High Desert prison inmate died of natural causes, report says

The Clark County coroner’s office determined that an inmate’s death Sept. 2 was the result of natural causes.

Anthony Blunt, also identified as Tony Blunt in District Court records, died of a heart attack at High Desert State Prison, the coroner’s office said.

Blunt, 57, was convicted of fatally stabbing his 31-year-old brother in 1996. He reported his crime to police.

In September 1998, Blunt was found competent to stand trial, according to online court records. He attempted to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, but that plea was not allowed in Nevada in 1998.

Blunt instead pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the second-degree murder charge, court records show. He was later found to be mentally ill at the time of his sentencing, but not mentally ill at the time the stabbing happened.

In 2001, a Nevada Supreme Court ruling once again instated pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity. Blunt petitioned his conviction in 2010, but it was dismissed when the court found “no explanation as to why (Blunt) waited nine years” after the Supreme Court case to petition.

It was also dismissed because Blunt “was found to be mentally competent at the time” of the crime, court records said.

Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter.