Man warned of robbery waits, roommate shot dead

Joey Larsen knew a robbery was coming, but by the time he reacted, his roommate had been shot dead.

The roommate, 48-year-old Monty Gibson, was killed Sept. 21 in what police called a home invasion robbery in the 1600 block of Broadmere Street, near the intersection of Hualapai Way and Homestretch Drive, southeast of the Faith Lutheran schools campus.

The invasion, court transcripts say, was motivated by 31-year-old Summer Rice, Larsen’s estranged wife, and carried out by her new boyfriend, David Murphy, 37.

Murphy recruited two other friends, 32-year-old Jorge Mendoza and 37-year-old Joey Laguna, transcripts said. Robert Figueroa, 29, a former prison cellmate of Laguna, was also brought in to help.

The accused robbers were arrested after police said they broke down the door of Larsen’s home in search of cash and marijuana. A gunfight ensued, leaving Mendoza with a shattered thighbone and Figueroa with shots to his mouth and stomach, according to court transcripts.

Neither Larsen nor Gibson, the two men at home, were wounded in the initial exchange.

But while Figueroa sprinted away, Mendoza, unable to walk, dragged himself to the curb in front of the house, court transcripts say. As Gibson, unarmed, went to close the front door, Mendoza fired two shots, leaving Gibson lying dead on the front porch.

But it didn’t have to happen that way.

Less than an hour before Larsen’s house was robbed, court transcripts say, he received a phone call telling him trouble was on the way.

But instead of calling police or leaving his house, Larsen testified that he and his roommate ate pizza, watched a ballgame on TV, placed two handguns on the kitchen counter and waited.

The next thing Joey Larsen heard two loud bangs at the front door, he testified. It swung open, and two men came in wearing beanies and ski masks.

When the robbers entered the home, Larsen fired first, starting the gunbattle that would later lead to his roommate’s death. Just over a dozen shots were fired in the entire exchange, court transcripts say.

Figueroa later testified he knocked open the door with his shoulder. After he was shot, he hid in a nearby backyard for nine hours. He then was driven to a hospital in Southern California. He came back to Las Vegas and was later arrested.

Laguna’s involvement appears minimal, according to court transcripts.

Murphy was the getaway driver, the transcript said. Laguna left with Murphy after the shooting started.

Steven Larsen, 62, said in the court transcript that a friend of Rice tipped him off about the planned robbery at his son’s house. He said he called his son about an hour before his house was raided, and offered to pick him up

But the elder Larsen also had a delay. Instead of going straight to Broadmere Street, he stopped to pick up medication for his wife, who he testified had stage 3 cancer.

Standing in the parking lot of a nearby store, Steven Larsen learned he was too late.

He got a call from his son, who was crying, according to court transcripts. Gibson was dead.

“He was upset,” Steven Larsen testified to the grand jury, “and he just said, ‘You have to get here now.’ ”

Despite shooting two men with a gun that was not registered to him and testifying to selling marijuana out of his home, Joey Larson will not face charges, Clark County prosecutor Agnes Lexis said.

Losing his roommate and being robbed by his wife is enough punishment for Larsen, Lexis said.

She said she believes Larsen acted in self-defense.

“Joey Larsen has suffered enough,” Lexis told the Review-Journal.

Joey Larsen could not be reached for comment.

Suffering aside, Larsen appears to have continued his relationship with Rice during her incarceration at Clark County Detention Center, which started in December.

Lexis said the two communicated in phone calls recorded by the jail and that Rice asked her husband for bail money.

Larsen is trying to repair his marriage with Rice, Lexis said, despite knowing she was behind the deadly invasion of his home.

“Joey knows what happened,” Lexis said. “But whether he actually believes it is another thing.”

Rice, Mendoza, Figueroa, Murphy and Laguna all face felony charges of conspiracy to commit a robbery, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, home invasion while in possession of a deadly weapon, two counts of attempted robbery with use of a deadly weapon, murder with use of a deadly weapon and attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon.

All five are detained at the Clark County Detention Center.

Their next scheduled court appearance is April 20.

The five suspects declined interview requests via Las Vegas police, who manage the jail.

Nobody else is being sought in connection with the robbery, Lexis said.

Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Find him on Twitter: @kudialisrj.