NV Supreme Court rejects murder appeal by inmate who robbed and shot friend

By Cy Ryan

Monday, June 1, 2015 | 3:29 p.m.

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of Patrick Wilcock, found guilty of the murder of his friend of more than ten years.

On Feb. 25, 2012, emergency crews found James "Jimmy" LaCella inside a burning condominium near UNLV with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Homicide detectives discovered Wilcock had pawned missing items from LaCella's home including a PlayStation 3. With a search warrant, detectives also found a key to LaCella's Ford in an outdoor garbage can on the property where Wilcock lived.

The two men were friends and had an interest in hobby toys such as remote control vehicles and trains, according to court documents. However, Wilcox lived with his grandmother and mother, and his income consisted of doing odd jobs for his grandmother and selling things such as car parts, and his mother was planning to move to Utah for her retirement. On the other hand, LaCella's mother paid his bills as well as bought him gifts, and LaCella's late father left him $1,000 a month. LaCella had a lot of hobby toys, according to court documents.

Wilcock was sentenced to consecutive terms of 20 years to life with a consecutive term of 5 to 20 years for first degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a firearm, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, burglary, and possession of stolen property, according to court documents.

But, Wilcock argued in a court document that a jailhouse informant named Todd House approached him as a "legal wizard" at the detention center in which Wilcock confided to him the details of his case. Wilcock said his rights were violated when the district court admitted House's testimony.

In a decision released Monday, the supreme court rejected the claim of Wilcock that his communication with Todd House was confidential and in addition there was insufficient evidence to justify the convictions for burglary, robbery, and felony-murder, and denied the request for a new trial.

Wilcock is serving time at High Desert State Prison, according to the Nevada Department of Corrections records.

Adelaide Chen contributed to this story.