2009 Year in Review: Mother's Day murder of Rene Angulo

The Mother's Day murder in Washoe Valley of a Carson City teen at the hands of an illegal immigrant was at once heartbreaking and stupefying.

The mystery remains to this day - how did convicted felon and twice deported gang member Victor Rodriguez, aka Steven Contreras, 24, end up in the car of a stranger, 17-year-old Rene Angulo, on that May morning?

Rodriguez initially denied his guilt and seemed poised to offer an insanity defense, especially after officers found him naked and babbling in a field not far from the shooting. But ultimately he pleaded guilty to killing Rene and shooting good Samaritan Wayne Nash, an engineer and assistant Carson High girls' basketball coach, who stopped in the valley to help.

Even at his sentencing, Rodriguez played the tough-guy card, and did not answer any of the burning questions. "You can give me a million years. I'm not gonna beg for mercy," he said coldly.

The judge didn't have the option of a million years, but she did give him the maximum sentence of life without parole.

Nash received a medal of valor from the Department of Public Safety and commen