Supreme Court turns down killer’s latest appeal

Friday, March 9, 2001 | 12:18 p.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected the latest appeal of John O. Snow, who was sentenced to death for the contract killing of Las Vegas nightclub owner Harry Wham in 1983.

The court said Snow's petition came more than 11 years after the court upheld his first-degree murder conviction. "Thus, absent good cause for the delay, the petition was untimely," said the unanimous decision.

The ruling Thursday reverses the decision of District Judge Lee Gates, who ordered an evidentiary hearing into some of the claims of Snow.

Gates, in granting Snow's motion, said death penalty cases require more scrutiny. He said the U.S. District Court allowed Snow to return to state court to exhaust all issues he had not previously raised. Because of these reasons, the judge said he felt Snow was entitled to a hearing even though there may be "procedural bars" to raising the claims.

Snow was reportedly paid several thousand dollars for the fatal shooting of Wham. The victim's wife, Peggy Wham, received two life sentences without parole. Her lover, Joseph Parker, and his brother, John D. Parker, received life terms with the possibility of parole. John Parker's girlfriend, Kathy Faltinowski, who was Peggy Wham's daughter, received a life term with parole. She was paroled in 1986.