Norman Belcher—black, age 34
Sentenced in Clark County, Nevada
By: a jury
Date of Crime: 12/2010
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Belcher burgled the home of a man who he believed had shut him out of the drug trade, and killed the man’s 15-year-old daughter, then stole items from the house. Belcher also had a prior voluntary manslaughter conviction. The defense argued that the man’s involvement in the drug trade meant that there were other people who would have had a motive to retaliate against him. Belcher did not cooperate with his counsel in presenting a mitigation case, and let the jury know that he preferred the solitary existence on death row to being housed in the general prison population where he would likely have a roommate.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal 12/14/16 (2017 WLNR 38233430), 12/16/16 (2017 WLNR 38482636)
Thomas Randolph—white, age 53
Sentenced in Clark County, Nevada
By: a jury
Date of Crime: 5/2008
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Randolph hired a hitman to kill his sixth wife, then killed the hitman, trying to make it look like the hitman had killed the wife during a home invasion burglary and that Randolph had killed the burglar. The prosecution argued that Randolph had either killed or tried to kill four of his five earlier wives. The defense asked for a non-death sentence on behalf of Randolph’s two children and grandchild, and pointed out that Randolph had worked with mentally challenged individuals.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal 6/28/17 (2017 WLNR 19889894), 6/29/17 (2017 WLNR 20060732), 7/5/17 (2017 WLNR 20575004)
Javier Righetti—Latino, age 19
Sentenced in Clark County, Nevada
By: a jury
Date of Crime: 9/2011
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Righetti kidnapped a 15-year-old girl, sexually assaulted her, and stabbed her to death with over eighty wounds. Before the incident he had done a computer search for pornography that depicted torture of girls, and after the incident he did a search for how to dispose of a dead body, which led him to try to burn the corpse. In his confession he also admitted to sexually assaulting another girl earlier that same year. The defense argued that Righetti suffered from a brain disease that caused intellectual deficiencies and lack of impulse control, and that his father’s family had a history of violence and his mother’s family a history of mental illness.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal 3/16/17 (2017 WLNR 8323975), 3/17/17 (2017 WLNR 8425252), 3/29/17 (2017 WLNR 9738211)
Will Sitton—white, age 46
Sentenced in Clark County, Nevada
By: a jury
Date of Crime: 10/29/09
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Sitton was one of three culprits who severely beat and robbed an elderly man in his home. The victim lay in his home for upward of three days before he died. Sitton had a long record of violent crimes including three rape convictions. No information was found regarding the defense approach to the case.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal 10/31/16 (2016 WLNR 33349333)