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John Butler listens Wednesday as he is sentenced to death for the murders of two anti-racist skinheads. Photo by John Gurzinski.

Thursday, January 11, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Butler sentenced to die for slayings

Jurors decided Wednesday that the only person charged in the Independence Day 1998 slayings of two anti-racist skinheads should be executed for his crimes.

The District Court jury deliberated Tuesday and part of Wednesday morning before sentencing John Butler to death for the shooting deaths of Lin Newborn and Daniel Shersty.

Although prosecutors told jurors that at least four people participated in the ambush, no one else has been charged.

Lionel Newborn, the father of Lin Newborn, said he does not fear others will escape justice.

"You can't commit murder and get away with it. You will face justice at some time. Whether it is in front of God or in front of a jury, you will be brought to justice," he said.

Las Vegas Homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said authorities continue to seek evidence against others linked to the attack that he described as "one of the more heinous crimes in Las Vegas in a long time."

"I found this case unsettling. These two men were killed because of what they believed," Petersen said. "Sometimes justice works slowly, but the system does work."

Police said Butler, 29, was a leader of the Independent Nazi Skins, a local racist organization that at its peak claimed about 15 members.

Newborn, 25, and Shersty, a 21-year-old Nellis Air Force Base airman, were members of the activist group Anti-Racist Action.

Prosecutors told jurors at least four people participated in the plot that culminated in the two men being felled by shotgun and handgun fire in the northwest desert near Powerline Road and Centennial Parkway. The two victims were lured to this area early on July 4, 1998, by two women Newborn met while working at Tribal Body Piercing the day before, prosecutors said.

They told jurors one of these women was Butler's girlfriend, Melissa Hack. The other woman was not identified.

However, defense attorney Robert Draskovich confirmed Wednesday that he has been retained by a woman whom authorities suspect of being the person who accompanied Hack to Tribal Body Piercing. The woman was targeted after attending the Butler trial.

Draskovich said his client, whom he declined to identify, maintains she had no involvement in the slayings.

"She said she had nothing to do with it. Those are her own words," the attorney said.

Prosecutors told jurors that Newborn and Shersty accompanied the two women to the desert with expectations of a party. Instead, Butler and at least one other man opened fire after they stepped out of their vehicle, prosecutors said.

Shersty was killed near the front of his car. Newborn's body was found about 400 feet away with wounds that indicated he was shot while fleeing his attackers.

Three men driving all-terrain vehicles spotted Butler, Hack and Joseph Justin at the murder scene in the early daylight hours that same day. Justin testified that Butler sought his help at the site to retrieve evidence that included a beer bottle and shotgun shells.

He said Butler told him he wielded the shotgun during the ambush, while Hack's brother Ross fired a handgun.

Jacob Hack, the father of Melissa and Ross Hack, testified his son has been in Europe since he was identified as a suspect more than two years ago. About a dozen calls to a phone listed in the name of Jacob Hack were met with a busy signal Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell said no charges have been brought against others suspected in the crime because authorities do not possess evidence sufficient to secure a conviction.

He said the recent case of Richard Powell is an example of a case that improved with the passage of time.

In November, Powell was sentenced to life in prison for a May 1992 quadruple murder. His accomplice, Vernell Evans, was sentenced to death in 1994.

At the time they tried Evans, prosecutors could not have won a conviction against Powell, Bell said. Instead, they waited for additional evidence to come to light and then proceeded to trial.