Witness no-show, but man convicted

Friday, April 9, 2004 | 9:47 a.m.

A jury found a Las Vegas man guilty of first-degree murder Thursday despite the fact that the prosecution's main witness did not show up to testify.

Sally Villaverde, 32, was convicted of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, robbery with use of a deadly weapon and burglary for the March 2002 death of Enrique Caminero Jr.

Caminero, a convicted cocaine dealer, was found strangled in a room at the Capri Motel on Fremont Street.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Scott Mitchell said the verdict was "quite a shock" because the prosecution had to use preliminary hearing transcripts from Villaverde's girlfriend, Teresa Gamboa, after she failed to show up to testify in person.

"This was a very strange case because the most important witness didn't even testify," Mitchell said. "I've never seen someone convicted of first-degree murder on a preliminary hearing transcript."

Another confidential informant also declined to testify at the last minute, Mitchell said.

Mitchell and his co-counsel, Deputy District Attorney Tim Fattig, argued that Villaverde, along with co-defendants, Rene Gato, 35, and Roberto Castro, 32, robbed Caminero for his cocaine money and then killed him.

The defendants, all Cuban immigrants, met each other and the victim at an immigration camp in 1998. All three have felony drug-related convictions, and the prosecution argued that they wanted Caminero's money because he had a reputation as "selling the most cocaine of all the Cuban drug dealers" in Las Vegas.

Villaverde's defense attorney, Randy Pike, said his client was at the scene of the crime but was not part of the conspiracy to murder Caminero and in fact tried to resuscitate Caminero. Villaverde's conviction was solely based on Nevada's felony murder statute that allows anyone who is part of a murder to be charged with that murder, whether or not they took part in the killing, Pike said.

Pike also said Gamboa's testimony would have shown Villaverde was not part of the murder. Pike said he plans to appeal the conviction on Villaverde's behalf.

Villaverde faces two life sentences when sentenced by District Judge Michael Cherry June 1. If given the possibility of parole, the earliest Villaverde would be eligible is 40 years.