Three-judge panel selected for Bellevue Sonic shooter's Death Penalty trial
- By Jake Anderson & Michelle Bandur | March 30, 2022 -
Nebraska Supreme Court: The three-judge panel selected to oversee the death penalty trial of Roberto Silva Jr.
BELLEVUE, Neb. — The three-judge panel has been selected for the death penalty trial of the man who killed two people in a 2020 attack at the Bellevue Sonic Drive-In.
Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov is seeking the death penalty for Roberto Silva Jr., 24, who pled guilty on March 7 to all 15 charges he was facing, which included first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony, among others.
The attack killed two Sonic employees, Nathan Pastrana and Ryan Helbert.
After Silva pled guilty, he waived his right to a jury trial. Deputy County Attorney Gage Cobb then read for the court part of a letter written by Silva that was dated Oct. 4, 2021.
Silva wrote, in part: "It is my understanding that you don't have a motive for my actions in case ID: CR 20 914. My intention and motive was to kill the witnesses involved in Case ID: CR 20 3470 to conceal the commission of that crime."
District court judges Nathan Cox, Bryan Meismer and Michael Piccolo were appointed by the Nebraska Supreme Court to oversee the trial. A date has not yet been announced.
Cox, who oversees the second judicial district of Sarpy, Cass and Otoe counties, will act as presiding judge. Meismer is from the sixth judicial district in northeast Nebraska and Piccolo is from the 11th Judicial District of southwest Nebraska.
Polikov filed a “notice of aggravators,” which will outline the statutory reasons for seeking the death penalty. Those include:
1. The murders were committed in an effort to conceal the commission of a crime, or to conceal the identity of the perpetrator of such crime;
2. The murders were especially heinous, atrocious, cruel, or manifested exceptional depravity by ordinary standards of morality and intelligence;
3. At the time the murders were committed, the offender also committed another murder;
4. The offender knowingly created a great risk of death to at least several persons; and
5. The murders were committed knowingly to disrupt or hinder the lawful exercise of any governmental function or the enforcement of the laws.
“This is the first time I’ve sought the death penalty in a case, and the decision to file it was not taken lightly. My thoughts and support are with the victims and their families as they continue to deal with this unimaginable tragedy,” Polikov said in January.
It was Nov. 21, 2020, when Silva threw an incendiary device, set fire to materials in a rental truck and opened fire in the Bellevue Sonic Drive-In near 15th Street and Cornhusker Road.
Four employees were shot inside the restaurant including the two who died. Three others were able to escape unharmed.
https://www.ketv.com/article/nebrask...trial/39585483
https://archive.ph/T7udj
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