Grave robber gets probation for theft of skull

Tuesday, Oct. 19, 1999 | 12:01 p.m.

David Lowell Shaughnessy, 38, had one of the skulls in his backpack when police arrested him at a Carson City motel this summer. It belonged to Patrick Clayton, a pioneer who died in December 1874.

Shaughnessy also admitted to taking the skull of Clayton's wife, Susan, when he pried open the above-ground crypt at Lone Mountain Cemetery in Carson City on Oct. 31, 1997.

But the wife's skull has not been recovered and Patrick Clayton's skull remains separated from the rest of his remains.

"The fact that poor Mr. Clayton is still down in the evidence vault and not in his proper resting place is still of concern," Chief Deputy District Attorney Anne Langer said Monday.

Judge Michael Griffin sentenced Shaughnessy to five years probation Monday on a charge of opening a burial crypt or vault. If he violates his probation, he faces up to three years in prison.

Shaughnessy must also complete 100 hours of community service, which Griffin suggested be completed at the Carson City cemetery where the skulls were stolen.

Griffin noted Shaughnessy's expressed remorse and his strides toward putting an end to his 10-year methamphetamine addiction by successfully completing a rehabilitation program.

The judge also said the crime is serious but was not one of violence nor presented a danger to the community.

"I apologize to the community as a whole," Shaughnessy said before being sentenced.

As part of a plea deal struck in July, Langer recommended probation and dropped a count of receiving human remains.

She said Shaughnessy has upheld his part of the plea agreement that he testify against co-defendants Nanette Birdsell and his former girlfriend, Janice Hershey.

Both Birdsell, 36, and Hershey, 33, have pleaded innocent to criminal charges surrounding the grave robbery.

Shaughnessy said he and Hershey went to the Lone Mountain Cemetery and took the skulls. Birdsell then bought one of the Clayton skulls for $800 in cash and drugs, Shaughnessy said.

Hershey - who allegedly used a hammer and chisel is dislodge the skulls while inside the crypt - will stand trial on counts of grave robbery and burglary in District Court March 28.