Butler found guilty in killings of two skinheads

Jeffrey Libby

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2000 | 11:38 a.m.

A Nazi skinhead was found guilty of first-degree murder this morning for the shooting deaths of two non-racist activists.

John Edward Butler, 28, now faces the death penalty for killing Daniel Shersty, 20, and Lin Newborn, 25, on July 4, 1998.

The jury will re-gather Tuesday to deliberate his penalty. They could recommend he receive death or a life sentence with or without the possibility of parole. The mostly white panel announced their guilty verdict without comment today at 10:20 a.m. after four days of deliberation. They were immediately escorted from the courtroom.

Butler, sporting a business-like haircut, remained stoic as he heard the verdict.

Newborn's father, Lionel Newborn, hugged one of the prosecutors after the verdict was read.

Prosecutors maintained that Butler and an accomplice shot and killed Shersty and Newborn in the desert northwest of Las Vegas.

The two victims -- Shersty was white and Newborn black -- were best friends and skinheads who worked against racism. Prosecutors argued that Butler killed them because of his racist beliefs.

Deputy District Attorneys Bill Kephart and Robert Daskas told jurors that Butler's girlfriend, Melissa Hack, lured the men to their deaths with the help of an unidentified girl.

Butler, a woman believed to be Melissa Hack and Joseph Justin were seen at the murder scene by all-terrain vehicle riders about 8 a.m. that day and Butler was later found in possession of a weapon that proved to be one of the murder weapons.

Justin testified against Butler, saying that Butler enlisted his aid in picking up evidence left at the scene the morning of the slayings. Among the evidence they picked up, Justin said, were shotgun shells and a beer bottle with Melissa Hack's fingerprints on it.

Other state witnesses included former cellmates of Butler who testified he confessed to them and two women who claim they saw Melissa Hack with Newborn the night of July 3.

Joseph Sciscento, the defense attorney, had pleaded with the jurors not to base their decision on Butler's racist beliefs.

"They (prosecutors) want you to hate him. When you hate someone, when you don't like someone or their beliefs, it's easy to convict them," Sciscento said.

Later, he said, "They've got to prove not that he's bad, not that he's an ugly person or that he's got tattoos, they've got to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he's a murderer."

Lionel Newborn said, "The preponderance of evidence was with the prosecution, and it's just good to know, if you take a life, you're going to pay.

"But we have others who were involved, and they will come to justice, too."

Butler is the only person who has been charged in the case.