Slain Carson City man had a darker side, defense lawyer says

Defense lawyers plan to present evidence painting William McCune, who was killed April 2 at his Carson City apartment, as evil.

McCune “seems to have had a darker side that what was previously assumed,” defense attorney Dennis Widdis said during a hearing on discovery and other motions Friday.

Widdis received Justice of the Peace John Tatro’s permission to seek court records from Baton Rouge that he said detailed McCune’s “previous sex offenses in Louisiana.” District Attorney Neil Rombardo told Tatro he has no problem with the defense seeking those records, but that “We’re not stipulating to the admission of any of these documents.”

A few minutes later, lawyer John Springgate asked Tatro to have investigators look into the contents of McCune’s computer system. Springgate said his investigators had turned over to the Carson City Sheriff’s Office “a quantity of what is described as child pornography.” He said sheriff’s investigators “need to take a look at that.”

“I’ve already said OK, run the database. Obviously, as soon as we get the results, we’ll turn them over,” Rombardo said.

He said he is awaiting the autopsy report before deciding whether to seek the death penalty.

Rombardo and the lawyers representing the defendants will hold a preliminary hearing Oct. 8 to determine whether there is enough evidence to try the defendants for murder. Tatro set aside up to four days to complete that hearing.

Makyla Blackmore, 20, Anthony Elliott, 20, Raul Garcia, 22, and Michael Evans, 23, are all charged with murdering McCune, 62, who was the state insurance examiner. The three are accused of beating McCune to death in his Carson City apartment April 2.

According to court records:

Evans told detectives the men beat McCune and demanded his debit card number. They took some of McCune’s belongings and left, but returned the next day to clean up the evidence. Evans told investigators they dumped McCune’s body, wrapped in a blanket, in the Carson River.

Blackmore, Elliot and Garcia were arrested April 6 on the Las Vegas Strip. Evans was arrested the same day in Carson City.