Thursday, March 18, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Chance meeting puts amateur detective on trail of suspect

Las Vegas resident Conrad Malsom explains Wednesday how he tracked down Charles McCoy, who is a suspect in highway sniper shootings in Ohio. Photo by Gary Thompson.

Pizza and persistence paid off for a self-described amateur Columbo who tracked down a fugitive wanted in connection with highway sniper attacks in Ohio.

The detective work of Las Vegas resident Conrad Malsom, 60, earned him the praise of police and landed him on morning talk shows and national newscasts.

"It's not heroism. It's just perseverance," Malsom said. "I had nothing else to do that day. It was a free day for me. When I saw him I was determined to find him."

Malsom's impromptu investigation began Tuesday about noon at the Stardust, and ended more than 14 hours later with the arrest of sniper suspect Charles McCoy Jr.

Malsom shortly after noon went to the Stardust sports book to meet a friend and share a free pepperoni pizza and two-liter Pepsi he had received from Tropicana Pizza.

Not wanting to waste what he described as a "beautiful pizza," Malsom offered some leftover slices to a nearby gambler.

That man, who accepted the pizza with a smile, had a national newspaper with a photograph of the sniper suspect.

"I knew at that very moment who I was talking to: Charles McCoy," Malsom said. "He was reading USA Today, which I thought was weird because most people have a racing form in front of them."

McCoy was smoking cigarettes and placing small bets on Florida horse races that were televised at the sports book, Malsom said.

Malsom then retrieved his own copy of USA Today from his car. He cut out the article with a pocket knife and ran back to the sports book.

"I walked over and said `How was the pizza? Did you enjoy it?' and he said `Yes,' " Malsom said.

"I kind of shook his hand. I wanted to get that close to look him in the eye. `What is your name?' He told me `Mike.' "

Malsom said he walked away and continued watching him from a distance for about 45 minutes.

Malsom saw McCoy leave the sports book and head into the casino, but did not follow.

He said he then unsuccessfully asked Stardust security officials to let him view surveillance videotape.

Malsom then gathered up a drinking glass, cigarette butts, a book of matches and betting slips that McCoy had left behind at the sports book. He thought police could use fingerprints from the debris to confirm McCoy was actually in Las Vegas.

While collecting the betting slips, Malsom noticed that McCoy had scribbled a 30-line message on one of the betting sheets. The note was illegible except for about four or five lines that started with the word "you."

"You couldn't read the rest. I don't know what it said, but that is the letter I gave to the FBI," Malsom said.

He called Las Vegas police at about 1:45 p.m., and a detective was dispatched to the Stardust. Police said the detective went to the property, but found nothing to substantiate the tip.

Malsom also called the Ohio sniper task force shortly before 2 p.m. In addition, he faxed a copy of McCoy's note to a task force detective.

Task force officials told him they had received dozens of tips and were not impressed when he insisted he wasn't calling in a tip, but an actual "sighting."

"I quizzed them and quizzed them and quizzed them. Does he have a mole on his face? Has he ever used the name Mike," Malsom said.

They did not take him seriously.

Ohio authorities then bounced him to an FBI agent, who told him to take the betting slips and other evidence he collected to the Las Vegas FBI office.

He left the FBI office at about 6 p.m. after agents interviewed him and went to a friend's house in Southern Highlands, southwest of Las Vegas.

There, he accessed Web sites for two television stations in Ohio and the Ohio State Police. He downloaded a photo of McCoy and jotted down information about McCoy's car and his license plate number.

One of the Web sites mentioned that McCoy had $600 and had left his family a letter saying he was going to GameWorks. There is a GameWorks in Columbus, but Malsom thought McCoy might have been referring to the GameWorks arcade on the Strip.

Malsom figured McCoy liked guns, and deduced that he might enjoy the shooting games at the arcade. He arrived at GameWorks at about 9 p.m.

After not finding McCoy, Malsom headed to the Stardust to see if he could find McCoy or his car. Front desk personnel told him there were two McCoys registered at the hotel, but that neither was from Ohio and neither was named Charles.

Malsom was about to give up his manhunt when he pulled out of the Stardust parking lot on to Industrial Avenue at about midnight.

Instead of heading home, however, he took a right and pulled into the parking lot of The Budget Suites of America next door.

Malsom found the 1999 green Chevrolet Metro with Ohio plates that matched the plate number he had memorized from the Web site.

He went to a nearby post office and phoned Las Vegas police. He called 911 three times, but dispatchers kept connecting him to a recording because his call wasn't an emergency, he said.

"I was anxious because at first I couldn't get through to dispatch," Malsom said.

He called the 311 nonemergency number and was put on hold. When a dispatcher responded, Malsom insisted he be connected with an officer.

"He took the information and I told him `I am sitting behind your car, and I saw the guy earlier in the day,' " Malsom said. Over the phone, an officer asked him if the sedan had a black hood.

"I didn't want to look at the hood because he could have had the gun right there," Malsom said. "I said `I will be darned if I am going to get out and look at the hood.' I had told them the license plate three times. That should have been enough."

When he returned to Budget Suites about 20 minutes later, McCoy's car was gone. Police then arrived, and learned from hotel personnel that McCoy had checked into the hotel about 24 hours earlier. An officer interviewed Malsom in a squad car and then let him go while a platoon of police waited in hiding for McCoy to return.

Thinking a man in his 20s might go to a strip club, Malsom searched parking lots at Spearmint Rhino, Sapphires and the Can-Can Room.

While at the Spearmint Rhino, Malsom received a call from a detective asking him to return to the Budget Suites. Police had arrested McCoy at about 2:45 a.m.

Malsom went to the motel, saw police had McCoy in custody, and decided it was time to go home and go to bed.

He agreed to do one interview with a television news reporter, but soon found himself surrounded by reporters from local and national news organizations.

"I started this very reluctantly. I am not seeking fame. I am not a hero. I am a humble man, or I believe I am a humble man," Malsom said. "I am not going to make a career out of this. My 15 minutes of limelight and glory will fade soon. For me, it will fade when I go to bed."

Review-Journal writer Frank Curreri contributed to this report.