1-10-2010 California:A judge Monday denied bail for a self-avowed white supremacist accused of using California's Megan's Law registry to track down and kill a convicted sex offender at his North Palm Springs home last summer.
Steven Banister, 28, of Desert Hot Springs is charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 10 death of Edward Vaughn Keeley, whose body was found in his back yard in the 64-000 block of 16th Avenue.
Banister also faces two special circumstance allegations of committing a murder during a robbery and a burglary, which would make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors will decide later in the case whether to seek capital punishment for Banister.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Arjuna T. Saraydarian denied bail, citing the special circumstance allegations, and ordered Banister to return to court Feb. 18 for a felony settlement conference.
Travis Martin Cody, 27, is also charged in Keeley's death. A Feb. 10 arraignment is set for Cody, who is in state prison on an unrelated offense and is expected to be brought to Riverside County in the next few weeks, according to district attorney's spokesman Michael Jeandron.
