Judge denies Weber’s property request

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, July 17, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

A judge denied death row inmate Timmy Weber's request Wednesday to return property seized by police during a murder investigation, including some items prosecutors say he used to kill his girlfriend and her teenage son.

Deputy Public Defender Joseph Abood had asked District Judge Joseph Bonaventure for the return of dozens of items Metro Police took while investigating the April 2002 slayings of Weber's girlfriend, Kim Gautier, 38, and her 15-year-old son, Anthony.

Among the items Weber requested were a shovel, various tools, a box cutter, a knife, duct tape, a skateboard and baseball bats.

Bonaventure denied the motion, but not without questioning Weber's motive behind requesting the items.

"What is he going to do with shovels and the rest of the unused duct tape he didn't use to tie up the victims?" he asked. "It seems like he's going to try to escape from death row."

Weber, who did not appear at the hearing, was sentenced to death for the torture and murder of Anthony Gautier and to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Kim Gautier's killing.

Weber, 29, was also convicted on an attempted murder charge in the attack on Gautier's son Christopher and his guardian with a baseball bat.

Bonaventure said the 49 items requested would be preserved in the court's evidence vault until the conclusion of a series of automatic appeals to the Nevada Supreme Court.

At that time, he said, the motion can be renewed.

"When the time comes, (prosecutors and defense attorney) will probably come to an agreement on which items he can have and which items he can't," Abood said.

Abood said any items returned would be given to Weber's family, not to Weber himself.

Prosecutor Chris Lalli said the return of some items would "shock the conscience of the community," particularly those items that were used in the killings.

"It would be shocking to return that sort of property," he said. "What does he need with a shovel on death row? It doesn't make any sense at all."