It’s been a couple of days since a Washoe County jury sentenced Tamir Hamilton to death for the sexual assault and murder of 16-year old Holly Quick. Hamilton was found guilty of murdering the teen at her Sparks apartment in September 2006. The crime on its face sounds like many of the murder trials I have covered in the past. But for me, and many of my colleagues I have talked to, it was one of the most disturbing and emotionally draining trails I've witnessed.

The tone began on the first day when Holly's mother Patricia Doss took the stand. She was the one to find her daughter slashed to pieces as Holly lay on her bed. As fragile as a piece of bone china, Patricia described as she tried to wake Holly for school pictures that day. Shaking and barely audible she looked like a caged animal. She must have pulled something beyond courage to talk to the jury that day. By looking at Patricia's face that grisly scene is something that can never be erased. Her testimony followed opening arguments by the prosecution which included crime scene photos. They were so graphic; it was like looking at porn. But I don't mean in the sexual sense. I mean in its explicit nature. The pictures were unrelenting, vile, in your face. Certainly something a grandmother, grandfather, uncle or cousin should never have to see.

I felt dirty leaving the courtroom that day. I had the same reaction when a co-ed took the stand during the sentencing phase of the trail. She was there to testify on previous bad acts of the defendant. She was raped by Tamir Hamilton just two weeks before the murder of Holly Quick. He attacked her from behind as she was opening the door to her brother's apartment. The testimony lasted more than 30-minutes and she never faulted in describing the second by second nightmare. Hamilton pleaded no contest to that crime and will serve at least 14-years for the sexual assault. The co-ed stayed for the rest of the trial and must have realized after seeing the autopsy pictures of Holly, that it could have been her had her brother not saved her that night. As the trail went on some of the other women covering the testimony admitted they were taking showers with chairs propped up against the doors, always looking behind them as they walked to their cars.

I would call a friend at night and ask him to tell me a story, a story that didn't involve death, and violence, and sadness. What is most perplexing is we never really got an explanation for the crime. Quick's family had taken Tamir Hamilton into their home. They called him good natured and easy going. He was even the pallbearer at Holly's funeral. That was until detectives called Holly's dad at the mortuary and told him that Hamilton had been arrested for his daughter's death.

A classic predator? Had he planned this from the very day he was introduced to Holly by her sister and brother-in-law? He seemed to have made friends easily, even rented homes with them and was always on time with the money. There is no source as to what turned the violence against women on and then off again but it was accelerating. Without advancements in science with DNA collection and analysis, and good old fashioned detective work by Sparks Police and the Washoe County lab he might still be out there. Sadly, there are others just like Tamir Hamilton so the tools of crime fighting won't be put away any time soon.