Gay Slay Case: Merciful Parents

Dennis and Judy Shepard, parents of slain gay college student Matthew Shepard, asked the court to spare the life of one of the men convicted in their son's murder, with the assurance he would never get out of jail.

"Really, I don't know what we saved him from," Shepard's mother told CBS Early Show Co-Anchor Jane Clayson. "Life in prison is going to be a nightmare for him."

The Shepards were recently in Washington, D.C. lobbying for additions to federal hate crime legislation.

Shepard's mother said that, even though they received "personal assurances" from Sens. Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy that they would work together on a bipartisan compromise, senior Republican leadership is throwing up roadblocks.

"We don't understand. It seems like a common sense issue to us that sexual orientation should be part of hate crime protection," she said.

Mrs. Shepard said the most difficult part of the murder trial was listening to Aaron McKinney's taped confession, because of how "dispassionate he was about the whole event."

Nonetheless, she said the experience has been very educational for her. She said she's been "trying to educate myself on the problems that the gay community faces in the United States today."

Shepard's father said the pain of his son's death is starting to heal.

"I'll always miss Matt, but I have no choice," he said. "I have to put it behind me and go on. We have to go ahead with what is left."

The Shepards said the death of their son touched off such a wide response because, "he could be anybody's son, brother, grandson, neighbor, nephew, best friend. He was so typical of kids in America today."