Brad Nelson was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the sexual assault and murder of a fourteen year old girl. According to court documents Brad Nelson would sexually assault and murder fourteen year old Amber Graff. Brad Nelson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
Brad Nelson 2021 Information
ASPC Florence, Central Unit
PO Box 8200
BRAD L. NELSON 249535
Florence, AZ 85132
United States
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In June 2006, Nelson agreed to stay with his sister’s teenage kids, 14-year-old Amber Graff and 13-year-old Wade Graff while their mother was in the hospital being treated for Crohn’s disease. Nelson checked into the Silver Queen Motel in Mohave County on June 6, 2006. In the early morning hours of June 9th, Nelson got up and walked to a nearby McDonalds to get breakfast sandwiches and coffee. Wade woke up when Nelson knocked on the door after coming back from McDonalds. Wade opened the door for Nelson and went back to sleep. When Wade woke up at abut 8:40, he noticed Amber was still asleep on the other bed with the covers over her. Wade and Nelson spent the morning going to a few places. They first went to K-Mart, where Nelson purchased a shirt. They then went to a nearby store called Flying J and then returned back to the motel. Wade did some laundry and then he and Nelson went to hang out at the pool. Afterwards, when they were near the room, Nelson asked one of the maids if she wanted a bottle of rum that was left over and she agreed to have it. When they walked into the room, Nelson grabbed the bottle and told Amber to wake up. When she didn’t move, he took the covers off her. She was naked from the waist down and her body was blue; she was bleeding from her forehead and had blood and foam coming out of her mouth. Nelson screamed and the maid called 911. Paramedics arrived shortly after and pronounced Amber dead at the scene. The investigation revealed Amber died from blunt force trauma. Police found a rubber mallet under the bed which had her blood on it. The investigation further revealed that Nelson had purchased a rubber mallet at K-Mart in the early morning of June 6. Nelson’s semen was found on Amber’s groin area, and his DNA was also on her clothing. Amber’s stepfather gave a letter written by Nelson to Amber proclaiming his love for her to the police. Nelson was charged with first degree murder and child molestation. At trial, the court granted the defense’s motion for acquittal on the child molestation charge based on lack of evidence of sexual assault. The jury convicted Nelson of first degree murder and sentenced him to death
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In June 2006, Nelson was caring for fourteen-year and ten-month old, Amber, and thirteen-year-old, Wade, at a motel in Kingman, Arizona, while the children’s mother, Nelson’s half-sister, was in the hospital. On the day of the murder, Nelson left the motel room and walked to a nearby Kmart, where he purchased a rubber mallet. Nelson returned to the motel and, while Wade slept, hit Amber in the head with the mallet and covered her with the blanket on the bed.
¶ 3 When Wade awoke, he noticed Amber was still in bed and under the covers. Wade then walked to the Kmart with Nelson, who bought a new shirt. When they left the store, Nelson changed into the new shirt, placing the one he had been wearing in a plastic bag. They went next door to a truck stop, and when they left, Nelson no longer had the plastic bag. He told Wade he must have left it in the bathroom at the truck stop and went back inside. He returned without the bag and suggested that “some homeless guy” might have taken it.
¶ 4 Nelson and Wade then returned to the motel. Amber was still in bed under the covers. Nelson rolled up the sleeping bag he had been using and told Wade he wanted to return it to the Kmart. On the way out, Nelson told a housekeeper “not to disturb [his] niece because [they] ha[d] a noon checkout.” Nelson and Wade then returned the sleeping bag.
¶ 5 Upon returning to the motel, Nelson and Wade met a housekeeper who accompanied them to their room. When they reached the room, Wade pulled the covers off Amber. She was blue, had foam and blood coming out of her mouth, was naked from the waist down, and bleeding from her forehead. The housekeeper called 911, but police and paramedics could not revive Amber.
¶ 6 Police officers found a bloody black sock containing a rubber mallet hidden under the bed. They also found men’s jeans with blood on them. The sock and jeans contained DNA from both Amber and Nelson. Police also found Amber’s pants “turned inside out, with the panties still within them and the socks within the legs of the pants” as if “somebody had pulled them off.” Investigating officers located the shirt Nelson left at the truck stop and the sleeping bag he had returned to the Kmart. Both had Amber’s blood on them.
¶ 7 The medical examiner determined that the cause of Amber’s death was “blunt force trauma to the head.” The medical examiner found Nelson’s semen on Amber’s body.
¶ 8 Nelson was charged with first-degree murder and child molestation. He admitted killing Amber, but argued it was not premeditated. After the State rested in the trial’s guilt phase, the superior court granted Nelson’s motion for judgment of acquittal as to child molestation and felony murder. The jury found Nelson guilty of premeditated first-degree murder. The jury then found proven beyond a reasonable doubt the only aggravator alleged, that Nelson was an adult and Amber was under fifteen years old at the time of the murder. A.R.S. § 13–751(F)(9). In the penalty phase, the jury determined that Nelson should be sentenced to death.