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| NV inmate questioned about old murders |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/17/2006 |
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CARSON CITY, NV - A man questioned by Arkansas investigators about information that he killed three women hitchhikers in the mid-1970s is a former death row inmate now serving multiple life sentences in Nevada for a Las Vegas sex crime. Roland Hamilton, 51, whose death sentence in Georgia was tossed out by the U.S. Supreme Court, is at Nevada's maximum-security Ely State Prison. Fort Smith, Ark., police said last week they were questioning Hamilton, but wouldn't name him at that time. "We're cooperating with the (Arkansas) officials and providing them access to the inmate," Glen Whorton, head of Nevada's prison system, said Tuesday when asked about the case. Hamilton got a death sentence for the 1978 fatal beating and stabbing of a Savannah, Ga., man but the nation's highest court threw out the penalty in 1985 and he was paroled for good behavior in 1993. In 1995, Hamilton was accused of attacking and sexually assaulting a 49-year-old Las Vegas woman who was walking along a city street. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping, battery and sexual assault with substantial bodily harm and was sentenced to three life terms without possibility of parole. Fort Smith police spokesman Sgt. Jarrard Copeland said last week that the Nevada inmate was cooperative with investigators, providing details about three women hitchhikers along Interstate 40 between 1975 and 1977. Copeland said the three victims may be buried in the Fort Smith area. Copeland said investigators got a tip in early April that led to the questioning. Police Cpl. Mike Bates said Tuesday that investigators now are trying to contact people who may have known the victims. The first victim is believed to have been Debbie Anderson, in her late teens or early 20s. Investigators were told she was picked up along I-40 during spring or summer 1975, possibly on her way to northern California. The second victim is believed to have been named Cheryl. Her last name is unknown. She was apparently picked up hitchhiking on I-40 on her way to Nashville, Tenn., during spring or summer 1976. The third victim is believed to have been Pamela Williams, in her late 20s, who was apparently picked up along I-40 around June 1977. She may have been traveling from Columbus, Ohio, on her way to Las Vegas. |
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