Opinion ID: 1808271
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: first degree murder convictionsdeath penalty imposed.

Text: State v. Rust, 197 Neb. 528, 250 N.W.2d 867 (1977). Date of Sentence: October 30, 1975. On February 21, 1975, defendant and Ronald Ell robbed a Hinky Dinky Store in Omaha, Nebraska. The store manager and several employees pursued the robbers. The getaway car was intercepted by a policeman in a cruiser, who also chased the robbers. Shots were exchanged, and the robbers fled the getaway car. They were pursued by several officers and by a civilian, Michael Kellogg, who had armed himself and was attempting to capture Rust and Ell. Kellogg was shot four times and killed by Rust. Rust was later apprehended.  State v. Holtan, 197 Neb. 544, 250 N.W.2d 876 (1977). Date of Sentence: February 9, 1976. Defendant robbed a bar in Omaha, Nebraska, after tying up certain persons then in the bar, including some customers. Holtan then put a gun to the head of one of the individuals. The individual's boyfriend yelled, Oh, my God, no, at which point Holtan shot the boyfriend and the girlfriend. The boyfriend died as a result of the gunshot wounds.  State v. Peery, 199 Neb. 656, 261 N.W.2d 95 (1977). Date of Sentence: June 24, 1976. Defendant robbed a coin shop in Lincoln, Nebraska. He tightly bound the owner's wrists behind her, and also bound her ankles. He then shot her three times at close range, once in the right temple, once between the eyes, and once through the roof of the mouth, directly into the brain, and robbed the store of rare coins and watches. State v. Otey, 205 Neb. 90, 287 N.W.2d 36 (1979). Date of Sentence: June 20, 1978. Defendant was walking home after a night out drinking. Through a window, he saw the victim sleeping on a sofa on the first floor of her house. He entered through the back door, took her stereo, and carried it outside. He reentered, and the victim was awakened. He told the victim he was going to rob and rape her. She fought back, and defendant cut her across the forehead with his knife. He then raped the victim and inquired if she had any money. He forced her upstairs to get the money, leaving a trail of blood droplets behind her. Defendant stated that while he was starting to stab her, she pleaded for him to kill her. He then hit her four or five times over the head with a hammer and strangled her with a belt. State v. Williams, 205 Neb. 56, 287 N.W.2d 18 (1979). Date of Sentence: June 23, 1978. On August 11, 1977, defendant came to the home of one of the victims, Patricia McGarry, a close personal friend. They argued over a gun which Williams had purchased, presumably to commit suicide. A friend of McGarry's, Catherine Brooks, arrived and became involved in the incident. During this time, Williams shot McGarry and Brooks three times each in or about the head. The autopsy of Brooks' body also evidenced sexual contact, although Williams denies this. After these murders defendant went to the apartment of an acquaintance and asked to use the telephone. She admitted him, and he then told her he needed to stay for a while. She suggested that he stay in the storage room area of the apartment complex, whereupon Williams drew a revolver and raped her as many as six times. He then left and traveled through Iowa, where he sexually assaulted and shot and killed a woman, and then made his way to Minnesota, where he shot and raped another woman. State v. Anderson and Hochstein, 207 Neb. 51, 296 N.W.2d 440 (1980). Date of Sentence: August 24, 1978. The defendant Anderson was an employee of Commercial Realty, owned by one Abboud. The other defendant, Hochstein, was a close friend of Anderson. Anderson was upset with some of Abboud's business practices and apparently felt that he was not getting the correct commission checks that he was owed. Anderson discussed with Hochstein several alternative ways of getting rid of Abboud, including hiring someone to kill Abboud, using a knife and explosives. About a week before the murder, Anderson and Hochstein, along with Lon Reams, began seriously discussing the murder of Abboud. Hochstein offered to execute Abboud for $1,500. Anderson agreed, and the three then planned the actual murder. Hochstein inveigled Abboud to meet him at 168th and Q Streets in Omaha. This location was chosen because it was property listed with Abboud's company and because it was out of the way. The murder was postponed, however, because Abboud had several other people in the car during this meeting. The second meeting was arranged for the next day, whereupon Hochstein shot Abboud three times, once in the head, once in the neck, and once in the back. Both Anderson and Hochstein were sentenced to death. State v. Harper, 208 Neb. 568, 304 N.W.2d 663 (1981). Date of Sentence: November 7, 1979. Harper was involved in an emotional relationship with Sandra Johnson in 1973 and 1974. The relationship deteriorated, and Sandra told Harper that she intended to marry a Duane Johnson. The marriage did in fact take place, and Harper threatened to kill them both when Sandra refused to annul the marriage. In 1975 Harper fired a shotgun at a group gathering outside Sandra's mother's home and was arrested and sentenced to serve time in the penal complex for shooting with intent to kill, wound, or maim. Upon release, he was employed by the Eppley Research Institute in Omaha, from which he took some lethal carcinogenic drugs and put them in the milk and lemonade in the refrigerator at Sandra Johnson's home. Various family members drank the milk and lemonade. Five became ill and two of the five (Sandra's husband and her 11-month-old nephew) died.  State v. Moore, 210 Neb. 457, 316 N.W.2d 33 (1982). Date of Sentence: June 20, 1980. On August 22, 1979, Moore robbed and killed an elderly cabdriver. His motive was simply robbery, and he made several calls for cabs and waited until an older cabdriver arrived. Four days later he repeated this scheme, killing and robbing another cabdriver. State v. Reeves, 216 Neb. 206, 344 N.W.2d 433 (1984). Date of Sentence: September 11, 1981. Defendant entered victim's house by way of a back window and proceeded to the second floor bedroom. He ripped the telephone cord out in an effort to isolate the victim from the outside world. He stabbed her seven times in the chest in perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate a sexual assault. A second victim, a girlfriend and guest staying overnight with the first victim, was also found stabbed inside the doorway to the victim's bedroom. Both women were killed by stabbing.  State v. Palmer, 224 Neb. 282, 399 N.W.2d 706 (1986). Date of Sentence: September 6, 1984. Defendant and his wife robbed a coin shop in Grand Island, Nebraska. The victim was struck on the head and tied up. He was then taken upstairs to a bedroom, where he was watched by defendant's wife while defendant robbed the shop. Defendant then came upstairs and sent his wife downstairs. While downstairs, she heard thumping noises and a low, throaty, chant-like sound. The victim was found dead upstairs, having been strangled with an electrical cord. State v. Joubert, 224 Neb. 411, 399 N.W.2d 237 (1986). Date of Sentence: October 9, 1984. Defendant kidnaped a young paperboy on September 18, 1983. He bound his hands and feet, taped his mouth, and put him in the trunk of defendant's car. He later removed all of his clothes except for his undershorts, though he did not sexually molest the child. The child was stabbed 11 times. On December 2, 1983, the defendant kidnaped another young boy, whom he forced to lie down in the front of the automobile. When the body was found, it too was clad only in undershorts, though the victim had not been sexually molested. He had been stabbed seven times and roughly grabbed around the neck. Joubert confessed to the killings and pleaded guilty. He admitted that despite the pleas of the young boys, he drove to secluded places, told them to get out of the car, and coolly stabbed both of them to death because he was curious about how people died.  State v. Bird Head, appeal pending. Sheridan County District Court, No. C1802. Date of Sentence: March 18, 1986. Defendant bound, beat, sexually assaulted, and murdered the victim in her home. When apprehended, he was intoxicated and was driving the victim's automobile.