Teen sentenced to four years for slaying of abusive father

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, May 23, 2001 | 11:14 a.m.

Sixteen-year-old Conan Pope was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison and 11 years of subsequent probation for fatally shooting his abusive father after a fight over dirty dishes in their Las Vegas mobile home.

The ruling from District Judge Michael Cherry came as a result of a compromise agreement worked out by attorneys from both sides in lieu of a full trial. The stipulation also avoids the emotional and fiscal costs of holding a jury trial, Cherry said.

Pope will receive 242 days credit toward his sentence for time served under house arrest at the home of a guardian following the shooting.

State prosecutors gave up a chance to seek first degree murder charges against Pope and a potential sentence of life imprisonment.

State public defenders gave up the possibility that a jury might completely exonerate the 16-year-old in light of the father's history of violence.

Pope said in prior testimony that he shot his father as he came down the hall with a broom.

"I know it's been a horrific experience for you, Conan Pope," Cherry said after announcing the sentence. "You're still a little boy. You've got a lot of time to grow up. I hope the prison time doesn't set you back ... I'm going to pray for you. Every day. And hope things get better for you."

Christopher Laurent, state prosecutor, said the sentence struck a balance between a desire to protect the public and a willingness to acknowledge the mitigating factors of long-term abuse by Frank Pope, Conan Pope's youth and concerns of putting Conan's sister Desiree back on the stand after an emotionally difficult preliminary hearing.

"What's just and what is legal is not always the same thing," Laurent said, while awaiting the elevator back to court offices.

Pope, for his part, read a written statement to the court while deputy special public defender Kristina Wildeveld rubbed his back.

"If kids are watching this, they cannot follow my path," Pope said. "However terrible it seems, you must try to get someone to listen, whether it's the police, a teacher or an attorney."

Pope said that above all else, he was sorry to have hurt his sister.

"This was not supposed to happen," he said. "I'm so sorry I've made our family the subject of stories and debates."

Desiree, with a new, short, dyed haircut, listened to his testimony from a seat in the back row of courtroom. She and a friend arrived long before TV and print reporters filled the small room, but both declined to comment. They left following the sentencing without speaking to either Conan Pope or the family members who gathered to support him.

One of those supporters was James Pope, 68, the older brother of Frank. He flew in from Cambridge, Mass. to support his nephew, Conan, despite the fact that he "never even knew Conan lived" until Wildeveld contacted him following his brother's death.

"Frank had told them (Conan and Desiree) that my parents, my sister and I -- we had all died in some separate, wonderful splashy way," Pope said. "He just didn't have all the bits and pieces you and I have."

In a letter submitted to the court Friday with several others for inclusion in Conan's future prison file, James Pope wrote that his brother had served time for murdering an infant daughter and that he may have killed a second daughter, both because "they irritated him."

Pope also described at length how Frank beat his wives and girlfriends. In other letters, neighbors described repeated violence against Conan and Desiree as well.

But despite the violence and dubious guidance Conan grew up with -- a home where his father had him drinking beer at age 11 "to be a man" -- James Pope said Tuesday there is hope for him.

"If given support, he should have a chance," James said.

Wildeveld told the court that already Conan is "unlearning" much of what his father taught him. She said the best doctors are available to him now.