Suspect in ’96 slaying wants charge tossed

Prosecution of a suspect in a Las Vegas cold case could be jeopardized by the imprisonment of a former crime scene analyst who handled key DNA evidence.

Deputy Public Defender Edward Kane asked a Las Vegas Justice of the Peace on Monday to dismiss a murder charge against Paul Alexander, who was arrested in April for the 1996 slaying of Joseph Meli.

Kane said the murder charge should be thrown out because prosecutors couldn't bring to court Daniel Peterson, a former Las Vegas police crime scene analyst now serving time on a child pornography charge. He was responsible for taking DNA evidence from the victim more than a decade ago.

Peterson and another witness were to appear in court Monday for Alexander's preliminary hearing. Chief Deputy District Attorney David Stanton asked the justice of the peace to reschedule the court date. The other witness couldn't attend the hearing for unrelated reasons.

Peterson is important to the case because he collected and impounded fingernail clippings from the victim at his autopsy in 1996. The fingernail clippings, authorities said, have the defendant's DNA under them.

Kane said that Peterson is the only witness who could testify to how the fingernail clippings were taken into evidence.

Stanton said a police detective could testify in Peterson's place.

The DNA evidence is vital to Alexander's prosecution because it ties him to the 12-year-old slaying, authorities said. "I know DNA cases are all the rage these days," Kane said. "But if you're going to come to someone 12 years after the crime ... you better make sure you have your ducks in a row before you do that."

Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis could decide on Thursday whether to throw out the murder charge against Alexander. She could also give prosecutors more time to bring witnesses to court.

Alexander, 60, appeared in court Monday in a navy blue prison uniform. He is being held at the county jail on one charge of murder with a deadly weapon.

Police said Alexander is the ex-husband of the woman who was Meli's live-in girlfriend.

Police also found the defendant's DNA on a towel at the victim's house. This isn't as strong a piece of evidence against Alexander because the defendant told police he visited Meli's home before the slaying, authorities said.

Kane conceded that Alexander's DNA under the fingernail clippings is "obviously more difficult to explain" than the DNA on the towel.

Stanton said the district attorney's office served subpoenas for Peterson to appear in court on April 30. The subpoenas were served at the Metropolitan Police Department's crime scene lab.

Employees at the crime lab confirmed that Peterson was in prison on child porn charges, he said.

Peterson started working for Las Vegas police in 1991 as a clerk typist. He became a crime scene analyst two years later. He once served as the president of the Nevada Division of International Association for Identification, a forensic training organization.

Peterson, 59, retired from the Las Vegas police department in 2005 after he learned he was being investigated for possessing child pornography on his work and home computers.

He was indicted on multiple charges and pleaded guilty in 2006 in federal court to one count of transporting child pornography. He was sentenced to serve 61/2 years in a federal prison.

He is currently behind bars at Englewood federal correctional institution in Littleton, Colo., according to the federal bureau of prisons. He is scheduled to be released in August 2011.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.