The man accused of killing a dentist in a murder-for-hire scheme is jailed tonight on one million dollars' bail. Michael Nakvinda appeared in Cass County court today. The 41-year-old Oklahoma City man is charged with murder, robbery, burglary and theft in the death of Philip Gattuso. Gattuso was beaten to death with a hammer in his South Fargo condo October 26th.
Nakvinda came in from Oklahoma last night to be booked into Cass County custody. Officials say he didn't give them any trouble on the trip.
Prosecutors explained why they asked for high bail. Birch Burdick: "the reason for that is that he has no ties to North Dakota, he's facing life behind bars with no parole, and we have reason to believe he would try to escape and perhaps resort to violence to perfect that escape and during the recapture thereafter.
Nakvinda is being held in maximum security at the jail. He asked to be housed apart from other prisoners in a single cell so no one reads his court documents.
Meanwhile, Gene Kirkpatrick, the man accused of hiring Nakvinda to kill Gattuso, is still fighting extradition from Oklahoma.
