Judge rejects death row inmate’s complaint

Saturday, Aug. 22, 1998 | 10:34 a.m.

Valerio, 31, who has been sentenced to death for the 1986 murder of a Las Vegas prostitute, claimed he was being detailed illegally and asked the U.S. District Court here to order him released.

Judge Howard McKibben dismissed the petition as having no merit, saying the "an abundance of physical evidence connected Valerio to the crime."

The Nevada Supreme Court rejected a similar appeal in April.

Valerio was convicted in Clark County in 1988 in the death of Karen Blackwell, who was stabbed more than 45 times. Her body was found a week later in the trunk of an abandoned car wrapped in bedding from Valerio's apartment.

Valerio's bedroom was found spattered with blood and Blackwell's keys and address book were found in his jacket pocket, police said.

McKibben also rejected additional claims of improper prosecutor arguments and improper jury instructions dealing with torture and mutilation.

Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said Friday Valerio might still appeal the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

"This office will continue to do everything in our power to bring Valerio and other death row criminals to justice," she said in a news release.

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