Death penalty sought in murder in New Florence, Mo.
MONTGOMERY CITY, Mo. • Pablo Antonio Serrano-Vitorino faces the death penalty for allegedly killing a Missouri man while fleeing a multiple-murder scene near Kansas City.
Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Carroz on Friday filed court papers explaining his decision to seek capital punishment. Serrano-Vitorino, 40, of Kansas City, Kan., is charged with first-degree murder in the killing on March 8 of Randy J.
Nordman of New Florence, Mo., south of Montgomery City.
Nordman, 49, was killed at his home near Interstate 70. Serrano-Vitorino also faces four first-murder charges in the shooting deaths of four men the night before in Kansas City, Kan. Police said they found the suspect's pickup truck on I-70 about four miles west of Nordman's home.
Serrano-Vitorino was arrested after a 17-hour manhunt. On May 12, Associate Circuit Judge Kelly C. Broniec ruled in a preliminary hearing that evidence is sufficient for Serrano-Vitorino to stand trial.
In that hearing, investigators linked an assault rifle they seized from Serrano-Vitorino with the bullet that killed Nordman. The suspect is being held in the Montgomery County Jail and is expected to enter a plea of not guilty June 1.
Carroz' petition outlines "aggravators" that could justify execution rather than life without parole for first-degree murder, the only other option in state law. Carroz cites the four murders in Kansas, a burglary allegedly underway at Nordman's home and Serrano-Vitorino's illegal presence as a deported Mexican citizen.
He was deported in 2004 after having been convicted in California of a felony threat to commit harm. Investigators do not know when he reentered the United States.
Don Catlett, Serrano-Vitorino's public defender, said he was aware of the filing and had no comment.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/s...cfebc892d.html
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