Five LV killers face Pardons Board

By Cy Ryan (contact)

Tuesday, July 15, 1997 | 9:15 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Roy Osborn, convicted of a double murder, hopes to end his three decades of imprisonment Thursday when he goes before the state Pardons Board for the eighth time.

The 69-year-old Osborn hopes to gain his freedom, even though his life terms were imposed 31 years ago "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 March 1964 in Clark County.

Board members indicated at that time they would not grant mercy unless Osborn admitted the killings and showed remorse. But Osborn said he never committed the crime and that he won't plead guilty.

He also denied allegations he broke into the home of his parents and got the gun used in the killing. He says he has passed two lie detector tests.

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 C. Kelly in Las Vegas in 1986, is before the Pardons Board to reduce her life with the possibility of parole term.

She and two male friends were convicted of the killing and leaving the body in the desert. Shaw, who was 15 at the time, took friends later to view the site and that's how the nickname of "show and tell" was attached to the murder. A court in 1994 reduced her sentence from life without possibility to allow parole.

She went before the Parole Board in 1996 and was denied and is now eligible to return for another hearing.

Other cases include:

Brian Hern, 40, who has served 17 1/2 years for the February 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, who is serving two life terms without parole for the October 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, who 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, who 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 -- Ronnie Milligan -- received the death penalty.