Man whose car injured trooper pleads guilty

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, Feb. 19, 2004 | 11:46 a.m.

The Nevada Highway Patrol trooper who was critically injured when a fleeing carjacker hit him at 95 mph on U.S. 95 said he was satisfied Wednesday when the man pleaded guilty to 10 felony charges, including murder and attempted murder.

Vornelius Phillips, 27, pleaded guilty to the charges stemming from an April 2001 crime spree that left a prostitute dead and Trooper Robert "Bobby" Kintzel with brain damage and internal injuries.

Phillips faces multiple life prison terms with or without parole when he is sentenced April 21 before District Judge Lee Gates. Authorities say Phillips, in addition to hitting Kintzel, killed 40-year-old Ivy Shunstrom and hijacked several cars to escape police.

"I feel good about it," Kintzel said outside court. "He is guilty. You don't need a trial for this. How could he argue with (the charges?)"

Gates in June had declared Phillips mentally retarded and ineligible for the death penalty, a ruling based on a Supreme Court decision that bans the execution of retarded people.

Still, Phillips' attorneys, Deputy Special Public Defenders Daren Richards and Alzora Jackson, said the guilty plea was in their client's best interest.

Had the judge's ruling for some reason been appealed down the road, Phillips potentially still could have been executed, they said.

"Now he's not exposed to death," Jackson said.

Richards added that the guilty plea "also takes out the unpredictability of a jury trial."

Prosecutors said they plan to argue for a term of life in prison without parole when Phillips is sentenced. They said the guilty plea was not the result of a plea agreement.

"This was not a negotiated deal," Chief Deputy District Attorney David Schwartz said. "The jury couldn't have given us any more than he gave us."

Gates questioned Phillips at length about his guilty plea, at times asking him to clarify specific details regarding the crime spree. Phillips acknowledged committing each felony charge. He initially denied that he used a deadly weapon to kill Shunstrom, however, as charged in the indictment.

"I hit her with my hand," he said.

"You beat her to death, is that what happened?" Gates asked.

"Yes," Phillips responded.

"Did you intend to kill her?"

"Yes," Phillips said.

Authorities say Phillips killed Shunstrom in a downtown motel room and then hijacked a taxicab to escape police. A woman who was inside the car was seriously injured when she jumped out of the moving vehicle.

When traffic slowed to a halt on Interstate 215, police say, Phillips carjacked a sport utility vehicle and led the chase onto U.S. 95. He hit Kintzel at 95 mph while the officer was putting down metal spikes to puncture the tires as the SUV sped north on U.S. 95 near Flamingo Road.

Phillips also initially denied that he intended to kill Kintzel, but recanted after speaking briefly with his attorneys.

"The defendant not only ran into (Kintzel) but veered toward him intending to run him over," Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas said.

Kintzel is in the beginning stages of filing a civil suit against Phillips, his attorney, Timothy Titolo, said.

Though Kintzel has returned to work in the Nevada Highway Patrol's public information office, the term of his employment is temporary and another employee must oversee his work. Kintzel no longer wears a uniform or drives a marked police car, Titolo said.

"The criminal aspect is being resolved, but life for Bobby will never be the same," he said. "Work will never be the same. His relationships will never be the same. His whole life has been affected."

"I'll never be Trooper Kintzel again," Kintzel added.

Still, Daskas said Kintzel was lucky to have survived.

"On at least three occasions, doctors asked permission to terminate life support because his injuries were so great," the prosecutor said.