Trial begins in killing at Palms

Molly Ball

Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004 | 9:33 a.m.

Frederic Dixon did shoot Derrick Nunley multiple times through the windows of Nunley's Mercedes in the parking lot of the Palms -- but he did it to protect himself and his brothers, Dixon's lawyer, Thomas Pitaro, told a jury Wednesday.

Dixon, a 30-year-old boxing promoter from Texas, "was forced to shoot -- in self-defense -- a drunken, drug-impaired man wielding a lethal and deadly weapon," Pitaro said in his opening statement.

But Chief Deputy District Attorney Frank Coumou said the 36-year-old Nunley -- who had a box cutter but not a gun -- was cowering in his car, trying to turn the ignition and flee, when Dixon came after him.

Coumou described Dixon walking around the car pointing the gun, shooting through windows on three sides to "make sure" he hit his mark as Nunley tried to crawl into the backseat.

Dixon faces a charge of murder with a deadly weapon for Nunley's death in the early morning hours of Nov. 14, 2003.

The trouble started around 6 a.m. at the nightclub Seven, on the Strip at Harmon Avenue. In the parking lot of the club, Dixon's friend, Rosemary Jones, backed her car into Nunley, hitting him in the legs.

Pitaro said Jones was angry at Nunley, who was known as "Fly," because a member of his group had knocked her down inside the club.

An argument ensued between Nunley and Dixon, but security guards from Seven broke it up and everyone left. Witnesses will testify, Pitaro said, that "it was Fly who was agitated. It was Fly who wouldn't let the argument go."

The two met up again in the parking lot of the Palms, where Dixon parked his Cadillac Escalade SUV illegally in a handicapped spot, and Nunley parked his Mercedes legally about 80 feet away.

Screaming at each other, the two tried to enter the casino, but security guards barred them, Coumou said. Then "Fred Dixon suddenly sucker-punches" a friend of Nunley. The friend started throwing rocks at Dixon.

Dixon turned his attention to Nunley, who pulled out the box cutter and started swinging it. Coumou noted that Nunley "never sliced anybody, he never struck anybody, he never hit anybody," even though he was close enough to do so.

According to Coumou, Dixon then said, "You pull a knife on me?"

Nunley started backing up, slowly at first, then faster, till he was running to his car, Coumou said. Dixon went back to the Escalade, where his brother Marcus kept a Glock 9 mm pistol.

"He loads the weapon, and he proceeds to run clear across the parking lot to where Derrick is now sitting," in his car with the windows rolled up, with his keys in his hand, about to start the car, Coumou said.

Dixon shot at Nunley twice through the driver's side window, once through the front windshield and once through the passenger side window, Coumou said. Dixon and his brothers then fled and handed the Escalade over to the Palms valet.

A little while later, as police cordoned off the crime scene, Dixon reappeared, telling a homicide detective he was the gunman and had acted in self-defense.

"But when he starts getting pressed (with the question), 'Well, why didn't you just leave?' he is unable or unwilling to fill the gap," Coumou said.

But Pitaro, who brandished a box cutter throughout his theatrical opening statement, said Dixon repeatedly tried to calm the situation -- it was Nunley who was the aggressor.

"This man had confronted Fred and his brothers several times over the course of the evening," Pitaro said, until finally, Dixon "did that which he and all of us have a right to do -- he defended himself and his family."

Nunley ordered his friends to follow the Dixon brothers to the Palms, Pitaro said. Nunley's autopsy found he had marijuana in his system and a blood-alcohol level of 0.15, almost twice the legal limit for driving.

Waving the box cutter, Nunley told Dixon, "I'm going to cut your face off," Pitaro said. And when he headed back to his car, he told Dixon he was going to get a gun, Pitaro said.

"At this point, Fred has been confronted, he's been followed, he's been jumped, he's been pelted with rocks," Pitaro said. "So he shoots Fly and kills Fly before Fly can make good on his threat to kill him and his brothers."