Troy Kell

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Troy Kell is an inmate on death row from Nevada who, on July 6, 1994 killed an inmate, Lonnie Blackmon, at the Utah Corrections Department's Gunnison facility.

Troy Michael Kell, an inmate at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison, Utah, was charged with aggravated murder. Kell stabbed fellow inmate Lonnie Blackmon to death on July 6, 1994.

Prior to the attack, Kell, a white supremacist, had been involved in race-related altercations with several African-American inmates, including Blackmon. On the day before the killing, Kell and two of his accomplices, Eric Daniels and Paul Payne, submitted medical request forms to visit the prison's medical facility. In addition, Daniels forged a medical request form in Blackmon's name so that Blackmon would be transported to the medical facility at the same time Kell and his accomplices were being transported.

Moments before the attack occurred, Kell and Blackmon were moved from the upper tier of the building at the CUCF where they were housed to the lower tier where they awaited transfer to the prison's medical facility. Both Kell and Blackmon were placed in double locked handcuffs fastened to a belt around the waist. Their feet were not placed in shackles so that they could safely descend the stairs from the top tier of the cell block.

By this time, Daniels had also been moved to the lower tier to go to the medical facility. Payne's request to go to the medical facility had been denied because he was in punitive isolation on the top tier of the cell block. Nevertheless, at his insistence, Payne was permitted to shower on the lower tier of the cell block rather than in the showers located on the second tier of the cell block, where his cell was located.

While descending to the lower tier, Kell removed his handcuffs with a partial handcuff key that had been altered with a homemade handle made from melted plastic utensils. Kell also produced a shank. Blackmon was standing with his back to Kell talking to other inmates, when Kell began to stab him repeatedly in the neck, eyes, face, back and chest. Kell was free to use his unrestrained hands and arms during the attack, but Blackmon could only kick at his attackers to defend himself because he was still in handcuffs that were attached to his waist. Blackmon's efforts were futile in any event because Payne choked and punched him and Daniels held onto his legs during the attack.

For over two and a half minutes, Kell slashed Blackmon with his shank, inflicting sixty-seven stab wounds, only two of which were described by the forensic examiner as being capable of inflicting death in the short term. Despite Blackmon's pleas to stop, Kell continued the assault and, in fact, after walking away, returned twice to inflict more wounds, until Blackmon lay motionless on the floor of the cell block. Blackmon bled to death and Kell was charged with aggravated murder.

[edit] TRIAL

State v. Daniels, 2002 UT 2. Following two pretrial hearings, the trial court determined to hold Kell's trial in a regular courtroom located inside the CUCF. This decision was based on security risks, including Kell's criminal background, prison disciplinary record, and overall prison history. In addition, several logistical problems regarding security existed in trying Kell in either of the two courtrooms available outside the prison. Because most of the numerous witnesses in the case were either prison guards or high security inmates, the security risks and costs associated with transporting all of them to a courtroom located outside of the county would have been extremely high; thus, the trial court decided to hold the trial in the courtroom located within the confines of the prison.

At trial, Kell testified that he killed Blackmon because Blackmon had overtly threatened him. According to Kell, Blackmon wanted to make an example of him to the other inmates to demonstrate Blackmon's power in the prison. Kell stated he believed Blackmon was making a threat when he overheard Blackmon say to another inmate on the day of the killing, "Yeah man . . . it's on. You know it," even though Blackmon made no threatening gestures toward Kell. Kell claimed that due to conditions in the prison and circumstances surrounding Blackmon's threats, he was suffering from "extreme emotional disturbance" at the time of the homicide. One eyewitness testified, however, that during the attack Kell's demeanor was "very business like, as cold as cold gets. It was like he was doing a job." Kell was captured on the prison security camera in the act of the murder. Kell was already serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for a murder in Nevada.

Convicted of aggravated murder, the state pushed for and secured a death penalty verdict from the jury. In 2003, he came within a month of execution by firing squad [2], but eventually chose to file an appeal. As of May 2008, Troy Kell remains on death row, as his appeals process continues.

Troy Kell was originally imprisoned, in the state of Nevada for the murder of 21-year old James Cotton Kelly. In 1986, Kell, at the age of 18, was recruited by a 15 1/2 yr. old female companion, Sandy Shaw to "do something." The victim drove into the desert with Ms. Shaw, Mr. Kell and a third young man, where he was subsequently shot and killed. The murder was dubbed the "Show and Tell Murder" by the Vegas media, because defendant Shaw returned multiple times to the scene of the crime, showing the corpse to her friends. Arrested, tried and convicted Sandy Shaw served 21 years and was released on parole in December 2007.

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[edit] Notes

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