Nakvinda bail set at $1 million

FARGO, N.D. – Bail was set at $1 million cash Friday for Michael Allen Nakvinda, the Oklahoma City man accused of murdering Fargo dentist Philip Gattuso.

The 41-year-old Nakvinda also requested a single-person jail cell during his initial appearance via interactive television in Cass County District Court.

He’ll get his wish because the only cells with double bunks at the county jail are for minimum security prisoners, Chief Deputy Jim Thoreson said.

Nakvinda arrived Thursday night in Fargo from Oklahoma City after waiving extradition. Thoreson said the jail won’t put any special security measures in place for him.

“He’ll go through the classification process just like all the other inmates do, and we don’t anticipate that there will be any behavior issues with him any different than any other inmate” he said.

Nakvinda’s reasons for wanting his own cell weren’t entirely clear, but he indicated in court he didn’t want other inmates messing up his paperwork.

The 41-year-old showed no emotion as Cass County State’s Attorney Birch Burdick read off the murder, robbery, burglary and theft charges against him in connection with the Oct. 26 death of Gattuso.

The 49-year-old periodontist was found beaten to death with a hammer in his south Fargo condominium after he didn’t pick up his daughter from day care.

Burdick said he recommended the $1 million cash-only bail because of the “extreme violence” of the crime, as well as Nakvinda’s extensive criminal history, the fact he has no connections to Fargo and fled back to Oklahoma City after allegedly killing Gattuso, and that he faces the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted.

“He essentially has nothing to lose by fleeing,” and prosecutors believe he would use violent means to do so, Burdick told Judge Georgia Dawson.

Dawson appointed veteran Fargo attorney Steven Mottinger to be Nakvinda’s public defender. Mottinger’s office said he’d have no comment Friday.

Nakvinda is slated for a preliminary hearing Dec. 3, at which time prosecutors will present evidence to establish probable cause to move the case forward.

Burdick said his office is preparing documents to support bringing Gattuso’s father-in-law, Gene Carl Kirkpatrick, to Fargo to face charges of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit burglary.

Kirkpatrick, 63, is fighting extradition from Oklahoma City, where he remains in jail without bond.

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