State v. Gambetta

208 P.2d 1059, 66 Nev. 317, 1949 Nev. LEXIS 67
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 16, 1949
Docket3549
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 208 P.2d 1059 (State v. Gambetta) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nevada Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Gambetta, 208 P.2d 1059, 66 Nev. 317, 1949 Nev. LEXIS 67 (Neb. 1949).

Opinions

*320 OPINION

By the Court,

Badt, J.:

Appellant Eugene Leo Gambetta was convicted in the district court of Washoe county for the crime of murder in the first degree and the jury imposed the death penalty. Gambetta has appealed from the judgment and from the order denying his motion'for a new trial. Before considering his seven assignments of error a recital of the facts is necessary. These facts appear from three separate confessions made by the defendant to three separate officers in San Francisco immediately following his apprehension and also from certain additional, independent and corroborative evidence adduced at the trial.

Appellant and deceased, Thelma Ribail, were married in January 1945 and lived in an apartment in San Francisco. Following marital difficulties Thelma left appellant in March 1948, and established her residence at the Gibson Apartments in Reno with her sister Lola LaPoint. Defendant jnade several trips from San Francisco to Reno in efforts to contact his wife, and did contact her on four or more occasions, forcing her at the point of a gun to accompany him in a car. On May 29, 1948, approximately a month and a half before the fatal shooting, deceased, learning of the presence of defendant in Reno, attempted to leave her apartment in a taxicab driven by one Eugene Pettipiece who had been sent by Thelma’s' sister Lola for the purpose. • However, as Thelma was leaving the front entrance of the Gibson Apartments in Pettipiece’s taxi, appellant appeared, brandished a chrome plated, shiny revolver, ordered Pettipiece to drive off in his cab, and stated, “I’ll blow her guts all over the sidewalk.” Pettipiece reported the incident to. Lola, who in turn reported it to the police. An hour later defendant was arrested, and the loaded revolver was found in his car. Defendant was fined $50 for violation of a city ordinance in connection with his *321 possession of the gun and he paid his fine and returned to San Francisco.. On June 19 he again returned to Reno, discovered his wife coming out of a night club with another man, followed them to another night club and subsequently drove to her apartment house and waited there until she and her companion arrived about 5:30 in the morning. Defendant states, “* * * I didn’t kill him then. I don’t know why. I was hot enough. * * * I went downtown and got drunk and went back to kill them and the car was gone.” He cached his automatic pistol in a hedge across the street from Thelma’s apartment, drove downtown, got drunk, was arrested for colliding with another car and before being released the following morning, was served with divorce papers. On June 23, 1948, at a meeting in the office of his wife’s attorney, he expressed bitterness toward his wife and said he should have shot her before. When his wife’s attorney suggested that it was lucky that he did not do so, appellant expressed the conviction that no jury would convict him. He did, however, sign an appearance in the divorce action with a waiver of time, etc., as a result of which the deceased obtained her divorce and the restoration of her former name Thelma Ribail. Before returning to San Francisco defendant again cached the automatic in the hedge across the street from the Gibson Apartments. On July 8,1948, on receiving information that appellant had again returned to Reno, deceased and her sister Lola, with the assistance of the district attorney, filed a complaint with the justice of the peace and again obtained a warrant for defendant’s arrest. At that time the sisters agreed that if appellant should “get” either of them she would throw her purse or shoes or something belonging to her away so that if such articles were found the other “would know that Gambetta had her.” Both sisters were in constant terror of the defendant.

On July 14, 1948, defendant rented a light-gray Ford sedan in San Francisco and drove to Reno, arriving *322 about 7:00 p. m., where he first ascertained that the pistol was still in the hedge fully loaded. He unsuccessfully tried to locate his wife that evening and stayed at a motel in Reno. The following day, July 15, at 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon he first saw deceased driving a Lincoln sedan with a Nevada license No. 40-998. He followed the car but lost her, and later found the Lincoln sedan parked by her apartment. Later he drove to various clubs trying to locate her and finally saw her coming out of a club or restaurant with another girl and a man. He drove back to her apartment and after waiting for some time, drove off and again met deceased and her male companion leaving another club. He drove back to the apartment, waited till 4: 30 a. m., drove downtown again, and again observed deceased and her male companion leaving another club. He again drove back to the apartment and waited for them to return, which they did about 5:00 a. m. Appellant approached them with his gun in his hand, and ordered Thelma’s companion to leave, which he did. An argument ensued between appellant and deceased and he struck her between the eyes with the butt of his gun — the gun being discharged in the process but apparently doing no other injury. Two persons heard the shot and fixed the time at 4: 55 a. m. The blow from the butt of the gun resulted in a cut one and one-half inches long and about one-third inch deep from which blood flowed and ran into the deceased’s eyes and upon her clothes and to the street. Some drops were upon her shoes, which were subsequently found. Appellant forced deceased to get into his car, drove north to Fourth Street and turned east. As they approached Sutro Street deceased stated that she would jump out of the car and appellant said, “If you jump I’ll shoot you.” She started to jump out and he shot her. He stopped as quickly as he could, backed the car up to where she was, ascertained that she was dead, picked her up and put her on the back seat of his car, turned around and drove around Reno for about an *323 hour and a half, called again at her apartment for the purpose, as he stated later, of killing the deceased’s sister Lola. He was unable to gain entrance, drove south from Reno, turned west on what is known as the Mt. Rose road and stopped in the neighborhood of the Callahan ranch cutoff and transferred the body to the trunk compartment of the car. He then drove to Highway 50 and to San Francisco by way of Placerville, Sacramento and the Golden Gate Bridge and parked on the Great Highway facing the ocean in the vicinity of the Park Commissary where he was arrested about 5:00 p. m. by two officers of the San Francisco Police Department. These officers had received information that Gambetta, in a car bearing California license No. 3L1444, was wanted for investigation of kidnap and murder and that he was armed and dangerous. Defendant readily admitted his name and that deceased’s body was in the trunk of the car. The .32 caliber automatic pistol with six cartridges was found on the front seat. During the course of the afternoon appellant frankly made three statements outlining most of the facts substantially as above recited. On July 20, 1948, the district attorney of Washoe county filed an information charging the defendant with murder. He waived his preliminary examination and was arraigned on the same day and entered a plea of not guilty. His trial commenced August 9,1948, at which time facts as above recited were submitted to the jury.

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Bluebook (online)
208 P.2d 1059, 66 Nev. 317, 1949 Nev. LEXIS 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gambetta-nev-1949.