Twice-convicted killer loses bid for third trial

Brendan Riley

Tuesday, Feb. 29, 2000 | 9:45 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Nevada's death penalty standards were tightened Monday in a state Supreme Court ruling upholding a man's sentence in the murder of a woman shot and set on fire in the desert near Las Vegas.

The high court refused to grant Robert Byford a third trial, rejecting numerous claims of courtroom errors in earlier trials for the 1991 murder of Monica Wilkins, 18.

Among other things, Byford claimed prosecutors went too far in showing jurors photos of the crime scene and maggots, preserved in a jar of formaldehyde, that were found on the victim's body.

In writing the opinion, Justice Miriam Shearing used the Byford case to give all Nevada courts a new instruction for jurors when considering whether a murder is willful, deliberate and premeditated.

The new instruction says all three elements must be proven for a first-degree murder conviction - one that can result in a death sentence. Shearing said that without a clear standard the line between first- and second-degree murder is muddled.

The majority opinion was questioned by Justice William Maupin, who said he didn't think premeditation and deliberation have to be proven "as separate and distinct concepts."

"In my view, defining deliberation and premeditation in terms of an elaborate weighing process or 'cold calculation' may very well define many types of premeditated murder out of existence," Maupin added.

All seven justices agreed that Byford's conviction should be upheld, in line with prosecutors' arguments that the evidence against him in the case was overwhelming.

Byford, who was 20 at the time of the crime, and Christopher Williams, who was 17, were found guilty in 1994 of the murder of Wilkins, but the Supreme Court overturned those convictions because of improper statements by prosecutors.

Both were convicted a second time. Byford got the death penalty, and Williams got a no-parole life term.

Byford and Williams testified that a third man, Todd Smith, killed the woman. Smith testified for the prosecution and was allowed to plead guilty to accessory to murder. He completed a two-year term.