15-year-old will face murder trial in father’s death

Kim Smith

Wednesday, June 28, 2000 | 10:51 a.m.

A jury will decide whether Conan Pope, the 15-year-old accused of killing his father in January, did so deliberately, in fear or was justified.

Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis on Tuesday bound the teen over for trial on an open murder charge.

Deputy Special Public Defenders Kristina Wildeveld and Dayvid Figler had hoped to convince Lippis that their client was justified in shooting Frank Pope, 62, or he should be charged, at most, with voluntary manslaughter.

Lippis left the decision to a jury and set a date of July 24 for the young Pope's arraignment. But she also agreed to reduce the boy's bail to $50,000 from $100,000 and said if he is released, he will be placed on house arrest at the home of his new guardians.

At the heart of the case is whether the teenager shot his father after years of abuse because he was trying to protect his sister or whether the action was premeditated.

Conan Pope has said he shot his father because he was walking toward his sister Desiree's room, holding a broom in a menacing manner.

Pope's indictment on a first-degree murder charge was dismissed last month after Wildeveld convinced District Judge Mark Gibbons that prosecutors Christopher Laurent and Melisa De La Garza erred by not telling grand jurors that Frank Pope served four years in prison for killing an infant daughter in 1962. They also did not inform jurors that Nevada Child Protective Services workers had investigated allegations of abuse by Frank Pope in 1997.

On Tuesday Conan Pope's attorneys tried to portray the father as a chronic child abuser.

A tearful Desiree Pope, who glanced at her brother throughout her testimony, said that on Jan. 6 she and Conan were asleep in the living room when their father came home angry and woke them up. He became angrier when he saw dirty dishes sitting on the counter.

Spewing vulgarities, her father then began throwing dishes, she said. The two teens began cleaning up the mess without comment, but her father sent them to their rooms.

"Within a matter of seconds," Desiree said, she heard her brother cock the rifle her father had given him just two weeks before. She then heard him open his bedroom door.

"I heard him say to my dad 'You're going to die,' and then he shot my dad twice."

After the second shot, Desiree said she heard Conan say "There, now you're dead."

Her dad died next to the kitchen table, she said.

The girl said that as she rushed to her father's side, Conan ran to his room, then outside wearing only a pair of jeans and tennis shoes.

Desiree denied that her father physically or sexually abused her, and while she admitted he often called her and Conan vulgar names, she said it was only when he was angry and he always "got over it."

At one point Desiree admitted telling police her father favored her and thought of Conan as his "reject," but later said her father always tried to treat them the same.

Her father stressed the importance of getting an education and was disappointed in Conan's bad grades, Desiree said. Her dad also ran a "tight ship" and expected his children to do exactly as he told them.

Her father and brother shared the same bad temper, Desiree said.

Under cross-examination, Desiree said that while her father choked Conan during a 1997 incident, choking is not the same as trying to kill someone. She also said that although her father once grabbed her by the hair and threw her into a couch, she was only scared.

Desiree also said she doesn't remember telling Child Protective Service workers that she once saw her father masturbate and that he said he wanted to have sex with her friends.

Desiree said that her father had signs up all over the house reminding him not to lash out at his children. She added that she and Conan knew they were safe in their bedrooms.