LAS VEGAS (Court TV) — A Nevada man convicted for a second time for the 2008 shooting deaths of his wife and the hitman he allegedly conspired with to kill her is set to be sentenced in January after a last-minute delay of his initially scheduled sentencing.
After nearly five hours of deliberations, jurors convicted Thomas Randolph of conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of murder with the use of a deadly weapon.
While Randolph was scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 7, a defense motion filed at the close of the day on Nov. 6 prompted the judge to delay sentencing 30 days.
Thomas Randolph was first sentenced to death in 2017 for the murders of his sixth wife, Sharon Randolph, and hitman Michael Miller. His conviction was overturned in 2021 after the state’s highest court found the district court abused its discretion in admitting prior-bad-act evidence at trial.
In this Wednesday, July 5, 2017 photo, Thomas Randolph walks into the courtroom before he was sentenced to death by jurors during the penalty phase of his murder trial at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas. (Patrick Connolly/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
Randolph’s case was the focus of the Dateline docuseries “The Widower.” The defendant was married six times, and “four of his wives died under mysterious circumstances,” reported Oxygen. Outside of his Nevada conviction, Randolph was once a suspect in the 1986 death of his second wife, Becky Gault, in Utah. He was acquitted of all charges in Gault’s death in 1988.
During his first Nevada trial, prosecutors relied heavily on evidence from the Utah trial, including testimony from the man Randolph allegedly tried to recruit to kill Gault.
According to court documents, on the evening of May 8, 2008, Randolph called 911 to report that a masked intruder shot his sixth wife and that he shot and killed the intruder. Randolph recognized the intruder as 38-year-old Michael Miller, a person he befriended a few months before and with whom prosecutors say he developed an extensive, secretive relationship.
A Clark County jury convicted Randolph of murder and conspiracy charges in June 2017 for the deaths of Michael Miller and Sharon Randolph and recommended two death sentences. After his conviction was overturned in 2021, the case was remanded for a new trial, setting the State for a do-over.
Randolph’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 7, 2023, at 12 p.m. ET.
DAILY TRIAL UPDATES
DAY 11 – 11/7/23
- Sentencing of Thomas Randolph
DAY 10 – 8/24/23
- The jury deliberated for several hours before finding Thomas Randolph guilty on all counts.
DAY 9 – 8/23/23
- The state and defense delivered closing arguments.
- The jury deliberated for a short time before going home for the evening.
DAY 8 – 8/22/23
- The state rested.
- The defense began their case.
DAY 7 – 8/21/23
- The lead detective on the case took the stand.
- The jury heard another interview Randolph did with detectives on June 3, 2008. His demeanor appeared casual.
- Part of Randolph’s June 3, 2008 police interview was not redacted and the jurors heard that Randolph was previously married to Becky. After the jurors left, the attorneys discussed where to pick back up in the video after updating their redactions. The attorneys will keep what was already played, but the jury will not hear the rest of the answer. A new exhibit with the updated redactions will be made before the exhibits go back with the jury.
DAY 6 – 8/18/23
- The state showed autopsy photos of Sharon and Miller to the jury.
- A now-retired senior crime scene analyst visited the scene about a week after the incident and noted evidence that wasn’t initially found by crime scene analysts the night of the incident.
DAY 5 – 8/17/23
- The court voir dire-d the jurors about one incident regarding a security guard making a comment about, if they were on a case about a politician, vote guilty and another incident on the elevator where a person with a blazer carrying files asked if they were department 10 jurors. In both instances, jurors ignored these comments. No jurors were dismissed.
- The jury heard from Michael Miller’s family.
- Items from the crime scene were tested for blood and DNA.
- WATCH: ‘The Widower’ Murder Trial: Day 5
DAY 4 – 8/16/23
- The jury heard from the state’s firearms expert.
- The jury learned that between December 20, 2007 – June 2, 2008, Randolph called Miller an average of 2.7 calls a day.
- The jury looked at crime scene photos.
- WATCH: ‘The Widower’ Murder Trial: Day 4
DAY 3 – 8/15/23
- The jury witnessed Randolph do a walkthrough video with law enforcement.
- At the end of Det. Mogg’s testimony, one of the juror’s asked, if at any point during Det. Mogg’s interactions with Randolph, if Randolph cried. Det. Mogg said no. The defense noted in a follow-up question that Randolph was screaming in the 911 call and Det. Mogg agreed.
- The jury listened to Randolph’s 911 call.
- WATCH: ‘The Widower’ Murder Trial: Day 3
DAY 2 – 8/14/23
- The jury saw several photos of Sharon and Thomas Randolph during one of their weddings.
- Elizabeth Lavadour, who was seeing Thomas when he was with Sharon, testified.
- Det. Clifford Mogg’s initial interview with Thomas the night of May 8, 2008 played out for the jury.
- WATCH: ‘The Widower’ Murder Trial: Day 2
DAY 1 – 8/11/23
- The jury hears opening statements
- Sharon Randolph’s family members and friends testified.
- Audio played of Randolph’s voicemails left on Colleen’s home and cell phones.
- WATCH: ‘The Widower’ Murder Trial: Day 1
