Ex-FBI agent gets prison time for hammer attack

A former FBI agent and Vietnam War veteran who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for slaying his son's girlfriend in November 2008 was sentenced Wednesday to eight to 20 years in prison .

Edward Preciado-Nuno, 63, beat Kimberly Long to death with a hammer, striking her more than a dozen times in the head. She also had numerous defense wounds, prosecutors said.

Preciado-Nuno, who testified at the trial, said Long had attacked him with a hammer first and he was defending himself when he killed her.

At the sentencing hearing before Judge Donald Mosley, Preciado-Nuno apologized to the victim's family and to his own family for what had happened.

Defense attorney Tom Pitaro asked the court to take into consideration his client's work with the FBI and service his nation and sentence Preciado-Nuno to probation.

Prosecutor Giancarlo Pesci said Preciado-Nuno already was given that consideration by the jury, which convicted him of voluntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors were seeking a murder conviction in the case.

Long's adoptive father and mother, as well as her biological mother, all testified at the sentencing hearing and asked Mosley to sentence Preciado-Nuno to the maximum allowed under the law.

Mosley obliged them, saying that it was difficult to believe that striking someone in the head 13 times, including the back of the head, was done in self-defense.

Carol Heckeler, Long's adoptive mother, said on Friday that justice had been served by the verdict. "Kimmy can rest in peace now," she said.

Preciado-Nuno, a 25-year veteran FBI agent and former Marine, came to Las Vegas in 2008 to try to settle problems between Long and his son, Jeffery Preciado.

In the weeks leading up to Long's death, her five-year relationship with Preciado had crumbled.

Authorities contend Preciado and his father wanted to evict Long from the couple's home and gain custody of their son in the wake of a fight several days before the slaying. Police were called to the house during that incident but made no arrests. Several days after the fight, Preciado went to a police station to make a report against Long.

On the morning of the incident, while Preciado was staying at a hotel, a confrontation occurred between Preciado-Nuno and Long, sparking the fatal fight.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.