Complaint filed with Nevada psychology board against husband of late attorney

The parents of the late attorney Susan Winters have filed a complaint with the Nevada Board of Psychological Examiners against her husband, a longtime Boulder City psychologist they believe played a role in her January 2015 death.

Lawyers for Avis and Danny Winters allege in the complaint that the husband, Gregory “Brent” Dennis, violated state law and his professional code of conduct by treating patients while “suffering from serious substance abuse issues” and then lying to the psychology board about his drug use.

They also renew claims that Dennis’ actions led to his wife’s death.

The board dismissed a previous complaint the parents filed in August 2015, citing a lack of supporting facts. But that was before the parents hired private investigators who challenged a coroner’s finding that Susan Winters killed herself, and it was before Dennis admitted in a sworn deposition that he bought drugs from a convicted street dealer and sought treatment for substance abuse, the complaint says.

“One can only conclude that Dr. Dennis made fraudulent and untruthful statements to the board in his response to the original complaint, as it is unlikely this board would continue to let Dr. Dennis practice while dealing with substance abuse problems,” the new 11-page complaint alleges.

Dennis’ lawyer, Richard Schonfeld, downplayed the allegations on Monday.

“The Henderson Police Department and the board of psychology, both independent agencies, investigated and decided not to take action,” Schonfeld said. “The Winterses can’t accept that reality and continue to spend their resources on this pursuit.”

The complaint follows a Sept. 15 Las Vegas Review-Journal story that raised questions about whether Winters, 48, killed herself on Jan. 3, 2015. The story revealed that Dennis was informed by the district attorney’s office that he is a target of a county grand jury investigation into her death.

The Clark County coroner’s office concluded last year that Winters died after ingesting a lethal combination of prescription painkillers and antifreeze at the Henderson home she shared with her husband and their two daughters.

Since publication of the Review-Journal story, Henderson police acknowledged that they had reopened their investigation into her death.

The reopened case is the result of efforts by Avis and Danny Winters, who refused to believe that their daughter took her own life. The Oklahoma couple, who became wealthy running Sonic hamburger franchises, hired Las Vegas attorneys Anthony Sgro and David Roger to file a lawsuit against their daughter’s husband.

It alleges Winters died under “suspicious circumstances,” and it blames her demise on Dennis, 54, who it contends had a financial motive. It also alleges that the original Henderson police investigation into her death was inadequate.

Roger, who served as Clark County district attorney for a decade, prepared a 49-page report with the help of a retired FBI agent that delves further into suspicious circumstances surrounding Winters’ death and the alleged motives of her husband. The report, which was reviewed by the Review-Journal, was given to the district attorney’s office and Henderson police.

Winters’ family members have said they did not know what kind of drugs Dennis took, but he sometimes spoke openly about taking unprescribed narcotics.

His wife had threatened to report his alleged drug use to authorities in the days before her death.

Dennis acknowledged in his April deposition in the civil case that he “possibly” had bought a number of drugs — cocaine, hydrocodone, Valium, Xanax and Viagra — from the drug dealer before and after his wife’s death.

Dennis has no history of disciplinary action, and his license remained active as of Monday afternoon, according to the psychology board’s website.

Nevada law states that there are grounds for disciplinary action if a psychologist “performed or attempted to perform any professional service while impaired by alcohol, drugs or by a mental or physical illness, disorder or disease.”

Morgan Alldredge, the psychology board’s executive director, has said complaints are confidential, though the board can investigate a psychologist based on public information. That process can take anywhere from three months to several years.

Alldredge could not be reached for comment Monday.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter. Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.