Jury weighs possible death sentence in 2018 Circus Circus murders

A jury began deliberations Wednesday to determine if a 37-year-old man will be sentenced to die for the 2018 murders of two Vietnamese tour leaders in their Circus Circus hotel room.

Julius Trotter was found guilty Tuesday of two counts of murder with a deadly weapon, two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon and burglary with a deadly weapon. The jury convicted him of fatally stabbing tourists Sang Nghia and Khuong Nguyen on June 1, 2018, after breaking into their hotel room at Circus Circus.

Prosecutors said Trotter killed the two tourists during a “door push,” in which someone attempts to find hotel rooms with doors left open in order to steal belongings.

The jury began deliberating Trotter’s sentence for about an hour on Wednesday afternoon, and they are scheduled to resume Thursday morning. The penalty phase of the trial began Tuesday with testimony from Nghia and Nguyen’s families, who spoke through translators as they described the impact of their loved one’s deaths.

Nghia was a mother of three who worked as the president of a tour guide company she operated with her husband. Nguyen was one of her employees, and the two were last-minute additions with a third tour guide with a group traveling to the United States from Ho Chi Minh City, prosecutors have said.

In closing statements, prosecutors stopped short of directly asking the jury to sentence Trotter to die. Instead, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck emphasized the viciousness of the murders, and said Trotter deserves “nothing less than life without (parole).”

“We on behalf of the state of Nevada trust that your penalty will account for the incomprehensible loss of these families, the endless sorrow that they will never escape, the pain and suffering of the victims and the actions of the defendant,” Fleck told the jury. “And we will respectfully accept whatever verdict you render.”

Did not take responsibility for killings

Earlier in the day, Trotter addressed the jury, asking them to spare his life.

“I want to continue to be a positive impact on the people around me, as far as my family, my kids, my mother, my brother and sisters, and so on,” he said.

Trotter also offered his condolences to Nghia and Nguyen’s family, but did not take responsibility for the killings. Outside the presence of the jury, District Judge Michelle Leavitt said that Trotter could express remorse but could not deny any facts that had been established during the trial.

He asked the jury to allow him to continue his life while incarcerated “and to just try to be a better person.”

The defense called multiple witnesses from Trotter’s family to testify on Wednesday, including his mother, two sisters, his girlfriend and the mother of one of his children. His family said they are in frequent contact with Trotter, and that he still helps provide for his children by coordinating sports bets while in jail.

Kelly Brooks, the mother of one of Trotter’s children, said that Trotter has helped raise her other children, who also maintain contact with him. She read the jury a statement written by her and Trotter’s young daughter.

“I don’t know what I would do if you were to kill him,” Brooks read from her daughter’s statement. “I haven’t been able to even experience how it feels to even have a dad.”

Attorneys seek to sway jury against death penalty

Defense attorneys said that even if the jury grants Trotter parole for each murder, he will not be eligible for release for at least 20 years on each charge, plus any extra time the judge decides he will serve for enhancements on his charges.

“Even the life options are serious punishments,” defense attorney Lisa Rasmussen said. “A term of 20 to 50 years for two different people is a serious punishment.”

Rasmussen and defense attorney Ozzie Fumo both emphasized that the jury has leeway to decide that Trotter should not be sentenced to die, due to any mitigating factor. In his closing statements, Fumo emphasized that Trotter’s death would ripple across his large family, many of whom attended the trial. He said that Trotter can still be involved in their lives from behind bars.

“You can grant him life knowing full well that society will be protected,” Fumo said. “If he gets life without the possibility of parole, he will never, ever get out, unless he leaves there in a pine box. But he will be able to talk to his family, he will be able to talk to his daughters, he will be able to talk to his sisters, he will be able to talk to his son.”

Prosecutors emphasized that although Trotter may have shown a different side of himself to his family, the jury had convicted him of two violent stabbings, which happened while Trotter was on parole for a resisting a public officer conviction.

Fleck argued that when Trotter testified last week, he lied to the jury when he said he was not involved in the killings.

“He showed you absolutely no remorse,” she said. “Now, today you saw a different side of him, but do forget who you saw in this case, and do not forget who you saw on the witness stand.”

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