Jurors hear words of dead thief

Kim Smith

Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2000 | 10:45 a.m.

A convicted car thief spoke to jurors from beyond the grave Monday during the murder trial of an admitted racist.

Richard Fishburn testified at John Edward Butler's preliminary hearing in 1998 that Butler bragged to him about killing Daniel Shersty, 20, and Lin Newborn, 25, on July 4, 1998.

Fishburn, who has since died of natural causes, said he and Butler were sharing a jail cell in July and August 1998 when Butler told him he "off'd" two Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice or SHARPs.

On Monday Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli read Fishburn's testimony to jurors, who were simply told Fishburn was unavailable.

According to Fishburn, Butler confessed to the murders the first time they met and then gave him details over the next three or four weeks. On one occasion Butler became upset after having spoken with detectives.

Fishburn said Butler told him he was worried that police had been able to match his .32-caliber handgun to the murders. When he told Butler how stupid he was for having kept the gun, Fishburn said Butler told him it was his favorite gun.

When questioned by defense attorneys, Fishburn said he had already received four years' probation in a car-theft case before he spoke to prosecutors.

However, Fishburn conceded that the district attorney's office got him out of going to Drug Court because of his disbelief in acupuncture. Instead, Fishburn said, he was allowed to go to a mental health facility for his drug addition.

Also testifying Monday was Dr. Sheldon Green, who performed the autopsies on Newborn and Shersty.

Green said someone pressed a .32-caliber gun into Shersty's neck and pulled the trigger and shot him in the face from within 2 feet. Shersty also was shot in the chest with a shotgun.

The neck and chest wounds would have been fatal by themselves, Green said.

Newborn was shot in the right flank and back with a shotgun, Green said. He also suffered a gunshot wound in the back of the head, probably from a .32-caliber gun.

The shot to the flank damaged Newborn's liver and a kidney, which killed him, Green said.

Neither man died instantantly, however, Green said.

According to prosecutors, Butler, a high-ranking member of the Independent Nazi Skinheads group, killed Shersty and Newborn after his girlfriend lured them out into the desert west of town.

Deputy District Attorneys Robert Daskas and Bill Kephart believe Butler's sole motivation was the men's involvement in the anti-racist skinhead movement.

Deputy Special Public Defenders Brett Whipple and Joe Sciscento told jurors that Butler has 13 alibi witnesses and the actual murderer is an acquaintance of Butler.

Butler's girlfriend, who has never been charged, invoked her right not to incriminate herself at Butler's preliminary hearing. She is not expected to testify at Butler's trial.