A Las Vegas judge on Thursday vacated the death penalty for a Vietnam War veteran who raped and killed a 68-year-old woman more than 10 years ago.

Frederick Mendoza (courtesy)

A Las Vegas judge on Thursday vacated the death penalty for a Vietnam War veteran who raped and killed a 68-year-old woman more than 10 years ago.

Frederick Mendoza, now 71, pleaded guilty in 2008 in the slaying of Rita Kremberg. But he immediately appealed his sentence, which was handed down by a jury after a penalty hearing.

Under a deal with prosecutors made this month, Mendoza agreed that he would waive any challenge to his conviction and not appeal a sentence of life without parole.

Mendoza had post-traumatic stress disorder after serving more than 18 months as a Marine in Vietnam, said his lawyer, Jamie Resch, who called the jury’s sentence “fundamentally unreliable.”

“This hard-fought and extremely rare agreement helps treat a combat veteran fairly and protects the state’s interest by ensuring Mr. Mendoza lives out his remaining days in prison,” said Resch, who had not spoken with Mendoza since District Judge Michael Villani signed off on the agreement. “I’m certain he’s very happy with this. He’s older and just wants to live out his days with the most freedom he can as an inmate.”

Kremberg was sexually assaulted and stabbed 18 times by Mendoza, and her throat was slit with a steak knife in March 2007, authorities said. The two were residents at Destinations Spring Valley, a senior-living facility near Jones Boulevard and Flamingo Road.

Prosecutors told jurors who decided Mendoza’s penalty that he had a prior conviction for a sexual crime in Las Vegas.

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