A jury awarded a $590 million wrongful death judgment Tuesday to the young daughter of a woman killed by her estranged husband and to the slain woman's estate.
Darren Mack, once a wealthy pawn shop owner, is serving a life sentence for the June 2006 killing of his wife and shooting of the couple's divorce judge.
Under the award in the wrongful death lawsuit, $530 million will go to the couple's young daughter, Erika, and the rest will go to the estate of his slain wife, Charla, said Hans Jessup, administrator for the Washoe County court.
In a deal with prosecutors, Mack had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the June 2006 stabbing of Charla Mack. He also entered an Alford plea — in which a defendant acknowledges there is enough evidence for a conviction without admitting guilt — to a charge of attempted murder in the shooting of Washoe Family Court Judge Chuck Weller.
Mack said in court that he shot the judge through a courthouse window same day he slashed his wife's throat in the garage of his southeast Reno townhouse.
Mack, 46, has since sought to withdraw his pleas and stand trial, maintaining that he had acted in self-defense and that his former lawyers coerced him into the plea deal.
A judge has previously denied his motions to withdraw the pleas, but another hearing on the arguments is scheduled for next month.
