Man could face death penalty in shootings, robbery, teen’s death

Postorino and defendant Norman Belcher had been friends since fifth grade.

“I considered him a good friend,” said Postorino in sometime emotional testimony at Belcher’s preliminary hearing.

Belcher, 35, stands accused of shooting to death Alexus Postorino, an honor roll student at the Southwest Career and Technical Academy where she was a sophomore, and wounding her father’s roommate, Nick Brabham, 31, over a $450 debt.

Bill Postorino said Friday he never owed the defendant, but had paid him anyway despite suspecting Belcher, who goes by the nickname Norman Bates from the horror classic “Psycho,” had burglarized his home and stolen drugs and money from him a few days earlier.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli said Belcher could face the death penalty. A panel will meet later this month to make that determination.

Following the hearing, which included live video testimony from Brabham, who continues to recover from two bullet wounds at University Medical Center, Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure ordered Belcher to stand trial on murder, attempted murder, battery, robbery and arson charges. His arraignment is Feb. 1 at 9 a.m. He is held without bail in the Clark County Detention Center.

Postorino himself was heavy criticized by police after the death of his daughter, which they attributed in part to his drug dealing. None of that mattered Friday. The focus was on the man accused of killing the popular 15-year-old.

Postorino was unemployed after serving a relatively short prison term for a 2004 methamphetamine trafficking conviction. Belcher had previously been convicted on drug trafficking and voluntary manslaughter charges, and has been “in and out of prison” much of his life, according to Las Vegas police.

On Dec. 1, the Postorino home at 9752 Villa Lorene Ave. was burglarized. Postorino suspected Belcher, but his old friend denied it.

“I had no proof,” Postorino said. “I told him to leave me alone.”

The burglar took six or seven ounces of marijuana, $750 cash, roughly 200 Xanax pills, games for a Playstation and a duffel bag, Postorino said. He and Brabham were gone at the time, he said, but Alexus was home from school, sick. She was apparently unaware there had been a burglary.

How Belcher came to believe that Postorino owed him money is unclear.

“I have no idea where the figure came from,” Postorino said.

But Belcher made multiple demands for $450, and on Dec. 4, said Postorino, he gave the money to Brabham, who reportedly gave it to Belcher to avoid “butting heads” during a difficult period in his life.

“My dad was in the hospital dying,” he said, “I didn’t want any problems.”

But Belcher kept asking for more. Postorino said he had been in the home many times and knew there was a safe and a stash of drugs in the master bedroom.

Investigators say he sent Postorino threatening text messages.

Then, on the night of Dec. 6, Belcher broke into Postorino’s home intending to rob him and kill anyone who might identify him later.

Postorino wasn’t home, but Alexus had painted her bedroom walls that day and had asked her father if she could sleep in his bed to avoid the fumes. She was found there, dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

“She had no enemies,” said the distraught man, who had sole custody of his daughter since she was three months old.

Also in the home that night was Ashley Riley, 29, a friend of Brabham.

Riley said she bought painkillers from Brabham and sold them. She said the pair fell asleep in Brabham’s upstairs bedroom after smoking marijuana and methamphetamine.

Riley said she was startled awake by a loud banging noise and the sound of breaking glass. She woke up Brabham, who went to confront the intruder and was shot twice in the torso.

Riley escaped by jumping out of the bedroom window. She injured her ankle and head in the fall.

Postorino said he was at Sunrise Hospital with his sister to discuss with doctors whether it was time to take their father off of life support. Later, he went “gambling and drinking” to get his mind off his father, he said.

Sometime near 3 a.m., Postorino was at the Cannery East casino when a neighbor called and told him to come home, without telling him why. About an hour later, police told him what had happened and asked him to identify any missing items. He said a 60-inch TV, a safe and jewelry were missing, and he named Belcher as his only suspect.

At 3:16 a.m., Las Vegas police motorcycle officer Anthony Cavaricci stopped the driver of a rented 2009 Nissan van for driving 74 mph in a 55 mph zone a few miles from the shooting scene. He ticketed the driver, Belcher, and sent him on his way.

Shortly before 6 a.m. that van was found burning in the parking lot of the apartment complex where Belcher lived, at Lamb Boulevard and Spencer Street.

At about 9 p.m. on Dec. 6, Cavaricci identified Belcher for homicide detective Ken Hardy.

Hardy testified Friday that Brabham on Jan. 12 was able to identify Belcher as the shooter from a photo lineup.

Brabham testified from his hospital bed via a video link. He said he was “pretty sure” Belcher shot him and also saw someone else in the background.

The possibility of an accomplice wasn’t raised, however. A neighbor testified that she called police after she saw a single man struggling to load the television and safe into a vehicle she confirmed looked like the Nissan Versa van.

“I thought, home invasion,” said Brenda Williams.

Williams also said she heard Alexus scream, which she said “sounded like a cry for help.”

The testimony prompted several friends and relatives of the victims to begin crying. Among them was Alexus’ aunt, Jennifer Gonzales, who spoke with reporters after the hearing.

“I loved her a lot,” she said. “I hated hearing that she suffered, that there was a cry for help, and him smiling at us when he was walking out, like he’s going to get away with it.”

“She touched the lives of everyone she met,” said Gonzales, who said she hopes the state seeks the death penalty. “He should be put to sleep.”

When asked if Postorino blames himself for the death of his daughter, Gonzales had nothing to say.

Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512 or read more court coverage at lvlegalnews.com.