Las Vegas man who murdered his ex-wife receives death penalty

Aaron Clemens

Friday, July 21, 2000 | 11:50 a.m.

Fernando Hernandez, 36, begged state troopers to take his life when he was caught drunk and speeding down U.S. 95 toward his native Mexico with his daughter.

He was stopped just hours after he brutally murdered and sexually mutilated his ex-wife, Donna Hernandez, 38, in front of their 3-year-old daughter.

His death wish changed since the Oct. 6 murder. He asked jurors in his death-penalty murder trial to spare his life.

But after 8 1/2 hours of deliberating on his sentence, jurors Thursday decided death should be the penalty. The jury decided his guilt a week ago.

Hernandez clasped his hands and rested his face on them during the proceeding but appeared calm and composed after the verdict was read.

During closing arguments, Deputy District Attorney Stacy Kollins' had described Hernandez as a man wallowing in self-pity because he faced a death sentence.

Defense attorney Christopher Oram replied that Hernandez was a good person who only snapped for five minutes to commit an admittedly horrendous crime,

"Nothing we can do can take back the loss of human life or his daughters' suffering, but all we ask is that you spare his life," Oram said. He said Hernandez was not the worst of the worst murderers so he didn't deserve death.

In his rebuttal, Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas recounted how Hernandez choked Donna, breaking her neck with his hands.

"Can you imagine a worse set of facts for Donna to meet her maker, with her young daughter watching?" Daskas said.

Daskas said the defendant had terrorized Donna since their 1996 divorce and that a succession of seven restraining orders could not prevent Hernandez from fulfilling his vow to kill her.

Annie Griego, the victim's mother, sobbed after hearing the verdict, which she called just.

"I'm glad it's over, now we can concentrate on the child," she said tearfully. "Our mourning starts now."