Five Las Vegas killers face Pardons Board

Tuesday, July 15, 1997 | 1:48 a.m.

Osborn, 69, wants to gain his freedom, even though his life terms were imposed without the possibility of parole.

In 1993, he appeared before the board and insisted it was an unknown man who shot and robbed Inez Malloy and her daughter, Norma Widlok. Their bodies were found in the desert in 1964 in Clark County.

Board members said at that time they wouldn't grant mercy unless Osborn admitted the killings and showed remorse. But Osborn said he didn't commit the crime and won't plead guilty.

Osborn is one of five Clark County killers who have petitioned the Pardons Board for a reduction in their sentences.

Sandy Shaw, 26, convicted of the "show and tell" killing of James Kelly in Las Vegas in 1986, is before the board to reduce her life with the possibility of parole term.

She went before the board in 1996, was denied, and is now eligible for another hearing.

Brian Hern, 40, has served 17 1/2 years for the 1979 beating death of 3-year-old Curtis Fausett, the son of Hern's girlfriend in Las Vegas. Hern appeared two years ago before the board but was denied.

Maggie Jo Adams, 46, is serving two life terms without parole for the 1980 killing of a Las Vegas cab driver. She was convicted with her then-husband Joe Koza and she has served 16 years.

Jessie Washington, 48, has served 14 years of consecutive life terms for the 1983 fatal shooting of a 34-year-old man at the Sugar Hill Cocktail Lounge in Las Vegas. Washington has been paroled from one of his life terms and wants immediate release from prison.

Katherine Orfield, 59, has served 18 years of a life sentence for her part in the robbery-killing of a Las Vegas woman in the desert in Humboldt County.

Zalihon Voinski, 77, was stabbed with a screwdriver and hit over the head with a sledgehammer after her car broke down. Orfield was with three men at the time and one of them received the death penalty.