Court briefs for August 23, 2002

Friday, Aug. 23, 2002 | 9:09 a.m.

Chef takes plea deal in killing

A fired sous chef has agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon for a slaying two weeks ago.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane said Bradley Repolio's guilty plea came as a surprise during what was supposed to be his preliminary hearing Thursday.

As a result of the plea agreement, Repolio will serve a 40-year to life sentence.

Repolio, 37, told police that he killed Terry Lynn Howard, 50, on Aug. 6 while picking up his final check from the Harley-Davidson Cafe on the Strip. Repolio said he became angry when Howard told him other chefs were going to get bonus checks, but not him.

Howard was struck in the head with a hammer and then stabbed in the neck with a three-inch paring knife.

According to police reports, Repolio confessed to the crime after police officers led him to believe there was video surveillance in Howard's office.

Repolio will formally plead guilty Sept. 3 in District Judge Jeffrey Sobel's courtroom.

Deputy Public Defender Kedric Bassett, who represents Repolio, did not return phone calls.

New trial denied in mutilation death

A Panaca woman will be sentenced Tuesday after District Judge Valorie Vega Thursday refused to grant her a new trial in the beating and mutilation death of a Las Vegas homeless man.

Kirstin Lobato, 19, was convicted in May of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon for the July 8, 2001, death of Duran Bailey, 44.

Rather than risk a no-parole life sentence, Lobato agreed to accept a 40- to 100-year term.

Perry's porn trial postponed

Franklyn Perry's trial on sexual assault and child pornography charges has been postponed until Nov. 12.

Perry had been scheduled to go to trial Monday, but District Judge Michael Douglas agreed Thursday to delay the trial to give defense attorneys more time to argue motions and obtain information from federal authorities.

Perry is accused of persuading a girl to pose for sexually explicit photographs, then managing to have the photos delivered to him while he was in jail. Prosecutors also allege he persuaded the girl, who was 12 to 13 at the time, to engage in sex acts while on the phone with him.

Perry is also facing more than 500 fraud-related charges in a separate trial. He is accused of bilking more than 1,100 people out of a total of $40 million in a Ponzi scheme.