Oct. 5 death date set for Vegas slayer

Brendan Riley

Thursday, Sept. 24, 1998 | 9:05 a.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - Convicted killer Roderick Tyrone Abeyta is scheduled to die Oct. 5, and is making no effort to block his execution by injection.

Abeyta, 46, who has a history of mental problems, lost an appeal a year ago and last spring wrote a judge to say he wanted to die for the 1989 execution-style murder of Donna Martin in Las Vegas.

Department of Prisons spokesman Glen Whorton said Wednesday that Abeyta hasn't changed his mind since writing to Clark County District Court Judge Jeff Sobel.

The death date was set after Sobel decided Sept. 15 to issue a warrant authorizing the execution. He did so after reviewing an updated report indicating Abeyta is competent.

Abeyta wrote Sobel last April to say he was sorry for killing Martin, 38, and was "deserving to be held accountable for my crime against society and to uphold the judgment of God."

Abeyta, who had appealed initially on grounds his trial jurors got improper instructions, added he was aware of his constitutional rights and knew about his opportunities for a protracted appeal process through court-appointed lawyers.

Prosecutors said Abeyta, who had been involved with Martin while separated from his wife, broke into her home in search of drugs.

But before Abeyta and his half-brother, Casey Korsmo, looted the apartment, Abeyta fired two shots into the back of the sleeping woman's head. Her body was found four days later.

Abeyta was arrested a few days later, but wasn't convicted until 1996. In between, he was sent to the state Lake's Crossing mental facility in Sparks and was eventually found to be competent to stand trial.

Korsmo pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in a plea bargain for his role and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He'll be eligible for release in 2003.

If there's no court stay, Abeyta will be the first death row inmate to be executed since Richard Moran died in 1996.

Convicted double murder Alvaro Calambro had been scheduled to die during the week of July 27, but a federal judge stayed that execution. Calambro was convicted of killing two U-Haul workers in Reno.

Moran got the death sentence for the August 1984 murders of bartender Sandra Devere, 24, and off-duty cook Russell Rhodes, 27, in a barroom. He also got a death sentence for killing his ex-wife, Linda Vandervoort, but that sentence was later overturned.