A death penalty trial ended in a hung jury on Thursday, with the judge declaring a mistrial for a man accused of killing and dismembering his wife’s ex-lover more than eight years ago.
Anthony Newton, 37, was facing the death penalty in the slaying of Ulyses Cesar Molina, whose body was found dismembered on Dec. 28, 2016.
Thursday marked the second time a mistrial has been declared for Newton, although this is the first time the case has made it to jury deliberations.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly said that prosecutors would push for a third trial.
The jury foreperson indicated Thursday that at least one juror believed that further deliberations would be “pointless.” The panel began deliberating Tuesday afternoon then continued all day Wednesday and into Thursday morning.
“At this point the jury as to all counts is unable to come to any type of verdict,” said District Judge Jacqueline Bluth.
The first mistrial in the case happened in November because a witness told jurors that Newton had previously been in prison, court records show.
Newton was facing charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery with a deadly weapon.
Prosecutors accused Newton of killing Molina with the help of his brother-in-law, George Malaperdas, after an affair Molina had with Newton’s wife.
Malaperdas and another woman, Kelsea Wray Glass, were also charged in connection with the killing. Glass was also romantically involved with both Newton and Molina, according to an arrest report. Malaperdas told police that Wray “set up Molina and called him to the apartment where Newton was waiting,” the report said.
Both Malaperdas and Glass have pleaded guilty in the case, but the guilty pleas were filed under seal, court records show. The two are scheduled to appear for a sentencing hearing on Feb. 11.
In opening statements of the trial, Weckerly told the jury that Newton told his brother-in-law to come to the apartment, and that when Malaperdas arrived, he helped Newton tied Molina up. Newton then “steps on Cesar’s neck until he dies,” Weckerly said.
Prosecutors alleged that Newton and Malaperdas took the body to another location, where they dismembered Molina before leaving his torso in a suitcase in the desert.
In April 2018, a woman living in Henderson found a human hand in her mailbox that police determined belonged to Molina. At the time the hand was discovered, Newton had been in custody at the Clark County Detention Center for months.
Weckerly told the jury during the trial’s opening statements that investigators could not answer how that hand ended up in the woman’s mailbox, according to court transcripts. Police also never found the location of Molina’s head.
“But what you will know and what will be abundantly clear is that the person that killed Cesar Molina was Anthony Newton,” Weckerly told the jury.
Defense attorney Josh Tomsheck had argued that forensic evidence did not prove that Newton was in the apartment where police said Molina was killed. He told the jury that police also mishandled or didn’t properly test evidence.
Newton remains in custody at the Clark County Detention Center without bail. Bluth scheduled another hearing in the case for Feb. 11.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.
