After waffling, Henderson police say they have reopened investigation into lawyer’s 2015 death

Days after sending out mixed signals, Henderson police acknowledged Monday that they have reopened the investigation into the 2015 death of lawyer Susan Winters.

“After consulting with the district attorney’s office, we have reopened the case involving Susan Winters,” said Michelle French, a spokeswoman for the Henderson Police Department.

A different spokeswoman, Kathleen Richards, previously indicated that the death investigation was “ongoing.” But late Thursday, after a Las Vegas Review-Journal story was published online citing new evidence in the case, the city’s communications manager quoted Henderson Police Chief Patrick Moers as saying the investigation remained closed.

Through the manager, David Cherry, Moers said the Police Department merely was cooperating with a new investigation by the district attorney’s office.

Questions have surfaced about whether Winters, who served as a part-time North Las Vegas judge, killed herself in January 2015.

“We are cooperating with the district attorney, and the case has not been reopened and it remains closed,” French said as late as 1:30 p.m. Monday.

But by 3 p.m., French said the department had reversed course. That paved the way for it to look into the new evidence uncovered by the Winters family’s lawyers, Anthony Sgro and his partner, former District Attorney David Roger.

Earlier Monday, current District Attorney Steve Wolfson told the Review-Journal that his office and Henderson police were conducting a joint investigation. French was made aware of Wolfson’s comments.

“This case is an active ongoing investigation with the Henderson Police Department in conjunction with the Clark County DA’s office,” Wolfson said.

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said Monday afternoon that his office will work with police and consider any new information or evidence that could alter its conclusions about Winters’ death.

The coroner’s office determined last year that Winters, 48, killed herself on Jan. 3, 2015. It concluded that she died after ingesting a lethal combination of prescription painkillers and antifreeze at the Henderson home she shared with her husband, psychologist Gregory “Brent” Dennis, and two daughters.

Henderson police closed their case after receiving the coroner’s report. Dennis and his lawyers maintain his wife killed herself.

But her wealthy Oklahoma parents, Avis and Danny Winters, refused to believe their daughter took her own life and hired Sgro and Roger to investigate her death and file a lawsuit against her husband.

The lawsuit alleges Winters died under “suspicious circumstances,” and it blames her demise on Dennis, 54, who it contends had a financial motive. It also alleges that the original police investigation into her death was “inadequate.”

Last week, the Review-Journal reported that the district attorney’s office served Dennis, who runs a mental health clinic in Boulder City, with a “Marcum” letter informing him that he is a target of a county grand jury investigation into the death of his wife. There is no word on whether witnesses have been called to testify before the panel, which meets behind closed doors.

The investigation is the result of evidence revealed in a 49-page report prepared by Roger and reviewed by the Review-Journal.

A copy of Roger’s report was given to both the district attorney’s office and Henderson police.

Before Henderson police cleared up the status of the criminal investigation, both sides in the civil case, which was postponed Monday for 90 days, appeared perplexed.

“In my mind there’s an open investigation,” Sgro said. “I don’t know who’s driving the train. I don’t know if the district attorney is helping Henderson or vice versa. But I do know people in law enforcement in Henderson are working on this case.”

Attorney Richard Schonfeld, who represents Dennis, added: “Traditionally, law enforcement refers a case to the district attorney’s office for prosecution.“

An Aug. 8 sworn deposition given by Henderson officer Raymond Wilkins in the civil case shed some light on renewed police activity in the death investigation. Wilkins testified that he reviewed the Winters police file in preparation for his testimony and noticed that a homicide detective had subpoenaed phone records in the case back in June.

Then there was the arrest of Jeffrey Paul Crosby, a convicted drug dealer who, Dennis admitted, had been selling drugs to him from his room at The Orleans. The Review-Journal reported last week that Crosby, 44, is at the center of the developing mystery over Winters’ death.

Henderson police took Crosby into custody July 13 at The Orleans and six weeks later obtained his indictment on a charge of trafficking in cocaine.

Ryan Adams, another Henderson police officer, testified before a Clark County grand jury last month in Crosby’s case that officers “had information from another case that he was selling cocaine from the hotel room.” Crosby has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail. One of his lawyers said he is not cooperating with authorities.

Dennis, meanwhile, has no history of disciplinary action, and his license remained active as of Monday afternoon, according to the Nevada Board of Psychological Examiners’ website, which is updated daily.

Nevada law states that grounds for disciplinary action include whether a psychologist “performed or attempted to perform any professional service while impaired by alcohol, drugs or by a mental or physical illness, disorder or disease.”

Morgan Alldredge, the psychology board’s executive director, said complaints are confidential, though the board can investigate a psychologist based on public information. That process can take anywhere from three months to several years.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter. Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.