A Nevada man beheaded his wife's lover after she became pregnant and had an abortion while he was in prison, a Las Vegas judge heard this week.
Anthony Newton, 45, has been charged with the murder of Ulisy “Cesar” Molina. Prosecutors allege Newton, along with his brother-in-law and another woman, killed Molina around Christmas 2016.
The woman allegedly lured Molina to her apartment, where he encountered the men and was killed.
Prosecutors say Newton decapitated the man, then dumped his body in a vacant lot in the northeast valley and set his remains on fire. Molina's body was discovered in early 2017 after his family reported him missing over the holidays.
About two years later, one of his severed hands was found by a five-year-old child who went to check his family's mailbox. It is unclear why the hand was sent to the child's address or what his family's connection to Molina was. Newton was awaiting trial at the Clark County Detention Center when the discovery occurred.
Other parts of Molina's body would never be found.
Now Newton faces the death penalty while the case is retried. Newton's first trial took place in November, but the judge in the case, Jacqueline Bluth, declared a mistrial during the first day of testimony because one of the man's co-defendants told the jury about Newton's past prison sentence.
On Monday, Bluth, who is presiding over the second trial, warned witnesses against making similar comments.
The alleged affair took place while Newton was in prison in 2015. The court heard no testimony about his wife's abortion in the case, although the defense admitted she had undergone a “medical procedure.” Still, there was no evidence to definitively state that Newton forced her to have an abortion, his lawyers argued.
The subject would be too controversial for jurors, Bluth ruled, expressing concern that such testimony could affect the jury's ability to treat Newton fairly.
According to KLAS, the process can take up to three weeks. If the jury finds Newton guilty, Bluth will preside over a separate hearing in which the jury will decide whether to sentence him to death.
