Ex-handyman sentenced to life in 1982 slaying of pageant queen

CARSON CITY -- A Trinidad man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 1982 rape and murder of a Douglas County beauty queen.

DNA evidence led to the arrest and conviction of David Mitchell for the killing of Sheila Jo Harris.

Harris, 18, was Miss Douglas County when she was strangled in her Carson City apartment, where Mitchell worked as a handyman.

Mitchell was arrested once before in the case but was released when prosecutors said the evidence was insufficient.

In 1999, a DNA comparison of semen found on Harris' body and clothing against blood and saliva taken from Mitchell came back as a match.

He was arrested in August 2006 on the island of Trinidad and Tobago, where he worked as a night watchman for a government agency, and returned to Carson City to face a murder charge.

Mitchell, 61, was convicted by a jury in January and sentenced Monday by Carson District Judge Todd Russell.

"This has really been a case that has just haunted the entire Northern Nevada and Carson City community, and it's time that this matter finally be brought to justice," Assistant District Attorney Gerald Gardner said during the sentencing hearing.

"One thing I've never heard, and don't expect to hear, is any show of remorse or even conscience from the defendant for what he did.

"I wonder, when you're a person of this nature -- a sociopath that rapes and murders a woman -- do you even think of the consequences of what you've done to that victim or to the family?

Mitchell shook his head when asked by the judge if he wanted to say anything on his own behalf.

The judge rejected defense lawyer Diane Crow's request to consider possible parole after 10 years.

"Mr. Mitchell, as he sits here today, is not the same man as he was in the '70s and '80s," Crow said. He had not been in trouble in 25 years and owned his home in Haiti where he lived with his daughter and grandson, Crow said.

"He understands that a life sentence is mandatory. He asks for consideration for the change in the man that he is."