Supreme Court: Murder case can go on despite body not being found

By Cy Ryan

Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 | 8:35 a.m.

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court has denied the pretrial petition of a Las Vegas man accused of murder even though the corpse of the man he allegedly killed has never been found.

Michael B. Mills is scheduled to go on trial in June on a murder count despite that the body of 62-year old David Christensen has never been uncovered.

Christensen was last seen leaving Gilligan's Hideaway Bar on Feb. 11, 2011, with Mills. In their petition to the court, defense attorneys say, "No one really knows if he is dead or how he died."

The Supreme Court said Mills, in a confession, admitted he allowed Christensen to stay the night in his apartment. Authorities said Mills confessed to beating the elderly man on the head until he died, then wrapping the body in beach towels and disposing of it in a trash container.

Deputy Public Defender Norman Reed argued that Mills never got proper warnings before speaking about Christensen's death. The Supreme Court said that argument could be used on appeal if Mills is convicted.

The Supreme Court said detectives found two large stains of human blood in Mills' apartment. Detectives also located the victim's car exactly where Mills had said he left it.

"Finally, the victim — a creature of habit who never missed a day of work and visited with his friends on a precise weekly schedule — was never seen again," said the court.

It said the evidence needed only to be "slight" or "marginal" without producing a body for the prosecution to proceed with its criminal procedures. The court upheld the decision of District Judge Stefany Miley, who also denied the petition of Mills.