LV man guilty in killing of girlfriend

Kim Smith

Friday, Sept. 13, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

After three hours of deliberations over a two-day period, a Clark County jury found a 26-year-old Las Vegas man guilty today of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon in the shotgun slaying of his girlfriend.

Kassard Omar Brown's attorneys had tried to convince jurors that Brown shot Rebekah Hanson to death a year ago this month because he mistakenly thought she was a burglar.

Prosecutors told the jury, however, that Brown had abused Hanson, 26, for years, once holding a shotgun to her head. At the time of the slaying, a pregnant Hanson had finally decided to leave Brown, taking their 6-year-old daughter with her, they said.

Nine corrections officers filled the courtroom as the verdict was read to a courtroom filled with members of both the Brown and Hanson families. Hanson's sister, a Clark County deputy clerk, whispered "Yes" emphatically as the verdict was read. She then began to sob loudly.

When asked by his attorneys if he wanted the jury or the judge to decide his sentence, Brown loudly proclaimed "You know I didn't do this (expletive), man." He decided the jury should determine if he must serve a life sentence with or without the possibility of parole or a 50 to 100-year sentence.

Brown was also convicted of possessing a short-barrelled shotgun, which carries a one to six-year sentence.

The sentencing phase of the trial will begin Wednesday.