LAS VEGAS " A man who served 12 years in prison for his role in the "Show and Tell" slaying in 1986 has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting his girlfriend in Las Vegas.
A judge on Wednesday scheduled 39-year-old William Merritt for trial June 16 in Clark County District Court.
Merritt was arrested March 5 after police said his girlfriend accused him of dragging her into his house, putting a knife to her throat, hitting her, threatening her life and sexually assaulting her.
Merritt was one of three people convicted in the 1986 slaying of 21-year-old James Cotton Kelly.
He served 12 years in state prison after pleading guilty to accessory to murder, and has been imprisoned several more times for other convictions.
Authorities say Kelly was lured into the desert by 15-year-old Sandy Shaw, robbed of $1,400, and shot several times in the face.
The case was dubbed the "Show and Tell" slaying after Shaw bragged to friends at Rancho High School and showed them Kelly's corpse as it lay in the desert for six days.
Shaw was sentenced to life without parole, but had her sentence commuted. She was granted parole in September and is now free after serving more than 21 years.
A third defendant, Troy Kell, was sentenced to life without parole. He has since been sentenced to death for the slaying of another inmate in a Utah prison.
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