Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Mastermind of ex-Sparks councilman’s murder dies in prison

An 85-year-old Nevada woman who was serving two life sentences for her role in the 1987 murder of a former Sparks City councilman has died in prison.

Nevada Department of Corrections spokeswoman Brooke Keast says Janine Hillman died Monday at Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas.

She was serving life without parole at a women's prison in Las Vegas after she was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon in the killing of Valentine Galleron.

Authorities said Hillman masterminded Galleron's death by electrocution. They say she persuaded a Sun Valley couple to kill him in exchange for $2,000 and Galleron's motor home.

The couple forced Galleron at gunpoint to write $40,000 in checks, which Hillman cashed, then threw him in a hot tub in his backyard and tossed a plugged-in television into the water.