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Sunday, April 08, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal COLUMN: John L. Smith Woman in prison despite evidence she may have lacked fault in murder
It isn't easy to shock the sensibilities of the average Las Vegan. This tough town wasn't made for feeble hearts or sensitive stomachs. But even the most jaded locals were stunned by the events of Sept. 29, 1986. At about 8 p.m., Troy Kell, Billy Merritt and 15-year-old Sandy Marie Shaw lured James Cotton Kelly into the desert at the north end of Jones Boulevard, robbed him and shot him in the head. In the days that followed, the suspects took a couple friends out to view the corpse. After police detectives made arrests, the homicide was dubbed the "show-and-tell murder" in the press. Citizens shuddered to think about the youth and the future of the community. Kell, Shaw and Merritt were eventually convicted of the crime. If the community couldn't fix this problem, handing consecutive life sentences to a 15-year-old girl sent a statement that such callous acts would not be tolerated. Since the show-and-tell case, grisly juvenile crime sprees have become almost commonplace. The defendants went on to distinguish themselves in very different ways. Triggerman Kell is now on death row in Utah after killing an inmate. Merritt, who cut a deal that implicated Shaw in the murder conspiracy, was released from prison only to return on other felony convictions. What has become of Shaw, the girl who was painted by the press and police as a cold-hearted little black widow? After hitting the yard as perhaps the youngest female prisoner in Nevada history, she has completed high school and earned an associate of arts degree while behind bars. Although an appeal reduced her first life sentence, she has eight more years to serve before becoming eligible for parole on the second. Which is an especially long time considering evidence exists that she had no knowledge of the deadly motives of Kell that September night in 1986. Although her final appeal at the state level has been exhausted after one of her several court-appointed attorneys missed a crucial deadline, the record clearly raises troubling issues that point, if not to her innocence, at least to her lack of culpability in the murder. The clearest statement establishing her lack of participation in the murder comes from the killer himself. In a 1998 affidavit, Kell wrote, "Sandy Shaw had no prior knowledge of a weapon being in my possession nor did she have any prior knowledge that a gun was in the automobile or that a gun was to be used or displayed. "Sandy Shaw had no knowledge that I intended to kill the victim." Shaw testified to that fact during her trial. Her story did not change on cross-examination. Before Merritt adjusted his story, he told police detectives repeatedly that he was walking arm in arm toward their automobile when behind them Kell fired the shots that killed Kelly. Even Merritt, who received the lightest sentence of the three defendants, admitted that Shaw only wanted Kelly beaten up in retaliation for forcing her to have sex with him. During his unsuccessful appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court, attorney Christopher Oram argued that the facts demonstrated Shaw's "actual innocence." His motion was denied in part because of a procedural error committed prior to accepting Shaw's appeal. A three-judge panel also rejected his argument, concluding that "Shaw has failed to make sufficient allegations to show that a constitutional violation has probably resulted in the conviction of an innocent individual." These days, Shaw's case awaits a long-shot appeal to U.S. District Court in hope that fresh evidence might be heard without the press and community furor. Shaw has precious few advocates. Shane Shaw, her younger brother, is one. He regularly carries with him a thick file of documents related to the case. "She should have gone to the police right away, but she didn't," he says. "Billy Merritt had more to do with the murder than Sandy, and he received far less time. I'm not here to tell you she didn't deserve no time, but she wasn't guilty of murder." He knows no one is listening, but he also realizes something else: His sister has spent nearly half her life in prison. John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Reach him at Smith@lvrj.com or 383-0295.
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