Emotional testimony

Greg Tuttle

Wednesday, June 14, 2000 | 11:43 a.m.

Peter Talamantez had a knack for electronics.

Tracey Gorringe was a budding chef.

Jeff Biddle was making a new start in Las Vegas after moving from Idaho to be near his older brother.

Matthew Mowen came home to Las Vegas to be near his mother.

The lives of these four young men became the focus of emotional testimony in Clark County District Court where jurors are nearing a decision on whether their killer should be sentenced to death.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Donte Johnson, who was convicted last week of the quadruple murder at a Terra Linda Avenue home on Aug. 14, 1998.

The bodies of Talamantez, 17, Gorringe, 20, Biddle, 19 and Mowen, 19, were found in the home, their wrists and ankles bound with duct tape. Each died of a single gunshot in the head.

Johnson, now 23, was arrested within days and charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Two accomplices have been sentenced to life without parole.

Now the same jury that convicted Johnson is deciding whether he should receive the ultimate punishment. The hearing began Tuesday with prosecutors painting Johnson's life as one marked by crime and violence.

Defense attorneys describe Johnson as a victim of poverty and neglect in a society that gave him little chance at success. The jury was expected to begin deliberations today.

On Tuesday prosecutors called a dozen witnesses, including a man who said Johnson shot him two years ago and left him paralyzed. No charges have been filed in that case.

The defense, scheduled to begin its case this morning, was expected to call on Johnson's family members to describe his rough childhood growing up on the streets of Los Angeles.

Prosecutors also linked Johnson to the death of a fellow drug dealer whose body was found north of Las Vegas wrapped in a bed sheet and dumped in a ravine. The homicide two years ago is still under investigation.

Johnson's criminal past includes a conviction for bank robbery in California when he was 16. He spent about two years in a youth correction facility, was paroled but disappeared four months later.

Prosecutors said the quadruple murder was committed because Johnson knew he was under investigation for the death of the drug dealer and wanted to get out of town. The Terra Linda home in southeast Las Vegas was targeted when Johnson heard of a large amount of cash and drugs at the home.

But the information was bad, and Johnson killed the victims to erase any witnesses, prosecutors said. The robbery netted $240 cash, a VCR, a Sony Play Station and a pager.

It was the testimony of the victims' mothers late Tuesday that appeared to have the most impact on jurors. Several left the courtroom at the end of the day with tears in their eyes after hearing how the loss of the men has affected the mothers' lives.

Marie Biddle, Jeffrey Biddle's mother, said the murder has caused a rift in her family. Her oldest son has been angry and distant, she said, and her husband has not dealt well with the loss.

"It's a very, very bad situation, and it's just eating at me," she said.

Sandy Viau, the mother of Tracey Gorringe, said her family is also struggling.

"It's destroyed my life," she said. "You wake up every day and think, 'Did this really happen?' "

Matthew Mowen's mother, Cindy Mowen, said the murder claimed her only son. Juanita Talamantez described her son, Peter, as headed toward a career in electronics.

"Peter wanted to do electronics, and he was good at it," she said. "But most of all, he wanted to see tomorrow. He wanted to be alive. And now he's not."