Nickels sentencing delayed until Thursday

EPHRATA - Snow in the mountains delayed David Nickels' sentencing to Thursday.

The 31-year-old Helena, Mont., man was scheduled to be sentenced Monday, after a Grant County jury convicted him of first-degree murder in September. Nickels was convicted following a roughly two-month trial, and about five days of deliberation.

The defense attorneys, Jackie Walsh and Mark Larra–aga, requested the delays after news reports of near blizzard conditions in the passes.

Grant County Superior Court Judge Evan Sperline listed the reasons to a full courtroom Monday morning.

"Because of the dangerous conditions, the weather service is recommending that travel in those areas be limited to what is absolutely necessary," he said. "I would greatly prefer for the convenience for everybody, including the court, that we proceed today if possible, but I think it's not appropriate to ask counsel to subject themselves to travel under those conditions."

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Ed Owens pointed out the conditions at Snoqualmie Pass were listed as clear and wet.

Sperline responded, saying he understood the pass was open, but it's a different issue than the blizzard conditions expected for Monday.

The judge is also addressing a defense motion for a new trial on Thursday. The motion points at evidence the attorneys stated was not available during the trial. Two of the potential witnesses allegedly pointed to Ian Libby as the killer. Walsh and Larra–aga argued Libby, not Nickels, shot Sage Munro outside of his Ephrata home in December 2009, according to court records.

Prosecutors responded to the initial motion, stating the new evidence is simply rumor, and wouldn't have been allowed at the trial, and doesn't concern whether the jury thought Nickels committed the murder, according to court records.

Prosecutors argued Nickels shot Munro because the Ephrata man was dating Marita Messick, Nickels' ex-girlfriend. Deputy Prosecutor Tyson Hill called Nickels obsessed and jealous.

The two-year relationship between Messick and Nickels ended when she moved to Ephrata and started dating Munro, Hill said. Nickels tried to convince Messick to start dating him again in December 2009, about two weeks before the murder.

The two met in Spokane where he bought her about $1,000 in presents, before taking her back to a hotel room. At the room he showed her a stack of $100 bills and told her she could have the presents and the money if she returned to him. She rejected the proposal.

The situation became worse less than two weeks before the murder after Messick visited Montana. She met with Nickels a couple of times, but still refused his advances, Hill said. When she left without saying good bye to him, he posted an advertisement on Craigslist looking for a gun within five days of the murder.

He used his email account for the advertisement and used his phone number in it.

The day before the murder Nickels left Helena, Hill said. Detectives tracked the path of his cellphone connecting with various towers as he made his way to Spokane. Between the time Nickels received his last call and when he received a call from Messick at 8:51 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2009 Nickels drove to Ephrata and shot Munro

When Messick called Nickels and asked him where he was, Nickels responded he was in Great Falls, Mont., Hill said.

Nickels initially told police he visited Lain in Wyoming. When Nickels called Lain, with officers in the car, Lain said Nickels wasn't in Wyoming and had left before Christmas. Nickels changed his story, saying he was in Great Falls, Hill said

"When officers ask him for any kind of specifics, 'Who did you see? Where did you go? What did you do? Where did you stay? Who did you stay with?' He's got nothing," Hill said.

Nickels told Erick Alsager he was being investigated for murder because he shot a man in the chest in Washington who was dating Messick, Hill said. The confession happened prior to police talking to Nickels.