Killer tries to avoid death penalty

Greg Tuttle

Wednesday, July 12, 2000 | 10:58 a.m.

By admitting to murder, Fernando Hernandez hopes to save his life.

On trial in District Court for first-degree murder, Hernandez's attorney told jurors the Las Vegas man is responsible for the Oct. 6 death of his ex-wife, Donna Hernandez.

But the killing and sexual assault in front of the couple's 3-year-old daughter was an "unconsidered rash act," said attorney Christopher Oram.

"It is horrible, but it is not murder in the first degree," Oram said during opening statements Tuesday. "It is a killing without deliberation. Something went wrong. Something snapped."

The trial continued today as prosecutors try to prove Hernandez planned to kill his ex-wife and kidnap their young daughter and return to Mexico before he showed up at her Clifton Court home. Hernandez, 36, could face the death penalty if convicted.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas told jurors Hernandez had planned for months to kill his ex-wife. Six months before her death, Donna Hernandez had secured an extended protective order against her ex-husband. It was the last of seven similar orders issued against the man in the previous four years, Daskas said.

The protective orders and the manner of Donna Hernandez's death are at the heart of the prosecution's case.

The 38-year-old woman was found strangled to death and repeatedly stabbed after her ex-husband was stopped for speeding near Searchlight. Fernando Hernandez was arrested for drunken driving, then later charged with murder.

Daskas described the evidence against Hernandez as "overwhelming," including a statement from the couple's 3-year-old daughter that "Daddy hurt Mommy real bad." The child was a witness to the murder, Daskas said, but she will not testify at the trial.

An autopsy determined Donna Hernandez died of strangulation. She also suffered numerous stab wounds.

Two Metro officers who arrested Hernandez said the man behaved strangely when stopped for driving at speeds near 100 mph on the desert highway south of Las Vegas.