Iraq war vet in Vegas slaying may be granted medical treatment

August 26, 2005
By KEN RITTER
ASSOCIATED PRESS


LAS VEGAS (AP) - A judge granted prosecutors and defense lawyers more time Friday to arrange psychological treatment instead of a trial for an Iraq war veteran accused of killing a woman and wounding a man in a Las Vegas alley.

Matthew Sepi, 20, acknowledged that postponing his arraignment until Sept. 9 will keep him at the Clark County jail without bail for at least two more weeks.

"It's in the state's best interest, the defendant's best interest, and above all the community's best interest," Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure said of efforts to avoid trying Sepi on felony murder and attempted murder charges.

"Is it all right to pass this for two weeks?" he asked Sepi.

"Yes, your honor," Sepi replied
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It was the third time arraignment has been postponed since Sepi's arrest in the early morning July 31 shooting near his apartment in a gritty neighborhood off the Las Vegas Strip.

Sepi, a Navajo Indian from Winslow, Ariz., told authorities he was ambushed in an alley and he reacted according to his military training when he shot and killed Sharon Jackson, 47, and wounded Kevin Ratcliff, 26.

Sepi told police he pulled an assault rifle from beneath his coat and reacted when he was confronted by a man with a gun in the alley. Sepi said he carried the weapon on his way to buy beer because someone threatened him with a knife in the same alley the night before.

Police confiscated the assault rifle, and found a 9 mm pistol and three bullet casings in the alley that they believe belonged to Jackson or Ratcliff. Authorities have not said who they think fired first.

Sepi's lawyer, Deputy Clark County Public Defender Nancy Lemcke, has said Sepi acted in self-defense and should be eligible for treatment instead of trial.

Chief Deputy Clark County District Attorney Chris Owens told the judge that the two sides were "still working through a resolution on alternate treatment." He has called inpatient treatment at a Veterans Affairs program a possibility.

Sepi served in Iraq before he was honorably discharged in May as an Army infantry specialist and qualified sharpshooter. The Army has said he remains a member of the Individual Ready Reserve.

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