Suspect in 1982 murder has liver cancer

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 | 8:51 a.m.

The case of a man charged with killing a 20-year-old woman on Halloween 1982 is on hold for at least two months because the accused man has terminal liver cancer.

Vernon Robinson is accused of killing Tami Wood, whose body was found with a bullet in her head in a ditch alongside U.S. 95, between Las Vegas and Mount Charleston.

Detectives questioned Robinson in the days after her death but did not have enough evidence to arrest him. The next day a witness came forward, saying Robinson had killed Wood, but before police could find Robinson, he moved to Minneapolis where he would serve as a city bus driver for more than 15 years.

Authorities allege Robinson was a struggling musician but turned to prostitution as a pimp. Police said Woods met Robinson after a family argument placed her on the streets.

When Las Vegas police reopened this case, they found Robinson through the phone book. Police think Robinson is the killer because of DNA and a mold of Robinson's teeth, which they believe match bite marks on Wood's body.

Also, people interviewed in 1982 have now changed their stories and have implicated Robinson. Investigators believe more evidence will come out in trial, but police admit they don't think Robinson will live that long.

A Clark County grand jury indicted Robinson in March.

Robinson has admitted knowing Woods, but denies killing her.

Robinson is free in Minneapolis on $100,000 bail. His doctors have given him only "a few months to live."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owens and Chief Deputy Public Defender Curtis Brown agreed on Monday to revisit Robinson's case in 60 days to see if the disease has worsened or subsided.

Owens said if the cancer worsens, it "doesn't do the state any good to bring a terminal defendant to court, try him and pick up his medical costs in prison."

The prosecutor said if in 60 days Robinson's cancer was in remission he would certainly not hesitate to have him brought to Las Vegas for arraignment.

Robinson's doctor has written the district attorney's office saying Robinson "is no longer able to travel and arrangements are being made so he can spend his final days in his home environment."