FBI honors agent killed 30 years ago in Las Vegas bank robbery

About 30 people gathered at the gravesite of FBI Special Agent John Bailey on Thursday, the 30th anniversary of his fatal shooting.

Bailey was killed while fighting with a robber at a Las Vegas bank on June 25, 1990. Retired Special Agent Mike Dorris explained at the memorial Thursday that Bailey, 47, was at a Security Pacific Bank branch in the central valley to pick up documents for another case when Jose Echavarria, who was disguised as a woman, pulled a gun on a teller.

Bailey scuffled with Echavarria and was shot multiple times.

Echavarria was arrested the next day in Juarez, Mexico, and extradited to Las Vegas, where he was convicted of murder in District Court in 1991.

Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jim Perry, who was Bailey’s supervisor, said the FBI came together quickly to catch the killer.

“Of course we all banded together,” he said. “Of course the investigation was going on rapidly and we had to catch the killer and a getaway driver. So we went into high gear and, within a day or so, that happened.”

The department rallied around Bailey’s wife and children, he said, and ultimately renamed the FBI’s Las Vegas building after him. Bailey’s photo is hanging inside the entrance, and Perry said the agency hosts a memorial at his grave every year.

New trial

In January 2015, U.S. District Judge Miranda Du found that Echavarria had received an unfair trial. She granted his petition for writ of habeas corpus, which would have resulted in his release if the Nevada attorney general’s office had not appealed.

A panel of three 9th Circuit judges in July 2018 affirmed Du’s decision. The panel found that Echavarria’s right to due process was violated because of alleged bias on the part of presiding District Judge Jack Lehman, who had been investigated years earlier for possible criminal prosecution by Bailey.

Echavarria’s lawyers had argued that it was not until after Echavarria’s first trial that they had learned of the investigation into Lehman, who died in 2017, over a questionable land deal when he was a member of the Colorado River Commission.

A new trial is scheduled to start in November.

“Even after 30 years, this thing’s not over,” Dorris said. “Those of you who pray, I ask you to pray for John Bailey and pray for his family.”

Perry said he doesn’t expect the retrial to change the court’s verdict against Echavarria.

“We are (expecting the same outcome),” he said. “All the evidence has been preserved, so it’ll be a shorter case.”

https://twitter.com/FBILasVegas/status/1021816229483503617

Perry said he wants Bailey to be remembered as a tough guy. He said Bailey was a Marine Corps veteran who earned two Bronze Star medals in the Vietnam War before. Bailey joined the FBI in 1969, including 13 years in Las Vegas.

“John, like any police officer or FBI agent, he gave his full last measure,” Perry said. “He was a good guy, he did his job well, and we miss him.”

Contact Alexis Ford at aford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexisdford on Twitter.