News briefs for July 25, 2002

Thursday, July 25, 2002 | 11:02 a.m.

Sledgehammer killer loses appeal

CARSON CITY -- Ronnie Milligan, sentenced to death for the sledgehammer slaying of a Las Vegas woman in 1980, has lost his third appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Milligan, in his petition for a writ of habeas corpus to gain his freedom, said the prosecution failed to disclose information that would have tended to show he was innocent. And he claimed his trial attorney was ineffective.

The Supreme Court said Milligan's assertion that information was hidden from him was frivolous, and that he failed to show his lawyer was ineffective. Milligan, now 52, was convicted of the slaying of 77-year-old Zolihan Voinski of Las Vegas, whose car broke down at a rest stop at Valmy in Humboldt County on July 4, 1980.

Milligan, Paris L. Hale, Katherine Orfield and Terry Carl Bonnette helped Voinski and then offered her a ride.

Voinski was stabbed with a screwdriver and her purse taken from her. She was then hit on the head with a sledgehammer by Milligan. She died July 25 without regaining consciousness.

The other defendants got lesser prison terms.

Monorail work to affect traffic

For three Sundays in August the construction of the Las Vegas Monorail on Paradise Road between Desert Inn Road and Sands Avenue will restrict traffic to one lane.

From 5 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Aug. 4, Aug. 11 and Aug. 18, the southbound lanes will be closed to traffic. The northbound lanes will be restricted to one lane of traffic.