| Crime description: |
INMATE 084033 - RIENHARDT, CHARLES B.
One of Reinhardt's friends
introduced the victim, Michael Ellis, to Reinhardt for the purpose
of helping Reinhardt purchase methamphetamine. On September 4,
1995, Reinhardt, a female friend, Ellis, and his male contact
person met at Charles Nadeau's apartment to negotiate the deal.
Reinhardt gave the male $1,180 cash so he could get the
methamphetamine, and Ellis stayed behind as "collateral". After
several hours when the drugs did not arrive, Reinhardt and Nadeau
threatened Ellis with physical injury and demanded either the money
or the drugs. Early the next morning, Nadeau and Reinhardt drove
Ellis in a Buick to the Reddington Pass area of Pima County, where
they beat him in the face, shot him in the shoulder with a shotgun,
and beat his head with heavy rocks, which resulted in blood
spatters on their clothes. Reinhardt and Nadeau then drove the
Buick to a shopping center, where Nadeau tried to start a fire
inside the Buick. When a patrol car drove into the area, Reinhardt
and Nadeau fled in a friend's car, which resulted in a high speed
chase until the friend's car was wrecked. After officers
apprehended the two, they noticed blood on their clothing. In the
Buick at the shopping center, officers found a bloody towel, a
shotgun, the victim's wallet, and charred newspapers. At Nadeau's
apartment, officers saw blood smears near the entry of the
apartment and spatters of blood leading out to the parking lot.
Nadeau's friends admitted seeing blood near the entrance and on the
interior of the apartment, and on the chair where the victim was
last seen sitting.
PROCEEDINGS
Presiding Judge: Hon. Michael Alfred
Prosecutor: Teresa Godoy
Defense Counsel: Eric Larsen
Start of Trial: February 13, 1996
Verdict: February 22, 1996
Sentencing: May 20, 1996
Aggravating Circumstances
Prior conviction involving violence
Pecuniary gain
Especially heinous, cruel or depraved
PUBLISHED OPINIONS
State v. Reinhardt, 190 Ariz. 579, 951 P.2d 454 (1997). |
