The attorneys for the Nevada inmate accused of four 1984 hammer murders in the Denver area want another timeout in the fight over his extradition to Colorado – their fourth request for a delay in the case – 9Wants to Know has learned.
Ewing, 58, faces multiple charges in the 1984 murders of Patricia Louise Smith in Lakewood and Bruce and Debra Bennett and their 7-year-old daughter, Melissa, in Aurora. Ewing is also accused of savagely beating the Bennetts’ other daughter, 3-year-old Vanessa, who survived.
(In October 2018, Kevin Vaughan spoke to Vanessa and her grandmother Connie about trying to move on from the horrific crimes. Watch those conversations in the video above.)
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At issue is the appeal filed with the Nevada Supreme Court by Alex Christopher Ewing’s lawyers that seeks to invalidate a judge’s order issued last Dec. 4 that paved the way for the man’s return to Colorado.
Ewing’s final brief was due Wednesday.
“Mr. Ewing and his counsel are unable to complete and file a reply brief by the above deadline,” attorney Martin H. Wiener wrote in a motion filed Tuesday night.
Wiener, who initially volunteered to help Ewing, wrote that the brief filed by the Nevada Attorney General included “71 completely new court decisions that appellant’s counsel will have to locate, read, analyze, understand and be prepared to respond to each of those authorities.
“And all that must be done before reading, analyzing, understanding and writing a response to the answering brief’s 52 pages. Mr. Ewing’s present appeal counsel – unretained, unappointed, and unpaid – have been unable to complete that daunting task.”
Ewing has been behind bars in Nevada for an ax-handle attack on a sleeping couple in Henderson that occurred eight months after the Colorado murders. A DNA test last summer identified him as a suspect in the Smith and Bennett cases.
But after a Nevada judge ordered that Ewing be extradited to Colorado to face charges in the case here, he appealed the decision. Among his arguments is that the judge erred in determining that he was not entitled to a court-appointed lawyer for the extradition hearing. He also has argued that the extradition agreement between Colorado and Nevada is not valid.
Wiener sought a delay in December and further delays in April and May.
Heather Proctor, chief deputy attorney general for Nevada, immediately filed a motion opposing Wiener’s request for more time.
It is not clear how soon the Nevada Supreme Court will take action on Wiener’s motion.
Jefferson County prosecutors have formally charged Ewing with four counts of first-degree murder and two counts of committing a crime of violence in the murder of Smith at the condominium she shared with her daughter and grandchildren. Smith, 50, was raped and beaten to death with an auto body hammer after apparently being surprised by an intruder while eating lunch.
One of the murder counts accuses Ewing of killing Smith “after deliberation.” Each of the three other murder counts alleges that he killed her while committing another crime – robbery, burglary and sexual assault.
Under Colorado’s felony murder rule, a person can be charged with first-degree murder for killing a person in the commission of another serious crime.
The two counts of committing a crime of violence are both sentencing enhancers.
Arapahoe County prosecutors have not formally charged Ewing in the Bennett case but have an arrest warrant obtained in 2002 that lists 13 separate charges:
- Six counts of first-degree murder – two for each of the victims. One count in each case alleges the killings were carried out with deliberation, the other alleges they were committed as part of another felony.
- One count of attempted first-degree murder for the attack on Vanessa Bennett.
- Two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual assault on a child for the attacks on the girls.
- One count of assault.
- One count of burglary.
In addition, prosecutors, in that case, listed five sentencing enhancers – all alleging that Ewing committed a crime of violence.
Although the murder weapon was not found at the scene, investigators believe the couple and their daughters were all beaten with a claw hammer. Bruce Bennett’s throat was also cut.
Ewing is also suspected in two other hammer attacks in Aurora that occurred earlier that month, including one in which a woman was sexually assaulted, beaten and left for dead. However, he has not been charged in those cases – and it is not clear whether he could be.
According to court documents obtained by 9Wants to Know, Ewing was arrested in Kingman, Arizona, 11 days after the Bennett murders, accused of breaking into a home there and beating a man with a slab of granite. Because of overcrowded conditions at the jail in Kingman, Ewing was held for a time at a detention center in Utah.
On Aug. 9, 1984, Ewing was being transported from Utah back to Kingman for a court hearing when he ran off after jail deputies stopped the transport van in Henderson, Nevada, for a bathroom break. That night, Ewing broke into a home in Henderson, Nevada, and attacked a couple with an ax handle, savagely beating them. He was arrested two days later, convicted of multiple charges and has been in Nevada’s prison system ever since.
Contact 9NEWS reporter Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.
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