Man convicted of Circus Circus murders sentenced to life without parole

A Las Vegas jury has sentenced a man to life in prison without the possibility of parole Double murder 2018 at Circus Circus, sparing his life from the death penalty.

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

He was accused of killing the colleagues during a “door push,” in which someone tries to find hotel rooms with the doors open to steal belongings. Nghia and Nguyen’s hotel room in Circus Circus, where they had checked into hours earlier, had a broken lock, prosecutors say.

Although the jury convicted Trotter of the two murder charges, District Judge Michelle Leavitt will formally sentence him to the theft and burglary charges, plus the deadly weapon enhancement on all charges, at a hearing on January 15.

The penalty phase of the trial lasted Tuesday and Wednesday, with testimony from Nghia and Nguyen’s relatives, as well as Trotter’s family. The verdict was read at 11 a.m. on Thursday

The jury found that the mitigating factors, such as Trotter’s good behavior while in custody and supportive family, outweighed the aggravating factors that allowed prosecutors to pursue the death penalty, including the multiple murders and the commission of the crime while a robbery and burglary.

Trotter was seen saying “thank you” to the jury after the verdict was read.

Nghia was a mother of three and worked as president of a tour guide company that she ran with her husband. Nguyen was one of her employees, and the two arrived at the last minute with a third guide and a group of clients traveling to the United States from Ho Chi Minh City.

Nghia’s husband and Nguyen’s mother both said they were satisfied with the jury’s verdict that sentenced Trotter to life in prison, rather than the death penalty.

“To be honest, the tragedy has already happened, the person has disappeared,” Hung Nguyen, Nghia’s husband, told the Review-Journal through a translator. “With the sentence, I think it is sufficient for the crime… I don’t want to end another human being’s life.”

Khuong Nguyen’s mother, Bong Le, was seen crying throughout much of the trial. While testifying during the penalty phase, she told jurors that her husband died of complications from a stroke after learning of her son’s death. She said she has persevered over the past six years to witness the trial.

“The loss of my son was so painful for me,” Le said through a translator on Thursday. “Today justice was served.”

Prosecutors did not directly ask the jury to sentence Trotter to death during closing arguments Wednesday, instead focusing on the violent nature of the killings. Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck told jurors that Trotter deserves “nothing less than life without (parole).”

“We are grateful for the jurors’ time and attention,” Fleck said in a statement after Thursday’s ruling. “Their service and final judgment have given the victims and their families the closure they deserve.”

Surveillance footage captured Trotter in the early morning hours when Nghia and Nguyen were killed, while catching a ride in the Circus Circus tower where the two were staying. He was then seen on footage quickly returning to his room at Circus Circus Manor about 45 minutes later. check out of the hotel and leave to deposit money at an ATM and gamble at the Palms casino.

Trotter was arrested days later in California, where police found him with several of the victims’ belongings.

Defense attorneys highlighted Trotter’s large family in their closing arguments and said he still keeps in touch with them while helping to support his children by coordinating sports betting while behind bars.

“I want to continue to have a positive impact on the people around me, as far as my family, my children, my mother, my siblings and so on,” Trotter told the jury Wednesday as he asked them to spare his life .

Lisa Rasmussen, one of Trotter’s attorneys, said he plans to exercise his right to appeal the case. Trotter has maintained since his arrest that he did not commit the murders and that he received the victims’ stolen items from a friend, Rasmussen said.

“I am very pleased that the jurors themselves chose to dismiss the death penalty by determining that the mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating factors, and that made the death penalty no longer an option,” Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said that while this was a “very sad offense” that left two people dead, she does not believe her client is one of the “worst of the worst” offenders who deserves the death penalty.

“To me, this is a bit of an overreaction on the part of the district attorney’s office, and I hope that in the future we can better limit decisions about when to seek the death penalty,” she said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at [email protected] or 702-383-0240.