Friend says Righetti asked for help after killing Las Vegas teen — VIDEO
A friend testified Friday that Javier Righetti called him repeatedly after killing 15-year-old Alyssa Otremba, then asked the friend to take him back to the girl’s body.
Once he connected with the friend, Daniel Ortiz, on the night of Sept. 2, 2011, he asked to meet up in their Centennial Hills neighborhood, according to testimony Friday in Righetti’s capital murder trial.
Ortiz testified that when he arrived at Righetti’s home, Righetti told him: “I did a lick,” slang for robbery.
Righetti then went on to talk about seeing a girl with a cellphone, saying he “merked,” or murdered, her.
“I didn’t believe him,” Ortiz said, though he also testified that he was “worried” about Righetti.
Alyssa was attacked on the Friday that ended her first week at Arbor View High School, less than 100 yards from her family’s home on Satin Carnation Lane.
Righetti had stalked the girl for more than half a mile before forcing her into a nearby wash, according to court documents.
He asked his friend for a ride to a nearby 7-Eleven, where he told Ortiz to pick up matches. Righetti filled a silver can with gasoline, and the two drove to a deserted area.
Ortiz testified that he was in “disbelief” when Javier told him about the girl’s body.
“I jumped back in the car and took off” without Righetti, Ortiz said.
Righetti later confessed to Las Vegas police that after raping Alyssa, he tortured her by using a knife to stab her more than 80 times in the face and other body parts, according to authorities. He carved the initials “LV” on the freshman’s body because he felt it was “gangster” and returned later to burn the body, authorities said.
Prosecutors called five witnesses for about two hours of testimony Friday and are expected to call at least eight witnesses when the trial resumes Monday.
Defense attorneys have not asked any questions of the witnesses, and it is unclear whether they plan to cross-examine future witnesses.
After the testimony wrapped up for the day, Deputy Public Defender Christy Craig referred to Righetti’s plea on nine of 10 counts he faces in the case.
“We don’t believe we can put on an adequate defense,” she told District Judge Michelle Leavitt.
A year ago, Righetti pleaded guilty to all counts, including murder with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping and sexual assault with a child in Alyssa’s September 2011 death.
His plea to nine counts stands, but the Nevada Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision rejecting his plea on the murder charge.
On that count, the plea lacked an admission that the killing was premeditated, which prosecutors said should have been included. Such an admission allows prosecutors to ask a jury to consider more factors regarding the severity of the crime when weighing Righetti’s sentence.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci, who has said prosecutors would not mention Righetti’s plea to jurors while they decide his guilt, told the judge that defense attorneys could still challenge the murder count.
“This is just like if a defendant confesses, and the statement is suppressed,” Pesci said. “They can still say the state didn’t prove” the elements of first-degree murder.
If sent to Nevada’s death row, Righetti would be the youngest man in one of the solitary cells in Ely, isolated 23 hours every day.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
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