Pattison’s life spared in killings of his sister, grandparents

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Wednesday, March 16, 2005 | 8:49 a.m.

The pleads for mercy from Dante Pattison's family and a unique ruling by District Judge Lee Gates on Tuesday may have saved Pattison's life.

A Clark County jury sentenced Pattison to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering his pregnant sister and their grandparents.

The sentencing followed Saturday's jury decision to convict Pattison of using a Russian assault rifle in February of 2001 to kill his sister, 32-year-old Carrie Adric-Pattison, and their grandparents, Yoshio Kato, 82, and Sally Kato, 75.

Pattison was also found guilty of one count of manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon for the death of Adric-Pattison's unborn child. Gates will sentence Pattison on that charge on April 20.

Although most penalty hearings feature the victim's family expressing their grief and asking the jury to impose death or the maximum penalty allotted to bring them closure, Pattison's sentencing was unique. The victims' family was also his own.

Pattison's mother, niece, and aunt all in their own way successfully pleaded with the jury to spare his life.

His mother, Rae Pattison, said her son had been the only person trying to unify the family since the aftermath of his crimes.

"He wants us to put everything aside and come together," she said. "The future of our family depends on him. He is the one doing it and will continue to do it."

She said her son's countless letters and roses he makes out of tissue paper "lifts me up and touches me."

Rae Patterson asked the jury to save her family from "another tragedy, another funeral, another loss" and spare her son's life.

Eighteen-year-old Sasha Adric-Pattison also explained that while she misses her mother, she couldn't fathom having to miss her uncle, too.

"My mother was a good woman and everyone liked her, but I forgive my uncle and I still love him very much," Sasha Adric-Pattison said. "If my mother was still here, she would forgive him, too, because she loved him that much."

Pattison's aunt, Grace Kato, who is under the care of doctors for depression and still hasn't worked since the killings, offered the jury a much different reason to spare Dante Pattison's life.

"I may be selfish, but the death penalty is too good for him (Dante Pattison)," Kato said. "I would rather him have life without parole so he can live out his life remembering what he did and repent."

"I want to say I love my family so much, I don't know why this happened," Pattison said in a barely audible voice. "I don't understand how this happened. I love them so much. I can't believe it."

The jury granted the family's wishes but only did so after first making the determination that Pattison wasn't eligible for the death penalty.

In a rare move, Gates split the penalty phase into two parts for the jury. He instructed the jury they would first have to weigh the mitigating factors of the case against the aggravating factors to determine whether they could even consider sentencing him to death.

Under this model the jury was unable to learn of Pattison's extensive criminal history until after it had already decided not to seek the death penalty against him. The jury was, however, able to hear the testimony of Pattison's family and the arguments from his defense attorneys for sparing him.