LATEST: 13 Action News spoke with Nowsch hours after a judge refused his request to withdraw his guilty plea. The 21-year-old faces anywhere from over 10 years to life in prison in the slaying of Tammy Meyers. The chance of a successful appeal is unlikely, according to legal experts.
Erich Nowsch tells @KTNV he did not shoot mom Tammy Meyers. First time we're hearing that publicly. Nowsch says attorney's kept him quiet. pic.twitter.com/6YsfBjOfqX
— Mahsa Saeidi (@MahsaKTNV) December 10, 2016
Nowsch said his attorney's had previously advised him not to speak with the media. For the first time ever publicly, he denied all of the allegations Friday evening.
"I did not pull the trigger and I was not there that night," he said. "The evidence they have against me is my confession video."
Days after the murder, Nowsch admitted on tape he was shooter. He told police he thought he was taking out people who were threatening his family.
Erich Nowsch was emotional hours after judge denied his motion to withdraw his guilty plea in slaying of Tammy Meyers. Full story on @KTNV pic.twitter.com/OxB2ze85m6
— Mahsa Saeidi (@MahsaKTNV) December 10, 2016
His attorney's had argued to throw the confession out but a judge denied that request.
Nowsch said he was coerced into making the statement and under the influence of drugs.
"There's a reason it took an hour and eight minutes for me to start agreeing with what they were saying and not actually just coming out with details," he said.
Cell phone tower activity records showed Nowsch's co-defendant, Derrick Andrews, in the victim's neighborhood, according to prosecutors. The two men had allegedly been communicating until the time of the shooting.
Nowsch stated that he's never seen those records.
"I would tell them that they need to present that evidence, and they need to prove that came from my phone," he said.
13 Action News spoke with Nowsch for approximately 30 minutes. The 21-year-old was emotional when speaking about his own mother.
He said he did not know the victim, his neighbor, well.
"She's always been an upbeat, happy woman, I seen her walk her dogs a few times.
#breaking judge denies Erich Nowsch's motion to withdraw his guilty plea in shooting death of #TammyMeyers @KTNV pic.twitter.com/u04F7jQnX5
— Mahsa Saeidi (@MahsaKTNV) December 9, 2016
The case captivated the country. At first, many thought this was a road-rage shooting. Now, investigators say it appears to have been a complicated series of misunderstandings.
The victim's husband, Bob Meyers, tells 13 Action News he wants the defendant to get the maximum sentence possible.
UPDATE AT 2 P.M. DEC. 09: A judge has denied Erich Nowsch's request to withdraw his guilty plea in the shooting death of Tammy Meyers. Sentencing was set for Dec. 22.
Nowsch's reaction to this decision. @KTNV pic.twitter.com/k2dfuIGzwJ
— Lesley Marin (@lesleymarin) December 9, 2016
UPDATE ON NOV. 15: Eric Nowsch had a court hearing on Tuesday. He is asking to withdraw his guilty plea.
UPDATE: Erich Nowsch, who is accused of killing 44-year-old mother Tammy Meyers, was back in a Las Vegas courtroom on Tuesday.
20-year-old Nowsch pled guilty to killing Meyers in an encounter outside her home in February 2015 earlier this year. He told a judge last month on the day that he and the getaway driver Derrick Andrews were scheduled to be sentenced that he wants to withdraw his plea.
The judge said in court this morning that he will appoint a Clark County public defender as long as there is no conflict of interest.
Nowsch is claiming that the attorneys who have represented him since his arrest, brothers Conrad and Augustus Claus, are ineffective.
CLICK HERE TO READ MOTION TO DISMISS
A hearing was set for May 24 in regards to the request for new attorneys.
Both Nowsch and 27-year-old Andrews are being held at Clark County Detention Center.
The shooting of Tammy Meyers made headlines across the country because it was originally believed to have been the result of a road rage incident.
