Conviction in two killings upheld

Thursday, April 10, 2003 | 9:55 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court Wednesday upheld the first-degree murder conviction of Jason Taylor, who was found guilty of killing two people in a dispute over a set of tire rims in Las Vegas.

The court also affirmed the conviction of two other men convicted of murder in Clark County.

Taylor, in his appeal to the Supreme Court, said the District Court committed an error when it admitted statements Taylor made during police questioning. The high court rejected the claim, saying Taylor invited the state to introduce his prior statements to police when he chose to testify about the statements at trial.

Taylor and Sammy McCowan were sentenced to 40 years to life for the 1996 killing of John C. Person and his girlfriend, Lori A. Montori. Taylor and McCowan drove to Person's house to retrieve tire rims they said Person stole from them.

When they arrived, a fight broke out and Person grabbed Taylor, held him at knifepoint and ordered McCowan to leave. Taylor reached around, shot Person to death and then left. But McCowan told Taylor to return and kill Montori, who was calling 911.

Taylor was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, burglary, second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder.

The court also rejected the appeal of Ronald Ducksworth Jr., who was found guilty of two counts of murder, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, and one count each of burglary, sexual assault and robbery.

The court said Ducksworth's petition for a writ of habeas corpus was filed past the deadline.

He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the killing of Joseph Smith III and his wife, Vikki, in April 1992.

The court also upheld the first-degree murder conviction of John J. Seka, who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus additional terms for other offenses.

Seka was convicted of the killing and robbery of his friend Peter Limanni. He was an employee of Limanni's heating and air conditioning business in Las Vegas. The second victim was Eric Hamilton, who was also hired by Limanni to do cleanup work for the company.