Handed two life sentences, killer says he was framed

Kim Smith

Thursday, April 18, 2002 | 9:51 a.m.

A Las Vegas man convicted of using a box cutter to slit the throat of an elderly polio victim was sentenced to two no-parole life terms Wednesday, but not before accusing prosecutors of framing him.

Robert Whitesell, 33, told District Judge Sally Loehrer prosecutors changed the statement he gave to police after the January 2001 slaying of Tiffany Averill, 67.

Prosecutors were forced to change his statement and implicate him in the slaying, Whitesell said, because police had no physical evidence linking him to the Averill house.

"There are hairs under Mrs. Averill's fingernails that belong to a killer and they don't belong to me. There are fingerprints in Mrs. Averill's house and they don't belong to me," Whitesell said.

Whitesell also discredited the statement of a jail house informant, saying the man "used me as a get out of jail free card."

Prosecutors believe that Whitesell was one of three homeless men who went to the Averill house with the intention of stealing a number of weapons one of the men had learned about in prior visits to the home.

According to prosecutors, Averill let the men in because she recognized one of them, Troy Schnabl, as a man she and her husband had clothed and fed upon occasion.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Frank Coumou said it is believed Whitesell is the actual murderer. Coumou asked for Whitesell to get life without the possibility of parole, noting that because of Averill's medical condition she was helpless and could not have stopped them from robbing her.

The men were arrested after a fake bomb they stole was found in a homeless shelter locker rented by Whitesell.

Schnabl received two no-parole life terms on Monday and Ernest Valezquez is serving a four to 10-year sentence as the result of a plea agreement.

Before Whitesell went on his tirade, he apologized to Averill's husband of 51 years, Herbert Averill.

"First and foremost, Mr. Averill, I'm sorry your wife was killed, but I didn't kill your wife. I didn't burglarize your house and I didn't steal your guns. I'm sorry your wife's dead and I'm sorry I'm sitting here, too," Whitesell said.

In a prepared statement Herbert Averill was too emotional to read, he says he changed his mind about wanting Whitesell to get the death penalty.

"I want you to live. I want you to live every day of your life hearing the last breath my wife took. I want you to live and see elderly people holding hands and looking in each others' eyes. I want you to remember the way you killed my sweetheart, whose hand I will never hold again, whose eyes I will never look into again, whose voice I will never hear again."