Police: Witnesses say suspect in slayings of anti-racists at scene

Eyewitnesses can place a 26-year-old Las Vegas man in a patch of desert where two local anti-racist skinheads were shot to death July 4, and police have recovered a gun they believe the alleged fascist skinhead used in the crime before leaving the area in his girlfriend's car.

Homicide investigators are not elaborating on John Edward Butler's motivations beyond saying the homicides were related to skinhead activity.

Butler, known to sport a shaved head and goatee, has been linked to a neo-Nazi skinhead group known to rival a group to which the shooting victims belonged.

Police have said that Daniel Shersty, 20, and Lin Newborn, 25, were targeted and not killed at random. Both Shersty, who was white, and Newborn, who was black, were known within the Las Vegas community for their outspoken ways to end racism.

And police today were not labeling as suspects Butler's girlfriend, Melissa Jane Hack, 22, and the couple's friend, Joseph Michael Justin, 19.

Detectives' interviews with various sources have determined that Hack and Justin were with Butler the morning of the murders when the three drove away from the scene in a car belonging to Hack's family.

Both Hack and Butler are listed in Metro's gang bureau records as belonging to a fascist skinhead group prideful of their white heritage and noted for their neo-Nazi allegiances.

Butler, a burglary felon, also is a known associate of former Las Vegan Johnny Bangerter, who left the area years ago to start a whites-only clan near Zion National Park in southern Utah. Bangerter today is behind bars for a firearms conviction.

Shersty and Newborn's friends had pointed to Butler as the killer in the days following the men's deaths.

The sources were hesitant to go on record with the Sun, however, fearing that their friends' killer would soon come after them as well.

A handful of members of the Las Vegas Unity Skins, an anti-racist organization to which Shersty and Newborn belonged, went into hiding soon after the slayings.

"I can almost see closure beginning," Lionel Newborn said this morning now that a suspect is in custody for his son's death.

"I greatly appreciate the efforts and persistence of Metro and what help the FBI was able to provide. I know there is still work to be done, because there are more suspects, but it is certainly a start."

The elder Newborn credits his faith for his strength in enduring the death of a second son in less than a year. The Las Vegas man also lost his wife a year ago. Newborn said, if able, he will attend Butler's upcoming court appearances, the dates of which are still pending.

"I want to hear the man speak as to why this happened," Newborn said. "I'm sorry for Mr. Butler. In his heart, he had hate. Hate is all-consuming, it is like a fire. If he had God in his heart, and love in his heart, he wouldn't be a suspect in this case and my son would be alive."

The handgun police claim to be the one used to kill Shersty and Newborn was recovered July 15 when police arrested Butler after finding him and Justin in a stolen car.

Shells that crime scene analysts collected at the July 4 crime scene, in addition to bullets recovered from the victims' bodies and the recovered gun, were studied by ballistics experts at Metro's forensics lab and linked together.

Butler was in custody at Clark County Detention Center awaiting a court date on the stolen car charge Tuesday when, about 4:30 p.m., police re-booked him for the July 4 double homicide.

But whether police had suspected Butler of the fatal shootings at the time of his arrest July 15 is a question police won't directly answer.

"Butler was (re-booked for murder) based on probable cause," homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said, adding that the man's arrest culminated lengthy discussions with the district attorney's office as part of the ongoing investigation.

"Believing we know who did it and proving it are two different things. We have to bridge that gap before we can take the case to court."

The witnesses who reported finding Shersty's body in the early hours of July 4 lying alongside his car -- about 150 yards from where police would find Newborn's body two days later -- told police that morning that they had also seen three people nearby who "behaved suspiciously and tried to avoid contact" before driving from the area.

The witnesses wrote down the car's license plate number that police traced to a Hack family member. Petersen said detectives learned later that Hack, Justin and Butler were in the car.

Petersen said police are trying to determine the extent Hack and Justin were involved in the alleged crimes.

"We know," the lieutenant said, "that there were more people involved than just Butler."

Petersen declined to comment on friends' suspicions that Newborn and Shersty were lured by two women to the northwest desert area where they died, three miles west of U.S. 95.

Newborn met the mystery women the day before he disappeared when they stopped by the Tribal Body Piercings shop on Maryland Parkway where he worked to ask about tattoos and body piercings. The women came back to the store in the afternoon of July 3 to visit Newborn, then one of the women called him about 9 p.m. as he was closing the store to invite him to a party.

"He was really excited about it," one man said, asking to remain anonymous. "Spit (Newborn's nickname) kept talking about the girl, that he had a date."

Friends said Newborn and Shersty headed out to meet up with the women about midnight and were never seen alive again. Despite a barrage of media coverage on the murders, the two women have yet to come forward.

Police are asking that anyone who knows the whereabouts of Justin, Hack and Butler on the evening of July 3 and the morning of July 4 to notify the homicide section at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Tipsters may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.

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