Supreme Court rejects appeals in 3 murder cases

Monday, Feb. 11, 2002 | 8:55 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court has denied the appeal of bounty hunter Dennis Kieren Jr., sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of a man who bit off a chunk of Kieren's ear.

The court also turned down the appeals of two other men convicted of murder in Southern Nevada.

Kieren, through his lawyer, claimed in his appeal that the defense was stopped at trial from presenting testimony that the victim, David Broyles, was a violent person.

During a dispute between the two, Broyles bit off a piece of Kieren's ear. The court said the evidence showed Kieren was not afraid of Broyles.

Kieren got his gun and "began looking through the rooms, commando style, in search of Broyles until he found Broyles in the garage, and shot him multiple times at close range," the court said.

Two days after the incident, Kieren beat his 2-year-old son in Nye County for which he received a two- to 20-year prison sentence.

The court also upheld the first-degree murder conviction of Clarence Elliott, sentenced to consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole for the fatal shooting of his wife of eight months, Barbara Turner-Elliot, 58, in 1996.

Elliot, in his appeal, argued there were no facts presented at trial showing he acted with malice, a necessary element of first-degree murder.

The court said that although the case against Elliot was circumstantial at trial, evidence showed the victim was shot four times and Elliot was linked to the killing.

"Such evidence supports the conclusion that sufficient evidence ... regarding malice," the court said.

In a third decision Friday, the court turned down the appeal of James Felder, convicted of the 1988 murder of a casino worker in Las Vegas in an attempt to raise money to take care of his gambling debts.

Felder claimed his attorney, Steven Dahl, was ineffective at the trial. Felder received two consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole and since then has filed numerous appeals.

Court records said Felder was deeply in debt and fatally shot Gracie Windholz in a ransom scheme in which he tried to raise $100,000.

In denying Felder's petition, the court accepted the findings of District Judge Joseph Pavlikowski, who said the defense attorney had "investigated the case thoroughly" before trial. The only new evidence discovered after trial would not have changed the results, since there was overwhelming evidence to convict Felder, the judge said.