Death Sentence Upheld For Killer Of SBCC Student

The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for James Biela, convicted of the 2008 rape and murder of a Santa Barbara City College student. Biela’s attorneys argued his conviction should be overturned because the jury’s decision was motivated by extensive news coverage, and a public campaign. The Justices unanimously rejected those arguments. Brianna Denison was abducted while sleeping on a friend’s couch across the street from the UNR campus in Reno. Biela was also charged with, and convicted of, sexually assaulting two other women in the months before Denison’s disappearance.