Sons of slain woman allowed to testify in stepfather’s trial

Friday, June 21, 2002 | 10:03 a.m.

The sons of a slain Las Vegas woman will be allowed to testify that a man caught on video sneaking into their mother's home the morning she was killed was their stepfather, District Judge Jeffrey D. Sobel said Thursday.

Damon and Jason Jaeger testified during a May hearing that they can identify their stepfather, Vitaly Zakouto, as the man, despite the poor quality of the video, by his posture, body shape, gait and mannerisms.

Prosecutors maintain Zakouto, 52, stalked his estranged wife, Marina Cannon, 49, for months before climbing into her father's kitchen window in the middle of the night Dec. 23 and shooting and stabbing her to death.

Defense attorney William Terry originally asked the judge to dismiss the case because of inconsistencies in the video, which shows a man climbing over a wall, pulling a screen off a window and crawling into Cannon's home. He is later seen coming out of the residence through a sliding glass door, looking at his hand and going back into the residence.

Terry filed a motion asking the court to exclude the testimony of the two boys after Sobel allowed the video into evidence.

Sobel, however, said the boys' testimony is helpful in this case. He left the door open for Terry to raise his objections of the credibility of the witnesses to the jury during trial.

"The degree to which it is helpful is left to your cross examination," Sobel said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane said that because of the quality of the surveillance video, the boys' testimony was important.

"It would have been a blow to us if he excluded them, but it was never make-or-break information," Kane said.

He was glad the judge left it up to the jury to decide if the evidence was credible.

"They can hear the (boys') testimony and know if it's the truth or if they are making it up," Kane said.