Man dies in prison; retrial comes too late

Kim Smith

Friday, March 24, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

Two weeks ago the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that convicted murderer Kenneth Kelly could have a new trial. It was too late, however. Kelly was dead.

"My office sent him a letter explaining to him what had happened and was going to happen, and it came back marked 'deceased,' " Deputy Public Defender Roger Hillman said. "I had my secretary call, and they said he died last month."

Had Kelly not died, Hillman said, there was a chance the case could have been negotiated in such a way that Kelly, 66, could have been eligible for parole in a few years.

"I imagine the stress of living in prison was hard on him," Hillman said.

Kelly was accused of killing his neighbor, Michael Shreve, with a shotgun in September 1995. The two lived in Trout Canyon, about 30 miles outside of Las Vegas and had argued about water from Kelly's property flooding Shreve's yard. When Shreve, 43, went to turn off the water, he was shot to death in Kelly's front yard.

"Mr. Kelly felt he was truly in fear of his safety, but the jury didn't see it that way," Hillman said.

A state Supreme Court panel decided 2-1 that District Judge Lee Gates incorrectly answered a question from the jury during deliberations that stopped the jury from returning a second-degree murder verdict. They delivered a first-degree verdict.

Hillman said he has not yet received a copy of the coroner's report on Kelly's death.

Prosecutors are expected to provide Gates with Kelly's death certificate next week so the case can be officially closed.