LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada death row inmate Patrick McKenna has died, according to the Nevada Department of Corrections.
McKenna, who is known as the “most dangerous criminal in Nevada," was 74 years old. He was pronounced dead at Spring Valley Hospital on April 19.
McKenna was sentenced to death in 1980 for killing his cellmate, Jack Nobles, in the Clark County Jail on Jan. 5, 1979. According to testimony from a fellow inmate, the two men were arguing over a chess game when McKenna killed Nobles.
McKenna had a long list of crimes before he strangled Nobles.
His criminal career appears to have begun in his teenage years. He was charged with kidnapping, rape and assault in 1964 at the age of 17. It is also rumored that he was an enforcer for the Mob and union bosses in Nevada.
In 1979, he was in jail on another set of charges when he killed Nobles.
In August of the same year, McKenna and 2 other inmates took 3 corrections officers and 106 other inmates hostage.
The incident ended in a gunfight and the 2 other inmates were killed.
McKenna reportedly attempted to escape prison several times over the years and was feared inside prison walls. He appealed his death penalty at least twice but was unsuccessful.
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Currently, it is unknown how McKenna died. An autopsy has been ordered.
Earlier this month, the Nevada Assembly has approved Assembly Bill 395, which would abolish the death penalty in the state of Nevada. The bill still has to be voted on by the Senate and signed by the governor before it would become law.
