They also saw pictures of the ponderosa pine fence where Shepard was left to die, his hands tied behind his back, and the pool of blood caused by more than a dozen blows as he fought his attackers.

Shepard's mother, Judy, dabbed her eyes when prosecutors showed jurors the graphic photos while McKinney's father, William, bowed his head. McKinney barely glanced up.

``Matthew Shepard made a frail attempt to fight back,'' said prosecutor Cal Rerucha during opening statements Monday. ``McKinney struck him as hard as he could.''

Defense attorneys countered that McKinney, who faces the death penalty, didn't intend to kill Shepard when he and a friend accompanied Shepard from a Laramie bar after he asked McKinney for a ride home.

The 21-year-old University of Wyoming freshman was driven to a remote area, pistol-whipped and left overnight in near-freezing temperatures.

The defense portrayed McKinney as the victim of sexual abuse who lashed out when approached for a gay encounter. McKinney's judgment that night was affected by alcohol, methamphetamines and ``some sexually traumatic and confusing events in his life,'' defense attorney Jason Tangeman told jurors.

Tangeman said McKinney, 22, was confused by homosexual encounters when he was younger. In one case, McKinney was forced into an oral sex act with a neighborhood bully, Tangeman said.

``Did Matthew Shepard deserve to die? No, that's ridiculous. No manslaughter victim deserved to die,'' he said. ``That's what Aaron McKinney is guilty of -- manslaughter.''

McKinney has been charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery.

The trial of the other man accused of the slaying that shocked the nation, Russell Henderson, ended in April just before a jury was seated. Henderson pleaded guilty to felony murder and kidnapping and was sentenced to life in prison. The plea allowed Henderson to avoid the death penalty.

On Monday, prosecutors called their first three witnesses: Aaron Kreifels, the college student who found Shepard; Charles Dolan, the neighbor who tried to help; and Albany County Deputy Reggie Fluty, who said she told the barely breathing victim, ``Baby, I'm so sorry this happened.''

Kreifels and Dolan described efforts to free Shepard from the fence, his hands tied to the bottom of a post. Fluty said it appeared Shepard had been crying. Shepard was taken to a hospital where he died five days later.