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Reno judge postpones execution

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 | 9:26 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- Terry Dennis' Thursday date with the executioner has been postponed.

A district judge in Reno will set a new execution date for the 57-year-old Dennis, who was convicted of strangling a woman.

District Judge Janet Berry has ruled that the execution warrant was defective and a new one must be issued. Dennis' new death date is expected to be set sometime in August.

An appeal is also pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal was filed by Reno lawyer Karla Butko who is asking to be a "next friend" of Dennis. Dennis does not want any more appeals filed but Butko maintains he is not competent to make that decision.

Dennis pleaded guilty to the March 1999 strangulation of Ilona Straumanis, 56, and was sentenced to death by a three-judge panel.

He and Straumanis met at a bar in Reno about three to four days before the killing and they continued drinking, with the woman staying in Dennis' motel room. He told authorities he choked her to death while they were having sex.

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