Former executive, hotelier faces wrongful death lawsuit

The family of a 23-year-old woman found dead in 2007 inside a Turnberry Towers condominium has filed a $645 million wrongful death lawsuit against a former hotel executive the family believes is responsible and his former company.

Michelle Lynn Hatchel was found dead of a drug overdose on Aug. 29, 2007, in a penthouse leased by Ed Scheetz, then chief executive officer of the Morgans Hotel Group, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. The court filing said Morgans, which owns the Hard Rock Hotel, was also a party to the lease.

The Clark County coroner ruled that Hatchel died from an accidental overdose of oxycodone and cocaine and no charges were ever filed in the death.

The lawsuit -- filed by Hatchel's mother, grandmother, brother and aunt -- claims Scheetz provided Hatchel with the drugs that caused her death.

Scheetz resigned as CEO and left Morgans three weeks after Hatchel's death.

The lawsuit also accuses Scheetz of transferring assets shortly after her death to hide his net worth, in anticipation of a wrongful death lawsuit.

The lawsuit describes Hatchel as a "girlfriend and paramour" of the then 42-year-old Scheetz and says she had "intimate sexual relations" with Scheetz on the day of her death.

The married Scheetz "lived a hedonistic lifestyle ... with multiple sexual partners," used cocaine, and provided the illegal substance, along with oxycodone, to others including Hatchel, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses Morgans of paying for Scheetz's activities, which took place in a private jet or at Turnberry Place.

Scheetz could not be reached for comment.

Morgans, which is publicly traded on the Nasdaq National Market, declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The family said in its lawsuit that Scheetz lied to police about Hatchel's whereabouts the night of her death, and that he had sex with her at 9 a.m. before he left for work.

The lawsuit also said that sometime between Aug. 18, 2007, and Aug. 29, 2007, Hatchel was assaulted, resulting in injuries to her right eye, right hand, left hand and arm and legs.

Contact reporter Arnold M. Knightly at aknightly@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.