Murder suspect tried to set fire after stabbing elderly woman, police say

A woman facing a murder charge in the July stabbing death of an 84-year-old woman is now accused of trying to set fire to the victim's house, according to a Metro arrest report.

The townhouse in the 3200 block of Opera Drive, near the intersection of Decatur Boulevard and Desert Inn Road, did not burn. Mary Luebeck's body was found by her daughter on July 29, police said.

Detectives determined that someone broke the home's glass sliding door with a "large rock," went inside and stabbed Luebeck numerous times after she confronted the attacker, police said, adding that the house had been ransacked.

Police said the "suspect(s)" put cardboard and a bottle of Windex on top of the gas stove and lit it in an attempt to destroy the scene. The fire went out before it could spread.

Margarita Balandova, 28, of Las Vegas was arrested Thursday on charges of murder with a deadly weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon, home invasion and first-degree arson, police said. She was booked into the Clark County Detention Center.

Witnesses told detectives that about 3:30 am. the day Luebeck's body was found, they heard a "loud noise" and heard a man and a woman arguing near Luebeck's house.

Luebeck's neighbors, police said, "expressed concern" about Timothy Coleman and Balandova.

When police questioned Coleman, 31, he told them that he and Balandova were married and that she left their house after an argument about 2 a.m. July 29, according to the report.

Balandova returned home with no shoes and blood on her clothes and said that she had killed someone, Coleman told detectives, adding that he helped her burn her clothes before renting a hotel room and hiding out a couple of days.

Coleman also said that Balandova told him she was worried about DNA at the murder scene since she had cut her hand fighting Luebeck and had been scratched, police said.

When police questioned Balandova, she said she had nothing to do with the slaying and that Coleman said he had killed an "old lady," the report said. She told police she didn't believe Coleman and went into Luebeck's house to see for herself. She also said she saw something on fire on the stove.

She told detectives that she saw Coleman pack clothes and that she went away with a friend to a hotel for a couple of days because she didn't want to see Coleman.

Police said they recovered fingerprints, footprints and blood around Luebeck's house and also noticed that Balandova had injuries and scratches on her body.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Coleman will be charged in the slaying, but he was arrested Saturday on a charge of breaking and tampering with a vehicle, detention center records show.

Contact Ricardo Torres at rtorres@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @rickytwrites.