Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Trooper not upset by ruling

Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Robert "Bobby" Kintzel said he's not disappointed that the alleged killer who faces charges of hitting him with a sport utility vehicle won't face the death penalty.

Last week a Clark County judge ruled that Vornelius Phillips, who is charged with killing 40-year-old Ivy Shunstrom and left Kintzel with brain damage and internal injuries, can only face a maximum of life in prison.

"I'd rather have him spend the rest of his life in prison without parole," he said. "To some people, death is a favor. Spending the rest of his life behind bars is much, much harder."

District Judge Lee Gates found that Phillips, 27, is mentally retarded and ineligible for the death penalty, basing his ruling on a new state law that was prompted by a Supreme Court decision that bans the execution of retarded people.

Gates' ruling came after an April hearing in which state and defense experts presented dueling viewpoints on Phillips' psychological state.

Prosecutors allege Phillips is faking retardation to avoid execution. Kintzel said he agrees.

"I know Phillips is faking this," Kintzel said. "He's faked attacks before in the Clark County Detention Center. He's faked other illnesses before."

Deputy Special Public Defender Daren Richards, one of Phillips' two attorneys, said he has a great deal of respect for Kintzel, but disagrees.

"You can't fake mental retardation," Richards said. "Can you fake some mental illnesses? Sure. Can you fake the symptoms of schizophrenia or manic-depressive disorder? Sure. But mental retardation is pretty hard science. There's not a lot of room for faking it."

Kintzel declined to comment on whether he believes other mentally retarded people should be executed for their crimes.

Nevada Highway Patrol spokeswoman Trooper Angie Wolff said she hopes life in prison without parole will be a strong enough message for the future but said the judges ruling was "unfortunate."

"Whether you like things or not you have to stick to the rules," she said.

As Kintzel has struggled to overcome the injuries he suffered while trying to stop Phillips after the Shunstrom slaying, the six-year veteran of the highway patrol and award-winning officer has been the focus of much of the media coverage about the case. But he said the focus should be Shunstrom, the "true victim."

"The biggest thing is not me," Kintzel said. "I'm alive. But he murdered someone. I don't care what kind of person she was. He took her life in his own hands."

Richards said there are a lot of questions surrounding that charge as well. The state has yet to establish that Phillips murdered her.

"What exactly happened in that motel room, we don't know. There's no motive for this killing, no indication of premeditation," Richards said. "That's what trials are for."

Kintzel, who has undergone 20 surgeries since the incident, spoke to the Sun on Friday at a Starbucks near his home in northwest Las Vegas.

Phillips' trial date has not yet been set, but when the case does come to trial, Kintzel said he hopes people don't forget about Shunstrom.

"I don't care about me," he said. "My job was to put my life on the line every day."

Authorities say Phillips killed Shunstrom, a prostitute, in April 2001 in a downtown motel room, and then hijacked a taxicab to escape police.

When traffic slowed to a halt on Interstate 215, police say, Phillips carjacked an SUV and hit Kintzel while driving about 90 mph.

Kintzel was attempting to put down metal spikes to puncture the tires of the suspect's vehicle as the truck sped north on U.S. 95 near Flamingo Road.

"(Phillips) did it on purpose," Kintzel said. "He tried to murder me."

Richards maintains it was an accident.

"There will be much more said about my client's state of mind and his ability to make rational decisions," Richards said. "He was not in a position where he was making rational decisions.

"The question is whether there was an intent to kill."

Phillips was arrested after a Metro patrol car rammed the SUV into a concrete barrier seconds after Kintzel was hit.

In addition to the brain damage and internal injuries, Kintzel also suffered a fractured skull and a broken pelvis. Doctors inserted a metal plate into his skull and a metal rod in his thigh.

Kintzel spent months recuperating at University Medical Center's trauma center, where doctors had given him a 2 percent chance to live.

Despite Kintzel's progress, it will take time before he is able to live a fully normal life. Kintzel still walks with a limp and has a speech impairment.

On July 27, two days after Phillips' next scheduled court hearing, Kintzel will travel to Anaheim, Calif., to undergo hip replacement surgery.

But Kintzel said he is simply happy to be alive. As a fatal accident investigator for the highway patrol, Kintzel often saw people die as the result minor collisions, he said.

"I've seen jaywalkers smashed all over the street," he said. "I get hit by an SUV going 90 mph. How the heck am I still here?"

Kintzel, who attends most of Phillips' court hearings, said the anger he feels toward Phillips has subsided some since the days immediately following the accident.

"Every minute or hour you're angry or mad is a minute or hour you'll never get back," he said. "I have my whole life ahead of me. He doesn't."

While in court, Kintzel often recalls the words of a Saudi Arabian general whom he met while serving in the Marines as a combat engineer during the Gulf War, he said.

The general taught Kintzel that the greatest sign of disrespect is to show someone complete disregard. That is his attitude toward Phillips, he said.

"I never, never look at him," he said. "It's not because I'm scared of him, but because I don't want him to know I'm thinking of him."

Kintzel said he owes much of his progress to the support of his wife, Dawn. About 98 percent marriages in which one person suffers brain damage end in divorce, he said.

Kintzel said he often refrains from talking about the specifics of Phillips' case for fear that the details might upset Dawn.

"Dawn has helped me a lot," he said, his eyes filling with tears. "I never want to do anything to make her sad or make her cry. My first goal is to make her happy."

Kintzel continues to see a speech therapist once each week. He said the sessions will help him achieve his goal of becoming a motivational speaker.

He wants to make presentations to children and people of all ages who are disabled, he said.

"I want to tell them that if I can go down this road, you can go down this road," he said. "It's all in your mind."

Sun reporters

Malia Spencer and Jean Reid Norman contributed to this story.

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