Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Nevada high court denies appeals in Las Vegas murder cases

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Supreme Court has denied the appeals of two men convicted of first-degree murders in Las Vegas, including one who killed a Canadian tourist in town to play poker.

In a 4-2 decision, the court rejected the appeal of Greg Takung Chao, who was convicted of striking Don Idiens, 53, with a blunt instrument 12 to 14 times and dumping his body on the balcony at the Imperial Palace in December 1997.

The court also turned down the appeal of Pachalo C. Chipeta, found guilty of using an ax to kill his roommate, Sanjay Makhijani, in January 2007, then putting the body in a suitcase and dumping it in the desert.

Chao argued there was insufficient evidence to convict him of robbery and first-degree murder. Idiens was playing poker at the Mirage when he got a phone call and told a friend he had to go to the Imperial Palace to collect some money owed to him.

Idiens and Chao were seen on surveillance video entering the Imperial Palace about the same time. Idiens’ body was found the next morning with a plastic bag wrapped over his head and wearing only underwear and socks.

Chao, 44, also argued there was an error at the trial before District Court Judge David Barker, who failed to instruct the jury that afterthought robbery can't serve as a valid predicate offense to first-degree felony murder.

The majority of the court found it was harmless error, but justices Michael Douglas and Michael Cherry held that a properly instructed jury would not have found Chao guilty of premeditated murder.

In the case of Chipeta, the court rejected his plea that his confession wasn't voluntary. During his first interview with detectives, Chipeta confessed to killing Makhijani and officers stopped their questioning.

Chipeta later called officers and his rights were read to him. At trial, he said his Miranda rights were violated. The court said the record shows both interviews “portray Chipeta as clear and thoughtful.”

The court said Chipeta “had no difficulty remembering his trip to Home Depot to buy the ax with which he murdered Makhijani.”

Chipeta, 24, is serving his 40-year to life term at the Ely State Prison and Chao is also doing his life term at Ely.

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