Troy Kell

Troy Kell is an inmate on death row from Nevada who, on July 6, 1994 killed an inmate, Lonnie Blackmon, at the Utah Corrections Department's Gunnison facility. Once in prison, Kell became a white supremacist leader [http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,680194690,00.html] . Prior to the attack on Blackmon, Kell had been involved in race-related altercations with several black inmates, including Blackmon. [ [http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/Pending/03/jun03.htm June 2003 Executions (Stayed)] , "ProDeathPenalty.com", accessed 28 Jun 2007] The murder was captured on the prison security closed-circuit TV camera. HBO, in cooperation with Blowback Productions filmed a documentary, entitled, "Gladiator Days: Anatomy of a Prison Murder," released in 2002 of the Troy Kell/Eric Daniels (codefendant)/Lonnie Blackmon(victim) case/murder, and is still available for purchase as of 2008. The documentary shows footage of the initial trial in 1986, statements from guards, disturbing footage of the attack/homicide, captured by the CCTV within the Utah Prison in Gunnison, Utah.

Due to security concerns, the state won the right to hold Kell's trial in a courtroom within the Utah State Prison facility. Convicted of aggravated murder, the state pushed for and secured a death penalty verdict from the jury. In 2003, he came within a month of execution by firing squad [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-05-23-firing-squad_x.htm] , but eventually chose to file an appeal. As of May 2008, Troy Kell remains on death row, as his appeals process continues.

Troy Kell was originally imprisoned in the state of Nevada for the murder of 21-year old James Cotton Kelly. In 1986, Kell, at the age of 18, was asked by a 15 1/2 year-old female companion, Sandy Shaw, to "do something." The victim drove into the dessert with Ms. Shaw, Mr. Kell and a third young man, where he was subsequently shot and killed by Kell. The murder was dubbed the "Show and Tell Murder" by Las Vegas media, because defendant Shaw returned to the scene of the crime with her friends, to see the corpse. Arrested, tried and convicted Sandy Shaw served 21 years and was released on parole in December 2007. Kell was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He was transferred to Utah because of violent altercations between himself and other inmates and gang affiliations. [ [http://www.lvrj.com/news/9531282.html] John L. Smith "Maybe it's time to show and tell that teenager mistakes can be forgiven", accessed 03 Sep 2007] .

References

External Links

* [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=ut&vol=supopin&invol=daniels Utah Supreme Court decision, 2002 (Eric Daniels, codefendent)]
* [http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=365174 Utah Supreme Court decision, 2002 (Troy Kell)]