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Thread: David S. Middleton - Nevada Death Row

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    David S. Middleton - Nevada Death Row


    David Middleton


    Summary of Offense:

    Middleton, a former Miami police officer, was found guilty in 1997 of killing Sun Valley teacher Katherine Powell and Circus Circus Reno employee Thelma Amparo Davila.

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    June 17, 2009

    Former officer's death sentence upheld

    By BRENDAN RILEY
    The Associated Press

    A former police officer's death sentence for murdering an elementary school teacher in Reno and a casino worker in Sparks was upheld Wednesday by the Nevada Supreme Court.

    The high court ruled against David Middleton, a one-time Miami police officer who claimed his constitutional due process rights were violated in his 1997 trial for the murders of Sun Valley teacher Katherine Powell and Circus Circus Reno employee Thelma Amparo Davila.

    Middleton had argued that he should have had a competency hearing, and also had ineffective legal counsel at his trial and at a previous appeal proceeding. He also said his death sentence should be erased in line with the high court's 2004 McConnell decision.

    In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of inmate Robert McConnell, holding that a defendant can't be convicted of first-degree murder using a particular circumstance, such as a killing that occurred during a robbery, and then have robbery used again as an aggravating circumstance, or aggravator, in the penalty phase of a trial.

    While one of several felony aggravators was erased by the high court in each case, justices said the others were still valid, including Middleton's previous felony convictions involving violence, his convictions for more than one murder, and the torture of Powell.

    "The remaining aggravators in this case are compelling," the court said, adding Middleton had a history of violence and his torture of Powell, who was bitten, shocked by a stun gun and forced into a refrigerator where she suffocated, "was nothing less than sadistic." Even with one of the aggravators gone, "the jury would have imposed death for each murder," the court said.

    During his trial, Middleton was characterized by prosecutors as a sadist who liked rough sex. Investigators searching his storage unit found restraint devices, sex toys and a refrigerator that they believe held Powell.

    Powell, 45, disappeared from her Reno home in February 1995. Her bound and wrapped body was found about a week later by a transient rummaging through a trash bin near Virginia Lake.

    Davila was 42 when she disappeared from her Sparks apartment in August 1994. Her body, wrapped in plastic and bound with robe, was found near Verdi in April 1995.

    http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stori...09/?california

  3. #3
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On October 28, 2009, Middleton filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/nev...cv00638/69779/

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    Authorities released these composite images of an unidentified woman found on July 7, 1994, on the Uncompahgre Plateau near the area known as Windy Point in Montrose County, Colorado. (FBI Denver)


    Possibly related

    FBI and Montrose officials seek help identifying woman's body

    Montrose sheriff's investigators and FBI agents have released composite pictures of a woman whose remains were recovered in a remote area of Montrose County in 1994 in hopes that her identification could help solve two cold case murders.

    FBI officials recently received an anonymous letter from a person who claimed to have information about the murders of two women in Montrose, Delta or Mesa counties nearly 20 years ago. The details appeared to identify the 1994 Jane Doe case from Montrose County.

    "I don't know who wrote it but I'd surely like to talk to them about it," David Harrison, investigator for the Montrose County Sheriff's Office, said Tuesday.

    The woman, believed to be between the ages of 35 and 45, had a medical condition called Temporo-Mandibular Joint Syndrome Scoliosis and also kyphosis of the spine, according to a news release by Dave Joly, spokesman for the FBI.

    The body was discovered July 7, 1994 near a popular camping and hunting area known as Windy Point, according to an FBI news release. The woman was believed to be a white female who was 5-feet-4 to 5-feet-7 tall and had reddish-brown hair. The victim had dental work.

    The remains had been dumped about a year to 18 months before they were discovered. By then animals had devoured the body and carried away pieces of the skeleton. The skull, mandible and much of the spinal column was recovered along with a few bones from the lower body, Harrison said.

    There was no clothing found with the body. Only a belt that had been cut in half was found near the body, he said.

    "It appeared to be a body dump," Harrison said.

    Figuring out who the victim was may provide clues about where to look for the killer, he said. The victim may have been a skier, hunter or mountain climber, which could point toward people she had contacts with.

    Her remains were discovered just north of Telluride about halfway between Moab and Montrose — two tourist destinations drawing visitors from around the world, Harrison said.

    "This woman can be from anywhere in the world really," he said.

    Montrose County submitted the remains to federal authorities for DNA analysis and to develop a composite drawing of the victim. Last year, the FBI ran a DNA profile of the victim's remains through its national database but didn't get a hit.

    Authorities had also identified 30 possible missing persons that generally fit the dental profile of the "Windy Point Jane Doe," Harrison said.

    "We've narrowed it down to 12 missing persons around the country," he said.

    Persons of interest include a serial killer who is a former Miami cop, David Middleton, who is on death row in Nevada for the murders of Reno schoolteacher Katherine Elizabeth Powell and Thelma Amparo DaVila, a Circus Circus casino employee from nearby Sparks.

    Middleton has been a longtime suspect in the murder of 18-year-old Montrose resident Buffy Rice Donohue, who disappeared around Thanksgiving of 1993. Her remains were discovered in the mountains of a neighboring county.

    Anyone who recognizes the drawing of the woman is asked to call their local FBI office, the nearest American embassy or consulate.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  5. #5
    Nickie
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    How much longer will he be on death row? How many more appeals does he have? How much longer does he get to live while those he murdered do not have that luxury? I can understand why the death penalty exists, and I agree and disagree with the whole process. Yet, if someone is sentenced to death, they should not be sitting on death row after 20 or more years. I see how much it costs to continue the appeals and petitions and such, and I do not believe all that time and money should be invested in someone that has already been condemned. Of course if the case was more personal for me, I would want the process to go on and on. It is easier to condemn someone you do not know personally, and to pass judgment on them. See? I agree and disagree with the death penalty to the point where it confuses me, but I still believe there is no point in sentencing someone to death if they are kept alive for decades afterwards.

    There is no such thing as rehabilitation in the prison system anymore, why not defer the revenue required to keep inmates alive on death row to assist with some form of rehabilitation for others? For me personally, any inmate that has been convicted of harming a child in any shape or form should be executed immediately. I know this is not the case with Middleton, but just a point I wanted to share.

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    Senior Member Member OperaGhost84's Avatar
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    Almost all of the death penalty's problems have simple legislative fixes that don't get patched because it's too much of a "fringe" issue to warrant the widespread debate required to push a sweeping bill through. Call your state representative, write letters, shake some trees!
    I am vehemently against Murder. That's why I support the Death Penalty.

  7. #7
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Middleton's petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Nevada
    Case Numbers: (62869)
    Decision Date: December 21, 2016
    Rehearing Denied: May 5, 2017

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/17-6255.html

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    Post-conviction relief denied by the Nevada Supreme Court on December 2, 2022.

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketP...on%20FINAL.pdf

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mastro Titta's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court DENIED Middleton's petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Nevada
    Case Numbers: (81217)
    Decision Date: December 2, 2022
    Rule 12.4 Rehearing Denied: April 17, 2023

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/...23zor_8m58.pdf

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