Sept. 15 NEVADA: Nevada court upholds death sentence in Vegas double-murder case Timmy "T.J." Weber's death sentence, for the torture slaying of his girlfriend's 15-year-old son in Las Vegas, was upheld Thursday by the Nevada Supreme Court. Weber, who also got a no-parole life sentence for killing the boy's mother, deserved the death sentence given "the appalling nature and circumstances" of the boy's April 2002 slaying, justices said. Forensics experts testified during Weber's trial that the teen died slowly after having been bound with duct tape, gagged with a shirt and left face-down on a bed with a plastic bag over his head and heavy weights his back. The high court also upheld Weber's conviction for the murder of the boy's mother, Kim Gautier, 38, who was beaten and strangled. Her body was found in a plastic storage container with her head in a plastic bag. The boy's murder was "untimely, senseless and brutal," justices said, adding, "Weber also destroyed a family, murdering the mother of 3 children after sexually abusing the young daughter over a 5-year period." "Although we conclude that some trial error occurred, any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt," the court added. The high court noted Weber tried to kill Gautier's 17-year-old son and the son's teacher with a baseball bat on the day of the funeral for the mother and her slain son. Weber eluded police for 3 1/2 weeks following the murders. He told police he went to the Pacific Northwest after the slayings, then returned to Las Vegas. Justices said other factors showing that a death sentence wasn't excessive included "Weber's character as revealed by all his crimes." Besides the 2 murder convictions, he was convicted of 2 counts of attempted murder, 2 counts of kidnapping, 4 counts of sexual assault on a child, 2 counts of burglary, 2 pornography-related counts and 3 counts of lewdness. All those convictions also were upheld by the Supreme Court. His record prior to the April 2002 slayings included convictions for 7 felonies in Nevada and California, according to court records. All those convictions stemmed from property crimes, including burglaries of Las Vegas drugstores, restaurants and department stores. (source: Associated Press)
