Conviction returned in slaying of mall kiosk owner

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Friday, July 30, 2004 | 9:17 a.m.

A Clark County jury on Thursday convicted a 20-year-old man of killing the 40-year-old owner of a jewelry kiosk at Fashion Show mall.

Aaron Daniels was found guilty of murder with use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, and first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon for the May 2003 killing of Anthony Limongello.

Daniels was scheduled to enter the penalty phase of his case, in which a jury would have decided whether he would receive the death penalty, but the prosecution and defense negotiated the sentence.

Under the deal, Daniels is sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, and because the act was committed with a deadly weapon he will serve a consecutive sentence of life with the possibility of parole. As it stands, it will be 40 years before Daniels will be eligible for parole.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure will sentence Daniels on the remaining three counts on Sept. 7.

Daniels' lawyer, Christopher Oram, said the deal offered Daniels the "best of all worlds" because he no longer faces the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole.

Daniels' co-counsel, Pete Christiansen, would not comment on the jury's verdict but said he was "happy the state took death as a sentencing option off the table."

Jean Limongello, Anthony's mother, who had come to Las Vegas from Florida for the trial, was noticeably tired from the trial, but happy the jury returned a guilty verdict.

Her sense of relief could be felt as she received a hug from Chief Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci minutes after the verdict was delivered.

"I'm just happy that the conviction is in," she said. "The waiting is tough, tough in any situation during a crisis. A lot of things go through your head. My son was a good man, a very generous man. I just feel good that Aaron was found guilty."

Pesci said: "We're very happy for Ms. Limongello and her family that the jury came back with a conviction, but of course unhappy because this doesn't bring her son back."

Daniels didn't so much as flinch as the foreman read the guilty verdicts.

Apparently his fingerprints on Limongello's 2002 Lincoln Navigator and the testimony of Joanna De Los Reyes, a 20-year-old methamphetamine user who said Daniels could have been the person she saw get into the SUV with a gun, proved too much for his defense to overcome.

In police statements and court testimony, Reyes identified Daniels as the man who carjacked Limongello on the night of his murder.

Reyes, who admitted in court to being awake for five days on a methamphetamine binge through the day of the carjacking, said she later learned that the plot to rob and kill Limongello had been hatched by her ex-boyfriend Justin Brown, her friend Natasha Barker, and Barker's boyfriend Bobby Harewood.

Deputy District Attorney Pam Weckerly said Reyes' testimony was independent corroborated evidence because Daniels fingerprint on Limongello's car were "exactly where she (Reyes) said it would be."

Daniels' attorneys, Christopher Oram and Pete Christiansen, both argued their client was simply a witness to the robbery and murder, and that Barker, Brown, and Harwood planned the crime, while a friend of Daniels', Juilus Bradford was the triggerman.

Of Reyes, Brown, Harwood, Barker, and Bradford, only Barker was charged in connection with Limongello's death.

A jury in May convicted Barker of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery with use of a deadly weapon and kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon in connection with Limongello's death. Barker is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 3.

On Thursday, the jury watched surveillance videotapes taken from a 7-Eleven near the crime scene where bank records indicated Limongello's ATM card was used after his murder. On the tapes Daniels is seen entering the store with a man who goes to ATM machine and takes out money using Limongello's card. Daniels makes a purchase and waits with the man before leaving.

Pesci said the surveillance tapes did much more than simply show Daniels at the 7-Eleven with someone using Limongello's ATM card after the murder. He said because the tapes showed Reyes and Limongello entering the 7-Eleven before the murder and showed Barker outside the 7-Eleven making a call around the same time Reyes testified Barker called her, Reyes' statements were supported.

Defense attorneys contend that man was Bradford, and Daniels lied saying it was a homeless man named "Crack Head Jim" to protect Bradford. The identity of the man with Daniels is not known because none of the surveillance cameras caught a glimpse of his face.

Bradford was convicted in May on charges of murder with use of a deadly weapon and attempted robbery with use of a deadly weapon in the killing of 48-year-old Benito Zambrano-Lopez. He was sentenced last week to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

More individuals could still be charged in Limongello's robbery and murder as the investigation is still ongoing, authorities said.

Pesci said during the trial that if independently corroborated evidence indicated any or all of the people the defense suggested were involved in Limongello's death, those people would be charged.