A Nevada man decapitated his wife’s lover after she got pregnant and had an abortion while he was in prison, a Las Vegas judge heard this week.
Anthony Newton, 45, has been charged with the murder of Ulisys ‘Cesar’ Molina. Prosecutors allege that Newton along with his brother-in-law and another woman killed Molina around Christmas 2016.
The woman allegedly lured Molina into her apartment, where he encountered the men and was murdered.
Prosecutors say Newton decapitated the man, then dumped his body in a vacant lot in the northeast valley and set his remains on fire. Molina’s body was discovered in early 2017 after his family reported him missing over the holidays.
About two years later, one of his severed hands was found by a five-year-old child who went to check his family’s mailbox. It’s unclear why the hand was sent to the child’s address or what his family’s connection to Molina was. Newton was awaiting trial at the Clark County Detention Center when the discovery occurred.
Other parts of Molina’s body would never be found.
Now, Newton is facing the death penalty as the case is retried. Newton’s initial trial took place in November, but the judge in the case, Jacqueline Bluth, declared a mistrial during the first day of testimony because one of the man’s co-defendants told the jury about Newton’s past prison time.
On Monday, Bluth, who is presiding over the second trial, cautioned witnesses against making similar remarks.
The alleged affair occurred while Newton was in prison in 2015. The court did not hear testimony about his wife’s abortion in the case, though the defense admitted that she had a “medical procedure.” Still, there was no proof to definitively state Newton forced her to have an abortion, his attorneys argued.
The topic would be too controversial for jurors, Bluth ruled, expressing concerns that such testimony could affect the jury’s ability to treat Newton fairly.
The trial could last up to three weeks, according to KLAS. If the jury finds Newton guilty, Bluth will preside over a separate hearing in which the jury will decide whether to sentence him to death.
