Jury will choose life or death for murderer

Bill Gang

Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2000 | 11:29 a.m.

The question in the murder trial of Charles Randolph wasn't whether he is guilty of first-degree murder in the holdup at Doc Holliday's Tavern that ended with the bartender executed with two bullets in the head.

Defense attorneys had conceded he was there -- a concession because of a videotape that showed him robbing the till -- and a District Court jury formalized the act by handing down a quick conviction Monday.

The real fight in the case began today with the start of the penalty hearing that will determine whether Randolph, 32, is given the death penalty or sentenced to life in prison with or without the possibility of parole.

The jury in District Judge Michael Douglas' courtroom deliberated just over an hour before also convicting Randolph of kidnapping, robbery, burglary and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Randolph's attorneys contend that life in prison is appropriate because the defendant wasn't the triggerman who killed bartender Shelly Lokken on May 5, 1998, in the bar at Durango and Westcliff drives.

Prosecutors claim that's exactly what he did and point to the surveillance videotape that shows only one bandit in the bar -- Randolph.

The defense counters that after Randolph dismantled the video system and stole it, his partner, Tyrone Garner, 42, entered the bar and killed Lokken to silence the only witness.

The video security system with the tape of the robbery still intact was found in the trunk of Garner's car when police swooped down on him the day after the holdup. Inside the car's trunk, police also found the murder weapon.

Garner, however, named Randolph as the only one who entered the tavern where Randolph had worked as a cook until being fired a couple of days before. Despite the incriminating evidence in the trunk, Garner said he didn't know a robbery was going to occur and believed Randolph was going to Doc Holliday's to pick up his last paycheck.

Garner was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole. Under Nevada's felony-murder law, all accomplices in a robbery that results in death are guilty of first-degree murder.

A security guard at an apartment complex across the street from the tavern saw the car and became suspicious because it was driving away with its lights off. The guard called Doc Holliday's, but when there was no answer, he reported his suspicions to police.

Inside, police found Lokken's body in the bar's walk-in cooler. She had been handcuffed and been made to kneel on the floor before she was shot twice in the head.

Two cash drawers had been emptied and a cash bag was missing from a safe.