Death penalty sought in skinhead murders

Bill Gang

Friday, Jan. 29, 1999 | 11:56 a.m.

On the day John Edward Butler pleaded not guilty to charges he murdered two anti-racist skinheads, the district attorney's office announced it will be seeking the death penalty in the case.

District Judge Michael Douglas on Thursday set a Nov. 2 trial date for the heavily tattooed 26-year-old defendant, whose case became problematic for him after testimony last month at a preliminary hearing that he confessed the crimes to a fellow prisoner.

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent said the death sentence will be sought -- if Butler is convicted of first-degree murder -- because of the multiple deaths.

Police have said that Daniel Shersty, 20, and Lin Newborn, 25, were targeted and not killed at random. Both Shersty, who was white, and Newborn, who was black, were known within the Las Vegas community for their outspoken ways to end racism.

At Butler's preliminary hearing in Justice Court in December, Butler's cellmate, Richard Fishburn, 48, testified that Butler had identified himself as the president of the Independent Nazi Skins gang. This gang has been known to rival Las Vegas Unity Skins, an anti-racist group to which the shooting victims belonged.

Testimony from the jailhouse informant, plus evidence that Butler was seen near the victims' bodies and that his pistol was used to kill one victim, forms the basis of the prosecution's case.

Fishburn, a gravel-voiced cook who spent several weeks behind bars with Butler from July to September, was the star witness at Wednesday's hearing.

He testified that shortly after he met Butler in a Las Vegas jail, the defendant confessed that he had committed the July 4 murders and, over the course of several days, gave details of the events.

Fishburn quoted Butler as saying he "off'd the two SHARPs, he killed them."

"SHARP" is the acronym for "Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice" -- those who have some skinhead beliefs but don't embrace the racial prejudice that permeates many skinhead groups, according to Metro Police Sgt. James Owens.

Fishburn said Butler explained that the slayings were the result of "some long running feud over some girl."

Butler initially was linked to the slayings when three men riding all-terrain vehicles came across him and two others at the scene of the murders along a power line road west of Las Vegas.

While police originally treated the murder as a single slaying because only one body had been found, the investigation revealed that a second man also was missing. Police again searched the remote area two days later and finally found the second body.