Lone woman on Nevada's death row dies in prison


Associated Press

LAS VEGAS - The only woman on Nevada's death row died Saturday at the Southern Nevada Women's Correctional Center in Las Vegas, authorities said. She was 75.

Priscilla Ford had been suffering from emphysema and was pronounced dead at 11:05 a.m., said Fritz Schlottman, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Corrections.

Ford was convicted of killing six people and injuring 23 after she drove her Lincoln Continental down a crowded Reno sidewalk on Thanksgiving Day 1980.

"She had been very quiet for so long," Schlottman said. "No one ever had any problems with her (in prison). I don't remember hearing about her violating any rules."

Ford's numerous appeals of the death sentence cost taxpayers a lot of money and unfairly caused victims' families to relive the tragedy, Washoe County Assistant District Attorney John Helzer said.

Ford had exhausted her state appeals but still had federal appeals left to challenge the death sentence, he said.

"That was such a sad case. It was such a tragedy for so many people," Helzer said. "The fact they had to relive that case appeal after appeal, her death will probably bring some peace to those people. She should have been executed a long time ago."

In 1995, Ford lost a state Supreme Court bid to get her sentence reduced to life without parole on grounds she didn't get a fair trial.

Ford's lawyer had argued there were all sorts of constitutional problems caused mainly by inadequate legal counsel during her 6-month trial.

But prosecutors had argued there was no basis for the appeal - and given Ford's mental state it was unlikely she would ever be executed, anyway.

Expert medical witnesses said Ford was suffering from a variety of mental illnesses, but prosecutors maintained she knew the difference between right and wrong.

"She was angry that day (of the killings) and what she did was what she attempted to do," Helzer said. "She stayed angry and probably died angry."

The official cause of Ford's death will be determined by the coroner, Schlottman said.

"If they think an autopsy is warranted, they'll do one," he said, adding Ford had been a heavy cigarette smoker.

Ford's death leaves 83 men on Nevada's death row.


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