Thursday, November 21, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Board allows killer to live

State spares life

Thomas Nevius State Pardons Board commutes killer's death sentence

CARSON CITY -- The state Pardons Board on Wednesday commuted the death sentence given a borderline mentally retarded man to life imprisonment during a 15-minute hearing at which the victim's relatives did not get a chance to speak.

Death Row inmate Thomas Nevius, 46, quietly muttered "thank you" to his lawyers, but displayed little emotion after the Pardons Board voted 9-0 to commute his sentence to life imprisonment with no chance of parole. He did not speak during the hearing.

The board acted after reading a report from a three-psychologist panel that concluded Nevius has an intelligence quotient of 72. Scores lower than 70 are considered mild mental retardation. All three psychologists, however, said in interviews after the hearing that they consider Nevius mentally retarded.

The Pardons Board decision was the first removing a person from Death Row in Nevada since a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June barred the execution of the mentally retarded. During the meeting, Gov. Kenny Guinn moved the Nevius case from the bottom of the agenda to the top.

Because of the time change, two cousins of David Lee Kinnamon -- the man Nevius murdered in Las Vegas in July 1980 -- did not have a chance to voice their objections. Bill Landrey of Los Angeles, and Marlene Tamalunas, of Fort Wayne, Ind., arrived moments after the Pardons Board vote. "Everyone always considers the prisoner," he said. "The victims are kind of forgotten."

Landrey said Nevius committed a horrendous and needless murder. Nevius and three others broke into Kinnamon's home while he was at work, according to Landrey. Then Nevius and another man dragged Kinnamon's wife, Rochelle, into the bedroom and began raping her.

At that point, Kinnamon arrived home and caught the men in the act. All four men fled out a window, with Nevius the last person out.

Nevius could have kept going, but he turned back and shot Kinnamon in the head, Landrey said.

"I don't buy Nevius is mentally retarded," he added. "He held jobs. He was competent enough to testify at his trial."

Landrey also pointed out that Nevius had murdered another teen-ager when he was a juvenile living in Philadelphia.

"You can be mentally retarded and know right from wrong," Tamalunas added.

Rochelle Kinnamon, who died several years ago, was devastated by the attack and murder, and never fully recovered, Landrey added.

But the Pardon Board quickly moved to reduce Nevius' sentence after Clark County Deputy District Attorney Clark Peterson backed commutation in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision. But he pointed out Nevius was "slightly above the line" for mental retardation.

In commuting the sentence, the Pardons Board included a stipulation from Nevada Supreme Court Justice Cliff Young that Nevius' life imprisonment without parole sentence never be changed.

Young and the six other Supreme Court justices serve on the Pardons Board with Gov. Kenny Guinn and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa. Peterson added his office would "vigorously oppose" any further review for Nevius.

After the hearing, Assistant Federal Public Defender Michael Pescetta expressed joy that he was "finally in a situation where someone got relief." Pescetta has been fighting for years on behalf of Death Row inmates.

While Nevius' IQ was tested at 72, Pescetta added earlier tests showed him having IQs as low as 64 and as high as 68.

Pescetta said he was gratified that Guinn had ordered additional IQ testing of Nevius at a hearing in April 2001 at which the board agreed to postpone moves to execute Nevius. At that hearing, Nevius maintained as he has since his conviction in 1982 that he did not kill Kinnamon.

Although Rochelle Kinnamon identified him, Nevius said it was too dark for her to see who killed her husband.

With his sentence commuted, Nevius will be moved from Death Row at the Ely State Prison into the general population of inmates, Pescetta said.

Pescetta said he and Peterson are working on an agreement that could lead to James Hill's removal from Death Row. Hill was sentenced to die for the 1983 murder in Las Vegas of Altonia Matthews, a disabled woman. His IQ is 59, according to Pescetta.