ONLY THE NARRATIVE MATTERS: What If Matthew Shepard’s Murder Wasn’t an Anti-Gay Hate Crime? “But McKinney and Shepard were not strangers. They had many friends in common, and had socialized with each other. And they had an even deeper history. Both were dealing (and using) methamphetamine, and as such were business rivals. McKinney was also bisexual, and had had sexual relations with Shepard.”