Saturday, Sept. 27, 1997 | 4:52 a.m.
But David Middleton's scheduled death by lethal injection is facing a likely postponement because of an appeal his lawyers are preparing.
Middleton, who was given the execution date Friday, also is scheduled to appear Oct. 17 for another Washoe District Court trial on two related counts of being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.
Patrick Flanagan, one of his lawyers, said he would file an appeal after that trial is completed.
"We're preparing post-trial motions, asking for a new trial or at least a new penalty hearing based on prosecutorial misconduct and jury issues," he told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Among other things, Flanagan claimed Deputy District Attorney Tom Viloria asked an improper question of Middleton's mother.
A jury gave Middleton two death sentences Sept. 18 after his conviction for the murders of Circus Circus Hotel & Casino employee Thelma Davila of Sparks and Sun Valley Elementary School teacher Katherine Powell of Reno.
Prosecutors said the two were victims of a sadist who liked rough sex. Their bodies bore traces of evidence that linked them to kinky devices found in a Sparks mini-storage unit prosecutors called Middleton's sexual playpen.
The death sentence carries an automatic first appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.
"The defendant can always waive that appeal, but he'll want to agonize the victims' families as long as he can," Viloria said. "And he'll want to spend the taxpayers' money as long as he can."
Powell's body was found in a Reno trash bin after her disappearance in February 1995. Davila's body was found in a remote area west of Reno after her disappearance in August 1994.
Middleton became the 83rd member of Nevada's death row.
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