State Supreme Court overturns murder conviction of woman

Thursday, Sept. 3, 1998 | 10:52 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- For the second time, the Nevada Supreme Court has overturned the first-degree murder conviction of Lerlene E. Roever, found guilty of shooting her lover after they argued about his infidelities in their Pahrump trailer home.

The court said District Judge John Davis improperly allowed evidence that was "inflammatory, speculative, and utterly fantastic as to bear practically no probative value."

Neighbors, friends and relatives testified that Roever told them how she murdered her mother in a bathtub and watched her teeth float in the water. She allegedly told them she snapped her newborn baby's neck and that she had scalped an African-American schoolgirl and cut out her teeth while she was experiencing a blackout.

Ian Wilhite was shot once through the head while sleeping in the bedroom in January 1993. Roever told authorities that after the argument, she slept on the couch and an intruder had apparently entered the trailer and murdered Wilhite. She said she had not heard any noise.

Justice Cliff Young, who wrote the majority opinion, said this questionable evidence about Roever's prior bad acts "served only to violate Roever's fundamental right to a fair trial."

Justice Bill Maupin, who wrote a concurring opinion, said it seems the evidence of guilt is quite strong and he urged the Nye County district attorney's office to "exercise restraint" if it takes Roever to a third trial.