Clemency denied for LV killer

Friday, Dec. 12, 2003 | 10:48 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Pardons Board today denied clemency to Heidi Hartkopf, who says she's a changed woman since she was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a man during a robbery in Las Vegas in 1994.

Hartkopf, 32, told the board she was a "high school dropout and strung out on drugs" when she killed and robbed cab driver Alexandre Popov, whose decomposed body was found in a cardboard box in the rear compartment of a hatchback car parked at Sam's Town.

Hartkopf, a topless dancer, asked that her 12-year consecutive sentence for robbery be changed to run concurrent with her life term with the possibility of parole.

The board is composed of Gov. Kenny Guinn, Attorney Brian Sandoval and the seven justices of the Nevada Supreme Court. It's vote for denial was unanimous.

Justice Mark Gibbons called the murder "a cold blooded" crime. She said Popov was "hammered to death" and when Hartkopf only found $100 on him, she went to his vehicle to search for more money.

Hartkopf said however she was sorry for the crime and has written a letter apologizing to the family. Since she has been in prison, she has held a job full-time and received her GED and was two classes away from an associate degree.

She will be eligible to apply for parole from her murder sentence in June 2005. If granted parole, she will then begin serving the 12-year term for robbery.

Peter Christiansen, her lawyer, said Hartkopf has served eight years and has been a model prisoner. She has had only four write-ups or disciplinary infractions in the eight years.

Christiansen said her confession to the crime came after she had been without sleep for six days, as she was apparently on a drug binge.

But Clark A. Peterson, chief deputy district attorney in Clark County, said Hartkopf has already received clemency in the negotiated plea to first-degree murder and robbery. He quoted from a statement allegedly made by Hartkopf that she could kill again. "That scares me," Peterson told the board.