Omaha spree killer Nikko Jenkins requests new trial
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - An Omaha spree killer continues his quest for a new trial.
Nikko Jenkins is challenging his death sentence.
His team wants $50,000 to study his mental health when he was younger, arguing that the court didn’t hear enough detail a decade ago when he pleaded “no contest”, and was sentenced to death.
Jenkins wasn’t in court this morning, he listened by phone from Tecumseh where Nebraska’s death row is located.
The state asked Douglas County District Court Judge Peter Bataillon to dismiss the motion.
He’s the same Judge who has overseen the case since the murders in 2013.
The state argues the Jenkins spree killings is one of the most scrutinized cases in Nebraska history.
Pointing out that not only did Jenkins’ doctors testify before lawmakers, but the state’s ombudsman did an independent analysis of how the system broke down could be better.
Jenkins murdered four people in 10 days, just two weeks after he got out of prison.
The families of two of the victims, Curtis Bradford and Andrea Kreuger, have called these latest pleas “ridiculous”, and that Jenkins is exactly where he belongs for the safety of every Nebraskan.
The defense said Jenkins had poor representation; and that the public defender should have urged Jenkins to go to trial and plead insanity, or that his IQ was too low to be sentenced to death.
At the time, Jenkins told the Judge that he’s smarter than that and wasn’t going to use that defense.
Jenkins wanted to represent himself before the Judge ordered him to have an attorney.
The Judge also reminded the court that during the trial, he had to decide between the dueling diagnoses.
Some forensic psychologists said Jenkins was mentally ill, suffering from several conditions.
Others said he knew right from wrong, and was faking mental illness.
No decision today.
The Judge took it under advisement.
Jenkins tried to say something at the hearing, but the judge said he would have none of that. His attorneys would be doing the talking.
They believe that Jenkins’ case deserves extra scrutiny because it’s a death penalty case.
Copyright 2024 WOWT. All rights reserved.
