Judge delays hearing for man who wants to plead guilty in girl’s slaying

By Dave Toplikar

Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011 | 3:45 p.m.

A competency hearing for a man who wants to plead guilty to killing a 15-year-old girl in a drug-related burglary last year has been postponed until Thursday.

An aide to Judge Kathleen Delaney said that a few minutes before Norman Belcher was scheduled to have his competency hearing today, the judge was notified by one of the attorneys in the death penalty case that the attorney would not be able to attend the hearing.

So Delaney reset the competency hearing to 9 a.m. Thursday so both of Belcher’s defense attorneys can been present.

Belcher’s court-appointed attorneys called for the competency hearing on July 18 after Belcher refused to discuss his case with them and told the judge he wanted to change his plea to guilty for the murder of Alexus Postorino and the shooting of Nicholas Brabham, 34, who was critically injured in the home invasion.

Both shootings occurred Dec. 6, 2010, in the 9700 block of Villa Lorena Drive, near Grand Canyon Drive and Tropicana Avenue in the western valley.

Belcher is being held in the Clark County Detention Center.

He has been charged with burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, two counts of robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, murder with the use of a deadly weapon, attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon, battery with the use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, and third-degree larceny.

Belcher entered a plea of not guilty in March. Since that time, he has tried to have the court appoint different attorneys to represent him.

But in June, the judge said their was no basis to dismiss the attorneys and told them to proceed toward the trial, which was set for Feb. 21, 2012.

However, at a court hearing July 18, the attorneys said they tried to meet with Belcher three times and each time he refused to meet with them. Belcher told Judge Elissa Cadish that he didn’t want to meet with them and that he wanted to change his plea to guilty.

The attorneys told the judge they questioned his competency. And Cadish told Belcher she needed to have an evaluation done before they could proceed further. Belcher then told the judge he would refuse to speak to a psychiatrist, saying that “I’m competent.”

He also told the judge that he would refuse to return to court.

During Belcher’s preliminary hearing, Alexus Postorino’s father, Bill Postorino, testified that he had known Belcher since they were youngsters and that Belcher’s nickname was “Bates.”

During the preliminary hearing, Postorino testified that the shooting followed a disagreement he and "Bates" were having over money that Belcher said Postorino owed him. Postorino told the court that he sold drugs out of his home because he didn’t have a job. He also testified that Belcher was familiar with his home and knew that he kept drugs and money in a heavy metal safe in the home’s master bedroom.

According to Brabham’s testimony, when Belcher broke into the home, Brabham, who was Postorino’s roommate, came to the top of the stairs to investigate the noise and was shot twice. Then, while Brabham retreated into his own bedroom, Belcher came up the stairs and went into the master bedroom, where Postorino’s daughter, Alexus, was sleeping because her room was being painted, Brabham testified.

Police said when they arrived they found both Alexus Postorino and Brabham suffering from multiple gunshots. Both were taken to UMC, where the teenager died.