Convicted killer tells judge trial was a ‘farce’

Kim Smith

Thursday, Aug. 8, 2002 | 9:01 a.m.

A convicted killer sentenced to two consecutive no-parole life terms proclaimed his innocence Wednesday and swore he will one day get a new trial.

Stephen Briller, 41, was convicted in June of killing and robbing his 33-year-old girlfriend, Teri Roberts, inside the Henderson apartment they shared.

District Judge Donald Mosley was asked to not only give Briller a no-parole life sentence for the murder, but to declare Briller a habitual criminal, thus making him eligible for a no-parole life term on the theft charge.

Mosley agreed to do so after Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owens informed him that Briller has spent more than 18 years in prison for a variety of crimes, including arson and sodomy.

"He has clearly been a menace to society and to the communities he has lived in," since he was first institutionalized as a teenager, Owens said.

Briller, when given the opportunity to say something to mitigate his sentence, instead told Mosley his trial was a "farce." He said he should never have been convicted of murder because coroners could not determine how Roberts died.

Briller also noted that the same items he pawned after Roberts' death had been pawned prior to her death on numerous occasions.

"How can that be robbery?" Briller asked.

The defendant turned to Roberts' mother, Toni Foyer, and told her he had loved her daughter.

"I would never do anything to harm her," Briller said.

Briller ended his statement by saying he would be back for a new trial, just as Rick Tabish and Sandy Murphy will be back in the Ted Binion murder case, he said.

"I know the kind of man you are. You're going to sentence me to the max, so go ahead. But I want you to know that I'll be back because this is all bull (expletive)," Briller said.

Outside of the courtroom, a sobbing Foyer gave Owens and Henderson detective Howard Scow hugs and thanked them for their assistance.

Foyer, who described her daughter as a loving and giving woman, said she doesn't understand what Briller was trying to prove by his statements to her.

"The reason we came here was to make sure he doesn't do this to somebody else's daughter," Foyer said.

Roberts was last seen March 1, 2000, and her badly decomposed body was found in her bed three weeks later.