Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Man returns home, finds stranger dead in bathroom

In what police characterized as a one-of-a-kind case, a Las Vegas resident arrived home Monday morning to find a stranger dead in his house.

The 31-year-old victim was discovered in the bathroom with a gunshot wound to his head, said Las Vegas police Sgt. Rocky Alby.

"It's rare for someone to come home and find an unknown dead person in their home," Alby said. "This is a very unusual call. We just have to see if we can piece it together."

The homeowner, whom police did not identify, left his house for about two hours, and found the stranger's corpse at about 11:05 a.m. in the 5500 block of East Clubhouse Drive, near the intersection of Sahara and Nellis boulevards.

The victim's identity wasn't available Monday, but Alby said investigators know him from past contacts he had with police.

In addition to the fatal gunshot, police found evidence that three other shots were fired in the home apparently from the same gun, Alby said.

The victim was wearing gloves and carrying a backpack, leading investigators to surmise he may have been burglarizing the home at the time of the shooting, Alby said.

The homeowner was in the process of renovating the interior of the house, and he had left the garage door open slightly before he left the house, Alby said.

The house was in disarray as a result of the construction, so investigators couldn't immediately tell whether anything had been taken from the home, Alby said.

"There is an unknown third party out there we are going to have to identify," he said.