Man faces death penalty in skinhead killing case

Wednesday, March 29, 2000 | 11:37 a.m.

A man accused of killing two anti-racist skinheads still faces the possibility of death after a defense motion to prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty failed Tuesday.

Defense attorney Joseph Sciscento asked District Judge Michael Douglas to toss out the possibility of the death penalty in the John Edward Butler case, saying Nevada applies the law unfairly.

A disproportionate number of people are on Nevada's death row when the state's population is taken into consideration, and a disproportionate number of them are black, Sciscento argued. Moreover, the law used to get the death penalty is overly broad.

Douglas denied the motion.

Butler, 26, is accused of shooting to death Daniel Shersty, 20, and Lin Newborn, 25, to death in the desert west of Las Vegas July 4, 1998.

Shersty and Newborn were members of Las Vegas Unity Skins, an anti-racist group, and Butler is reportedly the president of the Independent Nazi skins gang.

During Butler's preliminary hearing in December 1998, a cellmate testified that Butler confessed to the murders and gave details of the crime.

Police have also said Butler was seen near the murder scene and that the gun used to kill the men was found in Butler's girlfriend's car.