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December 2, 2009

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Convicted cop killer loses state Supreme Court appeal

Tuesday, Oct. 26, 1999 | 10:12 a.m.

The Nevada Supreme Court rejected John Steven Olausen's claim that he was improperly indicted in the 1979 murder of officer James Hoff.

Olausen was one of four teenagers who admitted stabbing Hoff to death when a drug sting went bad at Idlewild Park. Hoff was making what he thought was a drug buy for about $16,000.

Olausen claimed in his appeal that grand jury had no jurisdiction in the case, and the Washoe County district attorney never proved Hoff's body was found in Nevada instead of across the California border west of Verdi.

Justice Cliff Young said in a one-page ruling Monday that the high court doesn't believe any special intervention is warranted.

Olausen was originally sentenced to death but that was later changed to three life terms in prison.

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