Woman gets 20 to life in fatal attack
A Clark County jury decided Friday that a 31-year-old woman should spend 20 years to life in prison for the brutal slaying of a man inside a northeast valley apartment last year.
Prosecutors said Elita “Gaby” Maldonado dropped a 40-pound dumbbell on William Sanford’s head while he slept and then stabbed him at least 38 times.
Maldonado had claimed that she killed Sanford, 49, because she heard the voices of her two daughters echoing in her head, saying that he had hurt them.
Maldonado wept in a courtroom packed with Sanford’s relatives as a clerk read her sentence.
Two weeks ago, the same jury convicted her of first-degree murder, rejecting her insanity defense.
The jury also convicted Maldonado of robbery, and in April, District Judge Stefany Miley could sentence her to additional time for that charge, along with the fact that she used a deadly weapon in the attack.
Prosecutors Michael Staudaher said Maldonado was high on meth after Sanford paid her for sex on the night of May 28, and Maldonado wanted to rob him so she could get more drugs. Sanford was stirred awake after being hit on the head, Staudaher said, and Maldonado decided “I’ve got to finish him.”
Her story to police about the voices of her children changed later when she spoke with two of her sisters. In about an hour of recorded conversations from jail, she never told them about the voices. Defense attorneys had argued that she had been medicated at the time of the calls.
Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker
