Trial starts in ‘inside job’ killing

Employees at Ashley Furniture Homestore were devastated when store manager Robert Bills was gunned down in front of the store in 2007 during a robbery attempt.

But they were equally shocked and outraged when they discovered the robbery was an "inside job" involving a store employee who police said tipped off the shooter.

The trial for the man accused of pulling the trigger and killing Bills, 53, opened Tuesday in District Court.

Thayer Burton, 18, is facing a charge of murder with a deadly weapon for the Nov. 23, 2007, slaying of Bills. Burton carried out the shooting on the day after Thanksgiving, one of Ashley Furniture Homestore's biggest shopping days, authorities said.

"The defendant is a murderer," said county prosecutor Susan Pate. "He took the life of Robert Bills."

Burton's co-defendant, former Ashley Furniture Homestore employee Lucia Reveles, 24, is scheduled to go to trial on murder charges at the end of June.

Authorities said Reveles, who worked for the store for about six months, was dating Burton's cousin. Reveles, 24, told Burton about Ashley Furniture Homestore managers who were responsible for nightly cash deposits, Las Vegas police said.

Police arrested Burton several months after the slaying after a source tipped them off.

At the time of slaying, Bills was leaving the store on Rainbow Boulevard near Cheyenne Avenue to make the nightly money deposit at a local bank. He had about $22,000 in cash and checks in his pocket when a man dressed all in black and wearing a hooded sweatshirt tried to rob him.

The suspect, later identified as Burton, pistol-whipped Bills and then shot him in the back as Bills fled back to the store.

Police found Burton's fingerprint on Bills' vehicle, Pate said. Police also found a handgun at Burton's residence and a black hooded sweatshirt that had Bills' blood on it, she said.

Burton's attorney, Bret Whipple, urged the jury to keep an open mind. He said authorities don't know when Burton's fingerprint was left on Bills' Chevrolet HHR.

He also said he would explain the DNA evidence during the trial.

Bills, originally from Chicago, lived in Las Vegas for about a decade. He worked at the store for about a year.

Employees said he lived alone with his dog.

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