Slaying suspects scrutinized

Police are calling it a crime spree -- a spree that lasted for almost two months, in which the level of violence continuously grew.

By the time Gregory Hover and Richard Freeman Jr. were arrested in early February, two people were dead, a woman was severely injured, and dozens of Las Vegas residents had been robbed, some of them at gunpoint.

Las Vegas police said they have linked Hover, 38, and Freeman, 18, to business robberies, robberies at ATMs and other pedestrian holdups dating to late 2009. The exact number of cases is unavailable as police continue to investigate.

But the focus of the investigation has been two mid-January slayings: Prisma Ivette Contreras, 21, who was found in a burned-out car Jan. 15, and Julio Romero, 64, who was shot to death in his home Jan. 25.

Hover was arrested and charged in Romero's death on Feb. 6. Freeman was arrested Feb. 11 on identical charges. Both were charged with Contreras' death on Thursday.

Police said the suspects chose their victims at random.

Contreras, a service assistant employed by the Mad Onion restaurant at the Hooters Hotel, was stalked by the suspects before being abducted Jan. 14, police said.

Police say she was found fatally stabbed the next day in her car, which was in the desert near U.S. Highway 95 and state Route 165, south of Boulder City. Police believe she had been sexually assaulted.

"It's obviously a tremendously horrific event," Las Vegas police Capt. Randy Montandon said during a news conference Thursday.

Less than two weeks later on Jan. 24, Hover, who was employed as a process server for Junes Legal Service, a local legal support business, visited Romero's home to serve papers to a friend of Romero's he'd not seen in several years.

Early the next morning, Hover broke into the house and killed Romero, according to an arrest report.

Hover then forced Romero's wife, Roberta, into a closet and shot her in the face.

She's currently recovering from surgery at a local hospital, Montandon said.

Freeman later was identified on convenience store surveillance tapes trying to use the Romeros' bank cards, police said. He had been in Hover's car outside the Romero home during the shootings, according to the arrest report.

Police said they were able to learn details of the incidents through Roberta Romero's identification of Hover as the gunman in her home, as well as Freeman's statements to police, which implicate Hover as the instigator in both slayings.

Montandon said police were able to link Hover's vehicle, a 1996 Nissan Sentra, to both slayings.

They also were aided by Hover's tendency to brag about his endeavors, he said.

"He was a gentleman who liked to talk about his crimes to other people," Montandon said.

One issue that is still unknown is how Hover received a work card to become a process server.

Deborah Schuff, owner of Junes Legal Service, said last week that background checks were handled through the Metropolitan Police Department at the time Hover applied for the job in the summer of 2009.

According to state law, a server must have no prior felonies or misdemeanors that involve "moral turpitude," a broad term to define character.

However, Hover was charged in 2006 with three felony counts of passing bad checks with intent to defraud. According to his warrant, he passed off thousands of dollars in bad checks over six months in 2005, including more than $5,700 in checks at O'Aces Bar and Grill and more than $1,000 at Boulder Station.

According to court records, Hover never entered a plea in the case but agreed to pay restitution. It is not clear whether he was ever arrested in connection with the case.

"If there are issues on his background, you have to check with the state of Nevada. They gave him his license," Schuff said at the time of Hover's arrest. "We had nothing to do with it."

Because Hover never entered a plea, the felony charge might have not appeared on a background check -- but police aren't certain.

"I don't know the answer to that question," Montandon said Thursday.

Police said they are researching Hover and Freeman's backgrounds and checking whether they could be responsible for other unsolved crimes.

At this point, they've only linked the pair to two homicide investigations, he said. Montandon said police are asking for witnesses who might have been involved with the suspects to come forward with information.

Although they've linked the pair to several crimes, he believes there could be more.

"We think there are still undocumented victims out there," he said.

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.