Defense Claims Dead Nevada Insurance Examiner had ‘Darker Side’
Defense attorneys plan to present evidence questioning the character of Nevada’s chief insurance examiner, who was killed April 2 at his Carson City apartment.
William McCune “seems to have had a darker side than what was previously assumed,” defense attorney Dennis Widdis said at a court hearing Friday for the four people charged with killing him and dumping his body in the Carson River in Carson City.
Justice of the Peace John Tatro granted Widdis permission to seek court records from Louisiana that the lawyer said detailed McCune’s sex offenses there, the Nevada Appeal reported.
District Attorney Neil Rombardo told Tatro that he has no problem with the defense seeking those records.
Attorney John Springgate asked Tatro to have sheriff’s investigators look into McCune’s computer system, saying it contained “a quantity of what is described as child pornography.”
Rombardo replied, “I’ve already said, OK, run the database. Obviously, as soon as we get the results, we’ll turn them over.”
Rombardo said he is awaiting the autopsy report before deciding whether to seek the death penalty against the defendants.
A preliminary hearing is set to begin Oct. 8 to determine whether there’s sufficient evidence to try the defendants for murder. Tatro set aside up to four days for the hearing.
Charged with McCune’s murder are Makyla Blackmore, 20, Anthony Elliott, 20, Raul Garcia, 22, and Michael Evans, 23.
Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong has said a possible motive was theft driven by illegal drug use.
Blackmore told detectives she drove the three men to the 62-year-old McCune’s apartment, and the men beat him and robbed him while she waited outside in the vehicle.
Prosecutors said in court documents the four suspects met at a Carson City motel prior to the April 2 beating and that at least one of the defendants knew McCune socially.
Authorities found McCune’s body days after co-workers at the state insurance office reported him missing and police found a bloody crime scene at his apartment.
Evans told investigators that the suspects used various objects to beat McCune and tied him up with duct tape when he struggled.
After dumping his blanket-wrapped body in the river, the three men tried to use McCune’s checks and credit cards to get money and make purchases, detectives said. On April 6, Evans was arrested in Carson City and the three others were arrested in Las Vegas.
McCune was the head of the state insurance division’s corporate and financial affairs section in charge of making sure companies have sufficient money in reserves to cover claims and obligations.