Man convicted in slaying of elderly father
A man prosecutors said killed his elderly father at their Laughlin residence was convicted of murder on Monday.
A little more than a year ago, 88-year-old Demetry Supranovich was found dead in his home, and police awoke his son, Thomas Supranovich, as they arrived for a welfare check.
In a statement to police played at trial, the younger Supranovich, 52, said he did not know his father was dead until police showed up at the home. Demetry Supranovich was found naked and face down on a cushionless living room couch on Sept. 20, 2014. A medical examiner determined that he had been dead for at least 20 hours.
Thomas Supranovich told police his father drank often, suffered from dementia and had recently fallen. Prosecutors said the son had used a pillow to smother his father, pointing to a small blood stain on the pillow that they said came from a cut on the elder's mouth. Defense attorneys argued that Thomas Supranovich did not kill his father.
After about four hours of deliberation, a Clark County jury found him guilty of second-degree murder of a victim 60 years or older.
Thomas Supranovich was arrested nearly five months after police found his father's body.
About a month before the death, police had responded to a domestic disturbance call at the apartment. Elder Protection Services found no evidence of physical abuse and thought Thomas Supranovich had left for good when they closed the case.
The day police found the body, they checked the son for weapons and found a large wad of cash and a debit card in his father's name. Police later learned that Supranovich took a total of $3,300 from his father's bank account in a series of 11 withdrawals in 20 days before the killing.
Police did not arrest the son the day the body was found, and he left with a backpack, but not before officers took a checkbook in his father's name from the bag.
When police couldn't reach him afterward, a relative told detectives that Supranovich may have moved back to California.
Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker
