WCDA Prosecution Outcome

Convicted Oxbow Park Murderer Sentenced to Life Without Parole

Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks has announced that Katherine Fletcher, age 40, who was convicted of First-Degree Murder last February, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Fletcher was found guilty of killing the father of her young child after a weeklong jury trial in District Court and was sentenced on October 29, 2020 to the term.  

 The case against Fletcher began on July 28, 2016 when the Reno Police Department’s Robbery Homicide Unit (RHU) was called to investigate a report that a man had been shot at Oxbow Nature Park.  Officers discovered the victim, Robert Trask, unresponsive on the observation deck of the park and observed a single gunshot wound to his upper back.  He was transported to Renown Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries.   A single shell casing was found within a few feet of the shooting scene.  RHU detectives interviewed a witness who had heard the gunshot, turned and saw a woman fleeing the scene, pulling a young boy by the hand.  Officers quickly identified Katherine Fletcher as a suspect.  Detectives learned that Fletcher and the victim had been in a protracted custody dispute that limited Fletcher’s visitation with the child. The child, aged 8, was identified as the subject of the custody dispute.   During the custody dispute Fletcher had made numerous and repeated false allegations against the victim to try to regain custody rights.  On the night of the shooting, Fletcher and the victim met at Oxbow Park.  After nearly an hour, Fletcher shot the victim in the back, as the child stood near his father.  In a police interview, Fletcher claimed not to know how the victim was shot and denied being the shooter.  The child told police that his mother claimed a man shot from the bushes.  RHU detectives later learned that Fletcher had purchased a pistol in the weeks before the murder and went target shooting.   Despite exhaustive searches, the firearm was never recovered.  Ballistics evidence showed the shell casing to be a Hornady Critical Duty hollow point round and the bullet from the victim’s chest to be consistent with that round.  Fletcher was previously convicted of Child Neglect against her son and Burglary in Possession of a Firearm. Fletcher was arrested and this office filed open murder charges against her.  

At sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Amos Stege argued that killing Trask in front of his son earned the defendant life without parole. “The cruelty of this crime is compounded by the lifelong traumatic effects on the child”, said DDA Stege. Following this, the Hon. Egan Walker sentenced Fletcher to Life Without Parole with a consecutive 20-year sentence for use of a firearm.