Tied to a fence, beaten, and left to die in the cold, October night in Laramie, Wyoming, Matthew Shepard lost his fight for life five days after being discovered mutilated in this picturesque locale. The gruesome accounts of his murder, the trial, and the media circus that surrounded this tragedy, are examined in this wrenching story. Powerful in its simplicity, conveyed in interviews with his family and the town's citizenry, this horrific mirror is held up to small town America, reflecting the possibility that the vilest acts can occur in the most seemingly serene of settings.