Defense lawyer: Triple murder suspect a burglar, not a killer

Bill Gang

Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1999 | 10:57 a.m.

While the prosecution's opening statements in the Tony Amati triple homicide trial spelled out the case against the man who had been on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, the defense countered that few of the allegations are true.

Defense attorney Christopher Oram told the jury in District Judge Joseph Bonaventure's courtroom that Amati simply wasn't around when the three victims were gunned down in separate incidents over four months in 1996.

Metro Police detectives termed the slayings near UNLV "thrill killings" and said that a witness to one talked of hearing the killer laughing as he fired shots.

The key to the case, Oram said, is Amati's race -- white -- when witnesses to the events said the only men they saw fleeing the areas were black.

Attorney accuses two others

Oram pointed the finger at two black men who were implicated with Amati in a stolen gun operation that was broken up by undercover Metro gang officers.

The two -- 27-year-old Troy Sampson and 23-year-old Edward James -- had been arrested in the three deaths, but prosecutors dropped the charges last year because the evidence they had was insufficient to win the case at a trial.

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli told the jury that wasn't the case with Amati, 22, whose blood was found at the scene of one homicide and who allegedly had one of the pistols used in the slayings in his bedroom night stand.

Also discovered in a search of Amati's mobile home were 23 other stolen guns, including two other pistols allegedly used in the killings. Most of the recovered weapons had been stolen in a gun store burglary on May 26, 1996 -- one day before the first slaying.

Oram said that James also lived in the mobile home and suggested he was responsible for placement of the laser-sighted pistol in the night stand. The attorney said police never tried to take fingerprints off the weapon.

Lalli said a key witness in the case is Amati's stepfather, Donald Jones, who is expected by the prosecution to testify that the defendant admitted to him being involved in the killings and cutting his hand during one of them.

Lalli said Jones told authorities that Amati talked with him about the guns and said that "there's blood on the guns."

Jones is said to have asked if that meant someone was shot with them, and Amati answered, yes.

Oram said he expects Jones will tell a different story on the witness stand. He said the witness was angry because about $30,000 was taken from his bank account just before Amati fled Las Vegas, and Jones will now admit that Amati didn't make the statements.

Although Amati told police that he wasn't responsible for the break-in at Master Shooters Supply on West Sahara Avenue, where the weapons were stolen, Oram conceded in court that he probably was.

Lalli had told the jury about two prior gun store attempted burglaries where Amati was caught -- once with Sampson and once with James -- and that the May 1998 burglary involved the same techniques.

Oram indicated that Amati's role was as a break-in artist but argued that he never carried a gun and that "Tony Amati didn't pull the trigger at all in any of the three cases."

"He's a little burglar, but not a killer," the defense lawyer said.

Lalli noted that as evidence mounted and police close in, Amati fled Las Vegas. He bleached his hair, obtained phony identifications and stayed on the run for nearly two years. It wasn't until a tip to the FBI following a broadcast of the case on the television show "America's Most Wanted" that Amati was located in Marietta, Ga.

Prosecutors are expected to argue to the jury during closing arguments that Amati's flight is evidence of his guilt.

'Won't be hung up on DNA'

While Lalli said DNA tests from the scene of the third killing conclusively matched it to Amati, Oram told the jurors that "at the end, you won't be hung up on DNA."

The first killing occurred May 27, 1996, when Michael John Matta, 27, was shot to death as he rummaged through Dumpsters in a condominium complex in the 5100 block of Gray Lane, near Hacienda Avenue and Maryland Parkway.

On July 28, 1996, John Garcia, 48, was shot in the head in his garage at 5147 Greene Lane, near Tropicana Avenue and Maryland Parkway.

And on Aug. 29, 1996, 22-year-old Keith Dyer was walking a teenage fellow employee from Pizza Hut to her apartment when they were approached by three men outside 4995 S. Maryland Parkway. There was a shout and two of them opened fire, killing Dyer and wounding the teenager in the leg.