State v. Butner

OPINION

By the Court,

McNamee, District Judge:.Appellant, Owen Caudle Butner, was convicted in the district court of Washoe County of the crime of murder of the first degree. The jury by its verdict fixed the penalty at death. Appeal is taken from the judgment and order denying appellant’s motion for a new trial.

Conviction herein resulted from appellant’s killing of Mildred Butner, his estranged wife, at Reno, Nevada, by shooting her three times with a pistol, on December 30, 1947.

Appellant had married decedent in 1933. They lived together thereafter, first in Nevada and then in California. A…