Accused killer in Circus Circus slayings takes the stand in death penalty case

A 37-year-old man facing the death penalty in connection with a 2018 double homicide at Circus Circus took the stand in his own trial on Tuesday.

Julius Trotter is accused of killing and robbing Sang Nghia and Khuong Nguyen, two Vietnamese tour leaders who were staying at Circus Circus in 2018. Prosecutors have alleged that Trotter broke into their hotel room during a “door push,” in which someone attempts to find hotel rooms with doors left open in order to steal belongings.

He is standing trial on two counts of murder with a deadly weapon, burglary with a deadly weapon and robbery with a deadly weapon.

Trotter maintained Tuesday that he did not kill the two tourists. Although he was later found with several items belonging to Nghia and Nguyen, Trotter testified that his friend gave him the stolen items.

“I told them the same exact story I’m telling you guys right now,” Trotter testified, recalling his interview with detectives after his arrest.

Nguyen worked for the tour company that Nghia operated with her husband. The two of them had arrived in the U.S. days earlier, as part of a tour group traveling from Ho Chi Minh City to Los Angeles, with a side trip to Las Vegas. They were both stabbed multiple times in the early hours of July 1, 2018, in a room that had a broken lock, prosecutors have said.

Said he was meeting sex worker

Trotter was staying in the nearby Circus Circus Manor with the mother of his child, Itaska Dean. He was captured on surveillance footage around 4 a.m. taking an elevator in the tower where Nguyen and Nghia were staying.

He was then seen on video returning to his room about 45 minutes later, with his shirt turned inside out, and he and Dean quickly checked out, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck argued during opening statements last week.

Trotter testified Tuesday that he was staying at Circus Circus for sports betting, and that he was going to the hotel tower that night to have sex with a sex worker.

He said that after having sex with the woman and turning his shirt inside out to obscure a stain, he met up with a friend at Circus Circus who would occasionally sell him stolen items to resell. Trotter testified that his friend gave him a backpack, purse and watch that police later determined belonged to the victims.

Trotter also said his friend gave him a pair of size 11½ sneakers that police found in his belongings after his arrest.

Prosecutors have argued that the shoes had Trotter’s DNA inside of them, along with Nguyen and Nghia’s blood on them. Fleck also argued during opening statements that the shoes matched the description of the sneakers Trotter was seen wearing in surveillance footage the morning of the killings.

Trotter testified that he had the size 11½ shoes because he resells sneakers, and that he has an identical pair of shoes in a size 13 that were not collected by police.

‘Just didn’t go like that’

Cross examination from prosecutors turned tense on Tuesday, as Trotter and Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck spoke over each other. Fleck questioned why Trotter didn’t tell police about the size 13 shoes after his arrest.

“It’s not my job to do the police’s job,” Trotter said.

Outside the presence of the jury, defense attorney Lisa Rasmussen asked the judge if she could use a shoe measuring device to show the jury what Trotter’s shoe size is. District Judge Michele Leavitt denied the request, but allowed Trotter to testify to the jury that his shoe size is 13.

Fleck also questioned why Trotter left Circus Circus with Dean shortly after returning to his hotel room, even though he had paid for another night. Trotter said he had always planned on going to a different casino that day for more sports betting.

“I understand how you’re trying to make it seem but the situation just didn’t go like that,” Trotter testified.

The trial is set to resume Wednesday with more testimony.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.