Man loses appeal in killing of his mother, girlfriend

Friday, Feb. 4, 2005 | 9:32 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A Las Vegas man, convicted of killing his mother and his girlfriend, has lost his appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Michael Messick, now 33, was sentenced to a double term of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the fatal stabbing of his mother, Hisayo Miller, in April 2001.

He also was convicted of second-degree murder for the death of his then-girlfriend, Anne Suazo, whose body was never found. He received a consecutive life sentence with parole eligibility after 10 years for that crime.

The body of the mother was found in a plastic tub in her condominium and she had been stabbed through the heart and severely. Suazo disappeared April 3 in the company of Messick and she was never seen again.

The appeal was based on Messick's argument that District Judge Kathy Hardcastle was wrong to consolidate the two cases in one trial.

The Supreme Court said the consolidation was appropriate because of the common relationship between Messick and the two victims; the short time between Suazo's disappearance and the Miller murder; and a trace of Suazo's blood that was discovered in Messick's vehicle during the investigation into the stabbing of the mother.

The court also rejected the claim by Messick that he should have been allowed to further investigate the records of Phillip Done, an inmate at the Clark County jail who informed police of comments Messick allegedly made. The court said Messick "successfully impeached Done" at the trial.

In other decisions, the court:

The court dismissed the appeal of Nevada General because there were two similar cases pending in District Court. The court said it wants a final judgment in all the actions before it considers the appeal of Nevada General against Eric Pepper and Phillip Hooker, who won the opening round in their court battle.