Probe targets lawyer Quon, boyfriend

Prosecutors have informed attorney Nancy Quon and her ex-cop boyfriend that they are targets of a new grand jury investigation into a suspicious Oct. 28 fire at her home.

Quon, 51, and William Ronald Webb, 43, were told in letters late last week that prosecutors plan to seek new felony indictments against them.

The target letters said prosecutors were looking to charge the couple with first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit arson, burning property with intent to defraud and insurance fraud -- all stemming from the fire that caused some $250,000 in damage to Quon's two-story home in Rhodes Ranch. The scheme is alleged to have taken place between Oct. 26 and March 1.

Prosecutors also informed Quon and Webb that they may seek additional criminal charges against them during that period.

Quon's defense attorney, Thomas Pitaro, declined to comment Monday. But he has said that if prosecutors went back to a grand jury, it would be out of "pure vindictiveness."

Las Vegas police suspect Quon, a wealthy construction defects lawyer, set the fire in a botched suicide attempt to escape the pressure of a separate federal investigation into fraud and corruption within homeowners associations.

Quon, who is also a target of the federal probe, has denied setting the fire and trying to kill herself.

A previous county grand jury, which heard three months of testimony from 30 witnesses, refused to indict the couple on the arson and insurance fraud charges on April 20.

But the panel indicted Quon and Webb in a separate suicide scheme to obtain an illegal drug that authorities said the couple thought was undetectable.

The indictment charged that Quon, who is free on bail, provided the cash to Webb to buy 29.2 grams of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, a club drug known as GHB, from undercover detectives several days after the fire.

Quon, who police suspect planned to take the lethal GHB, faces one felony count of conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, which draws a maximum five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Webb, a 17-year police veteran who lived with Quon, is behind bars on drug charges and a charge of conspiring to murder Quon. An accomplice in the scheme, two-time felon Robert Justice, has pleaded guilty to drug and murder conspiracy charges and has testified before the grand jury for the district attorney's office.

Prosecutors are likely to lay out a timeline for the new grand jury, detailing the bizarre activities of Quon and Webb in the days before and after the Oct. 28 fire.

The timeline starts at an Oct. 26 meeting between Quon and federal investigators, who described her as "detached and despondent," and includes Webb's Nov. 9 drug arrest at the Green Valley Ranch Resort, where the couple were staying temporarily after the fire. The timeline also includes an effort by Quon to pay for Webb's defense.

Quon, who acknowledged taking sleeping pills and a high-alcohol energy drink before the fire, was rescued from the smoke-filled home by Webb's older brother, Daniel, who found her un­conscious on a downstairs sofa. William Webb had arranged to be out of town during the fire.

Paramedics who revived Quon told the grand jury that they think she suffered a "narcotic overdose." And fire investigators testified that their suspicions were raised because the fire started in two separate places in Quon's upstairs master bedroom. Investigators have officially listed the cause as "undetermined," but they suspect it was arson.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Sandra DiGiacomo, who is prosecuting the case, said Monday that she is prohibited by law from commenting on whether she is taking the criminal case to the new grand jury.

Webb's lawyer John Momot declined to comment.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.