The judge told Russell Henderson, “You drove the vehicle, you bound him to that fence in order that he might be more savagely beaten. At the very least you stood by as he was struck again and again and again. And then you did nothing but concede your involvement.”

The murder of Matthew Sheppard was “savage, brutal,” the judge told Russell, and “lacking in respect for human life, regardless if Matthew’s life was different from your own or not.”