Death sentence upheld in Reno, Sparks slayings

CARSON CITY -- A former police officer's death sentence for murdering an elementary school teacher in Reno and a casino worker in Sparks was upheld Wednesday by the Nevada Supreme Court.

The high court ruled against David Middleton, a one-time Miami police officer who claimed his constitutional due process rights were violated in his 1997 trial for the murders of Sun Valley teacher Katherine Powell and Circus Circus Reno employee Thelma Amparo Davila.

Middleton had argued that he should have had a competency hearing, and also had ineffective legal counsel at his trial and at a previous appeal proceeding. He also said his death sentence should be erased in line with the high court's 2004 McConnell decision.

In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of inmate Robert McConnell, holding that a defendant can't be convicted of first-degree murder using a particular circumstance, such as a killing that occurred during a robbery, and then have robbery used again as an aggravating circumstance, or aggravator, in the penalty phase of a trial.

While one of several felony aggravators was erased by the high court in each case, justices said the others were still valid, including Middleton's previous felony convictions involving violence, his convictions for more than one murder, and the torture of Powell.

"The remaining aggravators in this case are compelling," the court said, adding Middleton had a history of violence and his torture of Powell, who was bitten, shocked by a stun gun and forced into a refrigerator where she suffocated, "was nothing less than sadistic."

Even with one of the aggravators gone, "the jury would have imposed death for each murder," the court said.

During his trial, Middleton was characterized by prosecutors as a sadist who liked rough sex. Investigators searching his storage unit found restraint devices, sex toys and a refrigerator that they believe held Powell.

Powell, 45, disappeared from her Reno home in February 1995. Her bound and wrapped body was found about a week later by a transient rummaging through a trash bin near Virginia Lake.

Davila was 42 when she disappeared from her Sparks apartment in August 1994. Her body, wrapped in plastic and bound with robe, was found near Verdi in April 1995.