Shepherd was killed by two people, so right out the gate this book is wrong.

The guy had a death wish. He liked to come on to straight men, often violent-looking ones; he had been bashed several times but never stopped. When on a school trip to Morocco he'd snuck out at night looking for sex and gotten gang-raped. He was self-destructive and got turned on by risk.

No I am not saying he deserved what he got. Nobody does. But I am saying he summoned it.