Jury acquits man charged with 2011 murder

A Clark County jury acquitted a 28-year-old man of murder Thursday after a nearly three-week-long trial and several hours of deliberation.

After spending more than a year and a half in jail, Michael Mills began to shake and cry after the not guilty verdict was read aloud in District Judge Stefany Miley's courtroom. He then hugged his lawyers, deputy public defenders Norm Reed and Carli Kierny.

Authorities had alleged Mills was in a sexual relationship with David Lee Christensen before killing him and dumping his body in an apartment complex's trash container.

Mills told investigators he was not gay and not in a relationship with Christensen. He said Christensen had raped him after a night of drinking. Mills said he had punched Christensen in the face.

There were unanswered questions in the case, starting with whether Christensen was dead. No body was ever found.

Defense lawyers also said that during a more than two-hour-long interrogation of Mills, investigators continued to ask questions after he asked to speak to a lawyer several times.

Afterward, Reed and Kierny said prosecutors didn't prove their case against Mills.

"Justice is done," Reed said.

Reed said he felt the case hinged on whether or not the jury believed Mills and Christensen were in a romantic relationship together.

Prosecutor Christopher Lalli said, "We presented all the evidence we had. You have to respect the jury's opinion. It's their call as to whether somebody is guilty or not guilty." Lalli added, "I am extremely surprised."

Christensen, 61, was reported missing Feb. 15, 2011. An employee at Gilligan's Hideaway Bar became concerned two days earlier after he failed to show up at the bar, near Sahara and Eastern avenues, where he was a regular patron.

The bar employee told Las Vegas police that Mills and Christensen were having a sexual relationship.

Surveillance video from the bar showed Christensen leaving with Mills Feb. 12, 2011.

Mills initially told police he didn't know anything. But later, he told investigators that he and Christensen were drunk when they went to Mills' apartment. He offered Christensen his couch to sleep on.

Mills accused Christensen of raping him and then punched him. Mills told police that the next thing he knew, he was back at his job as a cook.

Mills told police that, hypothetically, if he did harm Christensen, he would place the body in beach towels and discard him in the apartment complex's trash container.

Mills also told police he had tried cleaning up blood from his bedroom mattress. It turned out to be Christensen's blood in Mills' apartment.

Police searched the Apex landfill northeast of Nellis Air Force Base for Christensen's body, but to no avail.

Mills was to be processed out of the jail by late Thursday.