Caregiver, boyfriend arrested in death of Southern Nevada man, 86

A Colorado couple has been arrested on charges related to the 2018 death of a Southern Nevada man.

Patrick Byrom, 41, and his girlfriend, 45-year-old Kortny Payne, have been identified as suspects in the death of William “Bill” Ellis, according to a Metropolitan Police Department news release.

Ellis was 86 when his body was found Sept. 11, 2018, in Carpenter Canyon near Mount Charleston. Ellis was reported missing on Sept. 26, 2018.

Homicide detectives took over the investigation because of suspected foul play, Metro said.

Because of the state of the body and no identification, scientific methods were used to help identify the victim. In 2021, results came back identifying the deceased as Ellis.

Payne and Byrom were located in detention facilities in Colorado where they were serving sentences for an unrelated crime the two committed in November 2018, according to Metro.

Ellis had hired Payne to be his in-home caregiver starting in July 2018.

In May, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Byrom and Payne. The charges were open murder with a deadly weapon involving an older person, robbery with a deadly weapon involving an older person, abuse of older person resulting in death or substantial bodily harm, and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Byrom and Payne were extradited from Colorado correctional facilities and have been booked into the Clark County Detention Center.

Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Marv_in_Vegas on X.