High Court rejects appeals in three local murder cases

Monday, July 10, 2000 | 11:05 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of Timothy Redmen, sentenced to death for the murder and mutilation of a Las Vegas man whose body was tossed into a Dumpster.

The high court on Friday also rejected the appeals of two other killers and sent another case back to District Court to determine whether there had been jury tampering.

The court rejected arguments by Redmen's attorneys that there was no evidence presented to support the allegation he killed Max Biederman in 1990 during a robbery.

The court said there was ample evidence to show there was a robbery. When Redmen was arrested in Idaho, he had the victim's van and other property.

The court said Redmen also admitted he pulled a gun on Biederman and demanded money, then took the cash after the killing.

Biederman was shot at least three times, his face was mutilated with a wrought iron railing and his hands were cut off.

The court also rejected claims by Redmen that his attorney at trial was incompetent.

In other action, the court sent the case of convicted killer Mark Pray back to District Court in Las Vegas to determine if there had been jury tampering. Pray was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive terms in prison with the possibility of parole.

The court directed District Judge Kathy Hardcastle to hold a hearing on whether Pray's attorney was ineffective for failing to seek a mistrial.

A witness said she saw contact between an investigator for the state and a member of the jury at the trial. And she observed contact between family members of the victim and jurors.

The court turned down the appeal of two other killers from Clark County.

Bryan Robinson was sentenced to life in prison for the killing of Tracy Kennedy at the Cheyenne Condominiums on Civic Center Drive in North Las Vegas in 1996. Kennedy was to be a witness in another murder case.

A partner of Robinson's, Derrick Hilliard, actually pulled the trigger.

Robinson's attorney said evidence of the unrelated murder should not have been allowed at the trial. The court said District Judge Lee Gates made it "very clear to the jury" that Robinson was not implicated in the other murder.

The high court also dismissed the appeal of Tam Cong Nguyen, sentenced to two consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole for the April 1998 fatal shooting of Dennis Vanduser in what police at the time called a love triangle.

The court rejected claims that one of the jurors was biased and that the instructions to the jury were flawed.