Grandmother’s taped testimony makes convicted killer emotional

Convicted killer Gregory Hover smiled frequently Wednesday as he sat in court and listened to the videotaped recollections of his paternal grandmother.

Flora “Alice” Hover, 86, was recorded in Oklahoma, and defense attorneys played the videotaped interview for jurors during her grandson’s penalty hearing.

Toward the end of the interview, Alice Hover was asked to explain how a death sentence for her grandson would affect her.

“I can’t answer that,” she replied. “I have no idea.”

Earlier, the woman described how she helped care for Gregory Hover and his two siblings off and on after their mother left the family.

When pressed to explain how she would feel if a jury chose the death penalty for her grandson, she said, “I won’t go there. I have no idea what that’ll do to me. Those kids seem almost like my own.”

The woman said she was “very shocked” by the charges her grandson faced in the murder case. “No way that the Gregory I know could do that,” she said.

When asked whether she wanted to say anything to her grandson, she looked into the camera and said, “I love you no matter what.”

“No matter whether he did or whether he didn’t, he’s my grandson, and I love him.”

The defendant, who killed two people in January 2010, then grabbed a tissue and wiped his eyes.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Gregory Hover, 41, but defense lawyers plan to argue for a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Defense attorneys have said he lived a normal life until he and another man went on a crime spree that left two people dead.

One of their victims was 21-year-old Prisma Contreras.

Authorities said the two men kidnapped Contreras from a parking lot on East Tropicana Avenue before taking her to a remote area where they raped her, strangled her and cut her throat.

The victim’s body was found in a burned-out car south of Boulder City on Jan. 15, 2010.

Gregory Hover also fatally shot 64-year-old Julio Romero on Jan. 25, 2010.

Authorities said Hover, who worked as a process server for Junes Legal Service, had visited Romero’s home to serve legal papers. Early the next morning, Hover broke into the house, killed Romero and shot Romero’s wife, Roberta, who survived.

The penalty hearing is scheduled to resume Thursday morning in District Judge Carolyn Ellsworth’s courtroom.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.