Man convicted of casino murder seeking pardon

Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1999 | 9:31 a.m.

Merrill L. Wolford, 59, was convicted in February 1986 of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in the shooting Roger Broyles in a crowded Commercial Casino.

Wolford was sentenced to life in prison. He will make his appeal Dec. 7 before the Nevada Board of Pardons, made up of Gov. Kenny Guinn, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and the seven Nevada Supreme Court justices.

He intends to ask the board to commute his sentence to the 14 years already served or, if not, to set a time certain for his release, said Bill Wolford, Wolford's son.

Broyles, 42, was shot with a 9mm handgun as he was sitting at the slot bar with Wolford's ex-wife, LaVerne Hunt. Wolford and Broyles had been friends, both formerly of Ely.

Wolford's sentence was automatically doubled with a consecutive sentence because of the deadly weapon enhancement, but Wolford had that changed by the pardons board in 1993 to a concurrent sentence, meaning they would run at the same time.

Wolford's request is based on spending the past 14 years in prison with an exemplary record, his age and the lack of risk to the community, his attorney Ed Basl. Basl said Wolford has survived one heart attack and two cancer-related surgeries.

"I have apologized to Roger Broyles' (my best friend) family and told them how deeply sorry I am for taking his life," Wolford wrote in his application to the pardons board. "Other than my remorse, there is no other reparation that I can make. I am fully aware every day that my shooting him destroyed the lives of his family as well as my own family."

Basl said Wolford also has the support of the presiding judge, Joseph McDaniel, who is retired and living in Reno.

"I had expected that Mr. Wolford would have already been paroled based on the particular circumstances of the case, prior recommendations and his continued clean record in prison and work within the environment," the judge wrote to the pardons board.

"I would think that the time has arrived for the Pardons Board or Parole Board to determine that Mr. Wolford can still serve as a productive citizen upon his release from prison without fear of threat to society."

Since the pardons board changed the sentence, Wolford appeared twice before the Nevada parole board, in 1995 and 1998, since the pardons board changed the sentence.

The Wolford and Broyles families still live in Elko and Broyles' family has been active in keeping the man who killed their father in prison.

Scott Rogers, Broyles' stepson, said the family opposes Wolford's release.

"He killed my stepfather. He committed first-degree murder. He should have to serve the two life sentences, but he pulled some strings," Rogers said. "I lost my father. I'll never see him again and this man is still walking and breathing. This would be like telling people it's OK to murder. No way should he be pardoned for a crime he committed."