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December 6, 2009

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Man’s execution date set for September

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 | 5:14 a.m.

A three-judge Washoe District Court panel set the date on Tuesday for Terry Jess Dennis, 52, who admitted he strangled Ilona Strumanis, 51, in a Reno motel.

The sentence faces an automatic appeal, which will vacate the execution date.

Dennis pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on the condition that the death penalty be sought, saying that life in prison was not living at all.

The most compelling evidence presented against Dennis during the two-day sentencing hearing was a tape-recorded confession he made to Reno police shortly after he called 911 on March 9 to report he had killed a woman.

He said he had for some time been contemplating killing someone and the woman he befriended before taking her to his motel room as a "perfect victim."

"It was just something I'd had in mind for a while and I found a victim and I acted on impulse," he told police. "I'd wanted to do it for a long time. It was perfect."

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