Question: Who was Romaine Patterson's friend who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie?

Context paragraphs:
Wheatland Reservoir: Wheatland Reservoir is the name of three reservoirs located near Wheatland in the U.S. State of Wyoming.  Wheatland Reservoir Number 1 is located nearest to the town of Wheatland.  It was formed by impounding Canal No 3 which is fed by Sybille Creek coming off the eastern slope of the Laramie Mountains.  Wheatland Reservoir Number 2 is located on the western side of the Laramie Mountains.  It was formed by impounding the Laramie River.  Nearby Wheatland Reservoir Number 3 is fed by a canal from Reservoir Number 2 and the Laramie River.

Bath Ranch: The Bath Ranch, also known as the Bath Brothers Ranch and the Stone Ranch, was established near Laramie, Wyoming by Henry Bath about 1869-70.  It was one of the first raches in Albany County.  The initial homestead was replaced by the present stone house and barn in 1875, using stone quarried locally by Henry and his sons.  Since the area was populated by hostile native Americans, the buildings were designed as fortified refuges.  The Bath family became prominent in Wyoming society in subsequent years.

John A. Dramesi: Colonel John Arthur Dramesi (born February 12, 1933) is a retired United States Air Force (USAF) officer who was held as a prisoner of war at the Hanoi Hilton in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.  Dramesi is one of only four members of the USAF to be twice awarded the Air Force Cross, the first for the mission on which he was shot down and captured, 2 April 1967, and the second for the six-month period following his second escape and recapture, from May to November 1969, when he was beaten and tortured.  He also received an award of the Silver Star for gallantry during an escape on 10 May 1967 and the month following his recapture, when he also was beaten and tortured.

Romaine Patterson: Romaine Patterson (born March 31, 1978) is an American LGBT rights activist, radio personality, and author.  She first received national attention for her activism at the funeral of murdered gay student Matthew Shepard; the two became friends when Matthew Shepard moved to Casper, WY to attend college.  For twelve years up until June 2015, she and Derek Hartley co-hosted the "Derek and Romaine" show on SiriusXM's OutQ.

Matthew Shepard: Matthew Wayne "Matt" Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998.  Six days later, he died from severe head injuries at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Cultural depictions of Matthew Shepard: Cultural depictions of Matthew Shepard include notable films, musical works, novels, plays, and other works inspired by the 1998 Matthew Shepard murder, investigation, and resulting interest the case brought to the topic of hate crime.  The best known is the stage play "The Laramie Project", which was adapted into an HBO movie of the same name.  Matthew Wayne Shepard was an openly gay university student who was brutally attacked near Laramie, Wyoming, in October 1998 and left for dead by his attackers.

Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site: The Wyoming Territorial Prison is a former federal government prison near Laramie, Wyoming.  Built in 1872 it is one of the oldest buildings in Wyoming.  It operated as a federal penitentiary from 1872 to 1890, and as a state prison from 1890 to 1901.  It was then transferred to the University of Wyoming and was used as an agricultural experiment station until 1989.  In 1991 the facility was opened to the public, and in 2004 was designated as Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site.

Fort Sanders (Wyoming): Fort Sanders was a wooden fort constructed in 1866 on the Laramie Plains in southern Wyoming, near the city of Laramie.  Originally named Fort John Buford, it was renamed Fort Sanders after General William P. Sanders who died at the Siege of Knoxville during the American Civil War.  This was the second fort to be named after Sanders, the first being in Knoxville, Tennessee.  The fort was originally intended to protect travelers on the nearby Overland Trail from Indian attacks, but later the garrison was tasked with protecting the workers of the Union Pacific railroad when it arrived in the spring of 1868.  In 1869 the town of Laramie (originally called "Laramie City") was created about 3 mi north of the fort.  Fort Sanders became less important following the construction of Fort D. A. Russell in Cheyenne in 1868, but the War Department maintained it until 1882 when the buildings were sold.

Barn at Oxford Horse Ranch: The Oxford Horse Barn, built in 1887, is located near Laramie, Wyoming in Albany County, Wyoming.  It is one of the oldest and largest existing barns in Albany County.  The barn in an excellent example of vernacular architecture as influenced by the English cattle and horse ranchers which immigrated to the American West.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fort Fred Steele State Historic Site: Fort Steele, also known as Fort Fred Steele, was established to protect the newly built Union Pacific Railroad from attacks by Native Americans during construction of the transcontinental railroad in the United States.  The fort was built in 1868 where the railroad crossed the North Platte River in Carbon County, Wyoming.  Work on the fort was carried out by military and civilian labor.  Fort Steele was one of three forts built on the line.  Fort Sanders (originally Fort John Buford) near Laramie and Fort D.A. Russell at Cheyenne were the other railroad forts.  Fort Steele was named for the recently deceased General Frederick Steele.

Supporting paragraphs: Romaine Patterson Matthew Shepard
Answer: Matthew Wayne "Matt" Shepard