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‘There was no gun,’ Simpson told witness

Minutes after leading a raid on a Palace Station hotel room to retrieve his memorabilia, O.J. Simpson left a voice mail for Thomas Riccio saying he didn’t see anyone use a gun.

Later that night, while Las Vegas police were still in the room investigating, Simpson again called Riccio about the gun issue.

"He said, ‘Don’t say there was a gun, because there was no gun.’ That’s when I told him I saw a gun," Riccio testified Friday.

His testimony came during the preliminary hearing of Simpson, 60, Charles Ehrlich and Clarence Stewart, both 53. They are charged with robbing two memorabilia dealers at gunpoint during the Sept. 13 confrontation.

Each man faces 12 criminal counts, including robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and conspiracy.

There was a "real good" chance Simpson didn’t see the gun, because he was standing several feet in front of the gunman, Riccio said.

On Thursday, the first day of the hearing, Riccio had testified that he knew Simpson would be leading a hotel room raid to reclaim his treasured sports mementos.

Riccio said he also knew the two memorabilia collectors inside Room 1203 had no idea what was coming.

But Riccio didn’t know there would be guns, he said.

"There was no reason for a gun," Riccio said. "They were getting their stuff back without a gun."

At the end of the hearing, which will resume on Tuesday, Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure will decide whether to send the case to District Court for trial.

 

MONDAY

Pawnshop owner accepts plea deal

Reno pawnshop owner Darren Mack abruptly ended his murder trial by accepting a plea deal that calls for a life prison term and gives him the chance to criticize the forces he claims drove him to his crimes.

The 46-year-old, one-time multimillionaire was on trial for killing his wife and wounding the couple’s divorce judge, Washoe County Family Court Judge Chuck Weller. Mack is expected to use his sentencing in January as a public forum for criticizing the Family Court system.

"I do understand right now in my state of mind that shooting at the judiciary is not a proper form of political redress," Mack said in Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Herndon’s courtroom.

 

TUESDAY

Casino remodeling complaint gets look

An international company with expertise in the construction industry was hired to investigate the handling of a complaint about remodeling completed at two hotel-casinos without permits or inspections.

Although one Clark County commissioner cast doubt on the need for an audit, the board voted unanimously to hire Kessler International.

The company’s investigators will determine whether the county responded properly to whistle-blower Fred Frazzetta’s concerns about possible safety hazards from construction work at the Rio and Harrah’s Las Vegas.

WEDNESDAY

Gibbons pushes spending cuts

Gov. Jim Gibbons called on legislators and local politicians to put politics aside and work together to find ways to cut state government spending by at least $285 million.

Gibbons, who opposes tax increases, emphasized he has not decided where to reduce any of the state’s $6.8 billion, two-year budget and won’t be making actual reductions before January.

"It is entirely possible agencies may be called on to make further reductions," Gibbons said during a 90-minute discussion with many of the state’s top political leaders.

 

THURSDAY

Plane crash kills two CAP officers

Col. Dion DeCamp, of Reno, commander of the Nevada Wing Civil Air Patrol, and Col. Edwin Lewis Jr., director of operations for the CAP’s Pacific region, died in a plane crash southwest of Las Vegas.

The two were flying a Cessna 172 around 7 p.m. when their plane slammed into Mount Potosi, killing DeCamp and Lewis, said Steve Cox, spokesman for the Civil Air Patrol.

 

FRIDAY

Deadly driver gets three life sentences

The California man who in 2005 drove his Buick sedan onto a Strip sidewalk, hunting down passers-by and mowing them over with his vehicle, killing three, was sentenced to three life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Stephen Ressa, 29, who defense attorneys said has been diagnosed since with paranoid schizophrenia, told police he thought the tourists were "demons" trying to kill him.

Killed were Gordon Kusayanagi, 52, of Hollister, Calif.; Mark Modaressi, 26, of Irvine, Calif.; and Richard Bradford, 60, of Renton, Wash.

COMPILED BY MICHAEL SQUIRES READ THE FULL STORIES ONLINE AT www.reviewjournal.com/wir

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