Grand jury indicts teen in father’s death

Friday, Jan. 28, 2000 | 3:04 a.m.

A Clark County grand jury today returned an indictment of murder with the use of a deadly weapon against 15-year-old Conan Enos Pope, in the slaying of his father, Frank Pope.

Chief District Judge Lee Gates issued a warrant for the arrest of Pope, who has been on house arrest following a recent incident at the Clark County Detention Center where Pope allegedly engaged in a consensual sex act with a male inmate.

Bail was set at $125,000 and arraignment was set for Feb. 2 before Judge Mark Gibbons, who was assigned the case today by Gates.

In asking for the arrest warrant, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent told Gates that the state has found a witness, a juvenile, who alleges that before the Jan. 6 slaying Pope told him "he would like to pull a Columbine," Laurent said.

Columbine High School in Littleton Colo., was the site last April 20 of what has become perhaps the nation's most infamous school shooting, where two boys shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives.

Laurent also told Gates he has another witness who can testify that a week before 62-year-old Frank Pope was killed he told that person his son had threatened to kill him.

Conan Pope has said he was defending his 16-year-old sister, Desiree Pope, when he shot his father with a Winchester .357-caliber lever-action rifle.

Court records show that on the day of the slaying, the teenagers were sent to their rooms at the family's home at 163 Muddy Creek Ave., while Frank Pope angrily smashed dishes in the kitchen.

But Conan Pope emerged moments later with the rifle he had received as a Christmas present and shot his father, court documents allege.

Pope, a Silverado High freshman, said he opened fire when he opened the door to his room and saw his father going toward his sister's room with a broomstick in hand, court records show. The defendant told police after his arrest that he shot to protect his sister.

Court records show that Pope said he confronted his father and yelled, "No!" before firing the first shot. He admitted cocking the lever-action Winchester rifle and firing a second shot before fleeing the house and running to a friend's home.

There, the neighbor called Metro Police, who went to the home and arrested the teenager without further incident.

Pope said he discarded the rifle in a desert area as he ran. Police recovered it after a search of the area.

In prior court action, Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo ruled in a closed hearing that Conan Pope would remain on house arrest pending a preliminary hearing. The judge also issued a gag order on all parties involved in the case and sealed case records.

The Sun, however, reported last week, quoting unnamed sources close to the case, that a sexual encounter in the county jail between a male prostitute and the teen delayed Pope's release on house arrest and was the reason for a closed court hearing.

Conan Pope was not the victim but was the one who solicited the sex act from the male prostitute, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the gag order.

Pope also is expected to face charges in Juvenile Court over the sexual liaison that occurred a week ago in the protective custody wing of the Clark County Detention Center, one source said. His alleged partner faces charges of voluntary sexual contact between incarcerated individuals in District Court.

If convicted of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon in his father's death, Pope faces a life prison term with or without the possibility of parole after 40 years. Because Pope is under 16, prosecutors are barred from pursuing the death penalty.