Coroner measurements show the size of abrasion injuries suffered by Peter James Lawrence in his struggle with security personnel at Krave nightclub on the night he died. FILE PHOTO
Jelena Basic and attorney David Sampson talk Wednesday about the coroner's report on her ex-boyfriend's death. Photo by Clint Karlsen.
It has been more than a year since Peter James Lawrence died in a struggle with bouncers at the Krave nightclub in Las Vegas.
But to this day, much of what happened to the 26-year-old remains in question, and attorneys suing the club on behalf of Lawrence's two children suspect a cover-up.
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"We've got a lot of people worried about protecting their employer and protecting themselves," said attorney Ben Bingham, who is representing Lawrence's ex-wife and her child.
Another attorney, David Sampson, represents another child fathered by Lawrence and the mother of the child, Jelena Basic.
Sampson said it appears that bouncers at the club used excessive force against Lawrence by applying a chokehold, possibly beating Lawrence and restraining him with handcuffs.
"There was a taxicab driver who saw it happening and yelled (at the bouncers) to let up on the guy," Sampson said.
But after reviewing the case last year, prosecutors declined to file charges against anyone.
Part of the problem was that it wasn't clear exactly who killed Lawrence during a struggle that lasted about 10 minutes, prosecutors said. Also, multiple witnesses portrayed Lawrence as violent, strong and aggressive.
Lawrence was arrested weeks earlier on sex assault allegations. He pleaded not guilty to those charges, which involved a woman going to an apartment with Lawrence after a night of partying, then saying he raped her when she rejected his advances.
Lawrence also had a history of domestic violence charges and a restraining order against him, and steroid metabolites were found in his system at the time of his death.
An attorney for Krave declined to comment on the lawsuits Friday.
Lawrence's ex-girlfriend, Basic, said he most recently made his living as a male "go-go dancer." He also worked with computers and in photography.
"He was a good person and a good dad," Basic said. "He wasn't violent."
Lawrence previously was married to Julie Ford, and the couple had a child.
Lawrence had a stormy relationship with another woman, identified in police reports as Yasemin Yalcinkaya.
"The relationship was violent, and they broke up but always got back together," a homicide detective wrote of the contents of his interview with Yalcinkaya.
"Lawrence was seeing (two doctors) at the Adult Mental Health Services for his abusive behavior," the reports state.
Yalcinkaya told police that Lawrence had told her he was using cocaine, methamphetamine and Ecstasy. The drugs were not found in his system at death.
Yalcinkaya had a restraining order issued against Lawrence.
On Nov. 14, 2004, she was at Krave when Lawrence showed up. The club is in Desert Passage, a shopping mall at the Aladdin.
"While she was dancing, Lawrence grabbed her and started dancing with her," police reports state. "She told him he was not supposed to be there.
"They went back by the bathrooms and Lawrence was telling her not to have him arrested," the reports state. "Lawrence held her tight and kept telling her he didn't want to go to jail for violating the restraining order.
"She said during the 45 minutes she was with Lawrence, she wanted to get away from him but she didn't want to upset him," the reports state.
A friend of Lawrence, Karl Williams, said that security spoke with the two "and felt there was no problem between (Lawrence) and Yalcinkaya."
But according to one account, security personnel eventually were provided with a copy of the restraining order by Yalcinkaya.
Later, Yalcinkaya said she saw Lawrence struggling with security outside the front doors of the club.
"When she went to see what was going on, she saw four or five people struggling with (Lawrence)," the reports say. "He was face down on the sidewalk when she heard them (security) say he wasn't breathing."
Jeremy Cooke, who had worked security at the Krave for two days, told police he knew "Lawrence from other bars and knows (Lawrence) has been kicked out of some bars for causing trouble."
Cooke said that before the struggle he saw Lawrence walking with another security officer, Ken Bevan, who had a copy of the restraining order.
Bevan showed Lawrence a copy of the order, and Lawrence hit Cooke and started toward the club door.
Outside the club, Cooke said, he and Bevan "were wrestling with Lawrence, attempting to get (him to) go down on the ground."
Lawrence's friend, Williams, was telling Lawrence to calm down as well.
"Cooke said (Lawrence) was so strong and wiry that they were having a difficult time trying to restrain him," police reports state. "When they did finally get (Lawrence) in handcuffs, they noticed he was not breathing."
Others gave similar accounts, according to police reports. One witness said Bevan had Lawrence in a headlock for three minutes.
"Security was holding (Lawrence's) arms and legs trying to restrain him," police reports state. "Williams said (Lawrence) was so violent and would not calm down that Williams decided he needed to help security gain control of (Lawrence)."
Another witness said an Aladdin security officer eventually provided handcuffs so that Lawrence could be restrained.
Once they put him in handcuffs, Lawrence just gave up, Williams told police.
"(Lawrence) was breathing heavy; they rolled (Lawrence) over on his back. They became concerned because (Lawrence's) eyes were closed," the reports state.
An autopsy by the Clark County coroner's office indicated that Lawrence's death was a homicide caused by asphyxia from neck compression. A medical coronary condition was a "significant contributing condition" to his death, according to the autopsy.
The autopsy found the presence of the steroids nandrolone and stanozolol in Lawrence's system.
A surveillance videotape from the Aladdin was obtained, and the video showed a portion of the fight. A palm tree blocks the full view of the fight, according to police reports. Digital surveillance from the club covers only the inside front door area.
Cabdriver Bill Medve also reported seeing the struggle.
"He related that he was driving past the Krave and saw three men wearing dark suits fighting with one man," the reports state. "He said the three men were towering over Lawrence and the fight seemed very unfair. Medve saw a bald security officer holding Lawrence in a headlock-type hold.
"Medve yelled from his taxi, telling them to ease up on the guy," the reports state.
Police subsequently received an anonymous tip that an employee of Krave was overheard saying the bouncers put Lawrence in a chokehold and killed him. The anonymous caller said that after Lawrence died, the bouncers dragged his body outside.
Basic said she hopes the civil suits get to the truth of what happened.
