Notorious death row inmate dies of natural causes

Sandra Chereb

Monday, July 27, 1998 | 9:06 a.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - In the end, nature accomplished what state prosecutors have sought for 15 years - the death of triple murderer Julius "Jimmy" Lee Neuschafer.

Neuschafer, 45, who three times had his date with the death needle canceled within hours of his execution, died at 12:41 p.m. Sunday of natural causes at the Regional Medical Facility at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center here, prison spokesman Glen Whorton said.

Neuschafer was transferred to the facility about a month ago from the state prison in Ely, where death row inmates are housed.

The cause of death was obvious, Whorton said, but details were withheld pending notification of relatives.

Neuschafer was sentenced to two life prison terms without the possibility of parole for raping and killing two Carson City teen-agers. Shawn Hofer, 15, and Lorie Woodruff, 13, were killed in 1974 when the courts did not allow the death penalty.

While serving that sentence, he was convicted and sentenced to die for the August 1981 strangulation of another inmate, Johnnie Johnson, also known as Willard Taylor.

On three occasions, Neuschafer came within hours of being executed. He twice said he didn't want to continue with appeals, only to change his mind at the last minute.

His last execution was scheduled for December 1990, when he told Carson District Judge Mike Fondi that his death would be a nice Christmas gift.

"I just want it over with as soon as possible," he said at the time. "I think it would be a nice Christmas present for the city of Carson City.

"I have no desire for any further appeals, nor do I have any desire to remain in prison," he said. "I'm not going to play any more games with you."

But six hours before he was to die by lethal injection, he decided to challenge his conviction, arguing that errors by his defense attorney kept him from getting a fair trial.

Neuschafer came within four hours of execution in 1987 and 11 hours in 1985 when he won federal court stays.

He once told a reporter during a 1985 prison interview that he would prefer to be executed by firing squad or guillotine, saying death of lethal injection is "they way they kill mad dogs."