Man sentenced to 44 years in prison for killing his friend

A Las Vegas man on Thursday was sentenced to 44 years to life in prison for fatally shooting his friend and robbing him of his toys last year.

Patrick Wilcock, 43, in December was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and two counts each of burglary and possession of stolen property for the death of James Lacella.

On Thursday, Wilcock apologized to Lacella’s family for their loss, but maintained he was innocent.

Judge Doug Herndon said overwhelming evidence of Wilcock’s guilt was shown at the trial before the judge handed down the near maximum sentence.

Defense lawyers argued there wasn’t enough evidence to show premeditation and asked Herndon for a sentence of 20 to 50 years in prison.

The case against Wilcock revolved around circumstantial evidence.

But pieced together, prosecutors said, the evidence showed Wilcock shot Lacella in the head and days later, on Feb. 25, 2011, set fire to his condo at 1309 Del Mar St., near Tropicana and Eastern avenues, to cover up the crime. He littered bullet cartridges in the condo and aimed them at the body, hoping the projectiles would ignite in the fire, strike the body and confuse police, prosecutors said.

Wilcock also took toys from the condo, including remote-controlled cars, toy trains and video games. He then pawned some of the items, including a Sony PlayStation 3 console, two controllers and 23 games.

A big break in the case came when investigators searched Wilcock’s home and found a key to Lacella’s Ford Ranger stuck to the bottom of a trash can.

Defense lawyers are expected to appeal the verdict.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.