The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, February 22, 1996, Page 6, Image 6

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Lotter given death penalty
Falls City man
murdered three
in farmhouse
FALLS CITY (AP) — Gaunt and
unshaven, John L. Lotter showed no
emotion Wednesday as he was sen
tenced to death for murdering a cross
dressing woman who accused him of
rape and for killing two people in the
house with her.
As his family wept, the 24-year-old
Falls City man stared at the three
judges who sentenced him for the
murders ofTeena Brandon, Lisa Lam
bert and Philip DeVine. He becomes
the 11th man on Nebraska’s death row.
“If there has ever been evidence
presented in a Nebraska courtroom
that a defendant engaged in a more
purposeful, calmly considered, delib
erate, premeditated plot to murder, this
panel is unable to uncover such a
case,” Douglas County District Judge
Michael W. Amdor said.
Prosecutors said Lotter and Marvin
Thomas Nissen killed Brandon, a 21
year-old Lincoln woman who posed
as a man, to silence her about an al
leged sexual assault five days before
she was killed Dec. 31,1993. DeVine
and Lambert were killed because they
were in the southeast Nebraska farm
house with Brandon at the time.
Nissen, who received three life sen
tences under a plea deal with prosecu
tors, testified that the duo agreed while
driving to the farmhouse that there
would be no survivors.
Nissen told Omaha television sta
tion KJETV that, if he had to do it all
over again, he would not testify
against Lotter.
“My testimony apparently helped
out John Lotter on death row. and
that’s one thing I never wanted,” Nis
sen told KETV. “Enough people have,
already died over this, no reason for
anyone else to die.”
Lotter’s foster father thought Lotter
should have received the same life
sentence as Nissen.
“He did wrong. But I don’t think
one person who committed the same
crime should get three life sentences
and the other should be killed,” said
Clarence Robinson, who was Lotter’s
foster father from the time Lotter was
7 to age 15. Robinson described Lotter
as “a loving boy” who took care of
him when he had health problems.
The sentencing judges said Nissen
deserved the life sentence because he
cooperated with police after the mur
ders and led officers to the murder
weapon.
Judges Robert T. Finn, Michael W.
Amdor and Gerald E. Moran saw
Lotter as a cold, calculating killer who
was neither drunk nor deranged when
he entered the farmhouse in rural
Humboldt, about 90 miles south of
Omaha.
“The plan to murder Teena Bran
don was discussed feverishly at times,
and calmly at others, during the week
prior to the murders” the judges said.
“The "first attempt to kill Brandon in
Lincoln failed on Dec. 26, 1993.
Thereafter, the defendants regrouped,
and then continued to search forTeena
Brandon in order to murder her.”
They found her in a bedroom in the
farmhouse, along with Lambert, who
was holding her 8-month-old son.
According to Nissen’s testimony,
Lambert begged him not to hurt her
baby, and the child was rescued be
fore she was killed. The baby was
found unharmed.
The sentencing judges found three
aggravating circumstances that would
merit the death penalty for Lotter.
They were: More than one murder was
committed, Lambert and DeVine were
killed to conceal Lambert’s identity
and Brandon was killed to silence her
about the sexual assault. But they re
jected the prosecutor’s arguments that
the crime was heinous, which would
be another reason for imposing the
death penalty.
The judges found only one mitigat
ing circumstance: Lotter was impaired
because of mental illness.
Neither Lotter’s attorney Mike
Fabian nor Special Prosecutor Jim
Elsworth commented after the sen
tencing.
Lotter was returned to the Diagnos
tic and Evaluation Center in Lincoln.
The case will be reviewed automati
cally by the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Senators criticize ‘self-reporting’ measure
By Kasey Kerber
Staff Reporter
Issues concerning student violence
and academic dishonesty generated
little discussion at Wednesday night’s
meeting of the Association of Students
of the University of Nebraska.
Brent Goertzen.ASUN second vice
president, asked senators questions to
gather information for the Task Force
on Conduct Standards and Behavioral
Expectations.
Five of 32 senators present spoke
when Goertzen, who is a member of
the task force, asked for input, and
three of the nine questions were not
answered by any of the senators.
One area that did generate discus
I
sion was a recent recommendation by
Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady to
include “self-reporting” in the Student
Code of Conduct.
Self-reporting would require a stu
dent accused or convicted of a felony
off campus to report it to the Judiciary
Board.
At least one senator voiced his criti
cism of the measure.
“I don’t think that there’s any rea
son for students to say,' Hey, I did this,
now put it on my record,”’ said Jon
Schevc, chairman of the academic
committee.
James Gricsen, vice chancellor for
student affairs, spoke for and against
the proposal.
“It has its merits and disadvan
tages," he said. “I don’t know if it will
help or not."
In other business, ASUN President
Shawntell Hurtgen urged senators to
begin writing letters to Gov. Ben
Nelson and the Appropriations Com
mittee about the $7 million not allo
cated for university salaries, which had
been mentioned by Chancellor James
Moeser at last week’s meeting.
“Now is the time to be active,"
Hurtgen said. “If not, there could be a
tuition increase by as much as 9 per
cent.”
Hurtgen said students could write
letters and drop them off at the ASUN
office to be mailed at no charge.
The issue is expected to reach the
Nebraska Legislature floor for debate
March 13.
Law & Order
A man out for a midnight stroll
saw two people fleeing from a ste
reo store with stolen goods.
A passerby saw two suspicious
individuals and followed them to
27th and Theresa streets, police
said.
He then heard a crash and
watched the two walking north
from Mobile Audio Design, 2701
N. 27th St., each carrying a large
speaker box. He watched them head
southbound on 27th Street, police
said. He was unable to describe ei
ther individual.
Police found the front doors of
the store had been shattered by a
concrete block and a cash register
had been pried open.
The loss is unknown until the
owners can be contacted.
s i
Three people were robbed at
gunpoint Sunday inside a Lincoln
apartment by two men who had
been waiting inside.
Tracy Holman and Stephanie
Hunzeker went to an apartment on
the 4600 block of Cooper Avenue
to visit a friend who lived there, Sgt.
Ann Heermann said.
When they entered, two men
armed with handguns forced them
to the floor and told them to remove
their jewelry and cash, Heermann
said.
A few minutes later, the apart
ment resident, Michael Jackson,
arrived and was thrown to the floor,
Heermann said. The two men took
his wallet, containing $300 cash.
Police contacted the three vic
tims at Bryan Memorial Hospital,
where Jackson went for a broken
nose.
The two suspects, described as
black men, have not been caught.
A domestic dispute brought po
lice to a residence Friday night af
ter an intoxicated man threatened
his wife with a gun, police said.
Vaughn Hackstadt, 47, got into
an argument with his wife, Ruth
Hackstadt, 45, at their home on the
2700 block of Cable Avenue,
Heermann said.
During the argument, he threw
a plate of food at her, which missed
and broke a kitchen window,
Heermann said. Food splattered on
the wall and window blinds.
Vaughn Hackstadt stormed into
the bedroom and came back out
holding a .22-caliber rifle and
threatened to beat his wife with it,
Heermann said.
Ruth Hackstadt called neigh
bors, told them her husband was
drunk and assaulting her, and asked
them to call police.
When police arrived, Vaughn
Hackstadt was asleep in the bed
room.They woke him and cited him
with third-degree assault.
-1
S .1
Pursuit of a man who robbed a
Lincoln 7-Eleven Tuesday night
ended with him firing a gunshot at
two men chasing him.
Chad Chandler, a 7-Eleven clerk
at 4335 N. 70th St., told police he
was talking with his fiancee when
at 12:11 a.m., a man wearing a ski
mask and a dark hooded sweatshirt
entered the store and brandished a
chrome-plated semi-automatic
handgun, according to police re
ports.
The man told Chandler, “Don’t
move, or I’ll pop you,” and took an
undetermined amount of cash from
the register, police said.
Just as the suspect was leaving,
two friends of Chandler’s pulled
into the parking lot, saw what was
happening, and followed him in
their vehicle as he fled on foot, po
lice said.
The suspect stopped in the alley
in between 69th and 70th and Have
lock and Ballard streets. He alleg
edly raised the gun at his two pur
suers and fired a shot, police said.
Neither of the two nor their vehicle
were hit.
The suspect then got into a ma
roon car and left the area. He was
described as a black male, about 6
feet tall, about 170 pounds.
— Chad Lorenz