her murder sent a tremor of fear through her nearby junior high school and hometown.

#9

The atmosphere around the Sulk case had become increasingly acrimonious. Among Rerucha’s political enemies were allegations that he was showing racial bias.

#10

Rumors about Daphne Sulk’s past were circulating around Laramie, Wyoming, before her death. They alleged that she had had sexual relations with three different adult men, who served jail time for having sex with her as a minor.

#11

In 1998, Aaron McKinney, one of the three burglars, was brought to Laramie from Pensacola, Florida. He had been hiding out with his pregnant girlfriend, Kristen Price. He had bragged about his exploits in California to Price and