Vipperman v. State

OPINION

A jury found the appellant, Frank Delano Vipperman, guilty of murder in the second degree. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the state penitentiary. He has appealed from his judgment of conviction, asserting several assignments of error. We need consider only one, for it requires a reversal and a remand for a new trial.

On April 20, 1973, David McPeake, an employee of an auto body shop in Las Vegas, heard a shotgun blast, followed by screams, from his employer, Bill Parquette, “Help me, Dave, help me. Frank shot me.” McPeake testified that he saw Vipperman standing in the corner…