Nesler allowed Davis to live on his family's property in exchange for cleaning up debris. But the agreement quickly soured. In mid-June 2004, Davis called the sheriff and accused Nesler of trying to steal some of his tools.
In front of three deputies, Nesler lunged at Davis, hitting and punching him. According to an arrest report, the deputies restrained Nesler -- 6 feet 2 and 230 pounds -- and handcuffed his bulging, tattooed arms.
Nesler pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and received a 60-day jail sentence. Authorities released him for good behavior after little more than a month, and Nesler drove with friends to his family's land along Shaws Flat Road, next to an old cement plant.
Witnesses said during the trial that Nesler broke into a trailer where Davis slept and pulled the smaller man out. Davis, who had a spine injury that limited his mobility, tried to flee but tripped or was tackled.
As Davis lay on the ground pleading for mercy, witnesses said, Nesler stomped on his head.
The victim's mother said it was a sad mismatch. Her son "was disabled, frail, he couldn't run for help," she said in court.
"It was a violent act. It was a heinous act," said Eric Hovatter, the Tuolumne County deputy district attorney who prosecuted the first-degree murder case. "There's been no visible sign of remorse."
Davis died the next day. Nesler dodged a police dragnet for a week, but surrendered to a Sacramento bounty hunter who had befriended his family during his mother's trial.
Rebecca Nesler said she agreed with Willie Nesler that he had been railroaded. She recalled that while visiting him after his arrest last year, he said that once authorities heard his name -- a modern addition to the lore of this land of gold miners and Wild West killings -- "they already knew his sentence."
This weekend, she plans to visit her mother in prison and tell her about Willie's sentence.
Ellie Nesler, who spent three years behind bars for killing Driver but was released on appeal because of alleged jury misconduct, was convicted in 2002 of buying 10,000 pseudoephedrine tablets, which are used to make methamphetamine, and sentenced to six years in prison.
"I know she feels a lot of anger -- and guilty," Rebecca Nesler said. She said that during one visit, she told her mother that by killing a molester who was likely to strike again, "you saved a lot of boys."
Yes, replied Ellie Nesler, "but I didn't save my own."
