Police: Man in love triangle faces attempted murder charge

Las Vegas police arrested a man Friday who they say shot his illicit girlfriend’s husband.

Police responded to an east valley home on Tomer Lane, near Flamingo Road and McLeod Drive, after getting reports that someone had been shot in the head.

When officers arrived, they were waved down by a bleeding man, later identified as David Eckman, who yelled “he shot me in the head, he’s still inside.”

Steven Kesler came out of the residence as officers approached it, and Eckman identified him immediately, Kesler’s arrest report said. Kesler walked to the officers and told them Eckman had been threatening him and that “the gun just went off.”

Police found a handgun and bloody cell phone in a bedroom, the arrest report said. Karen Eckman, who police said is David Eckman’s wife and Steven Kesler’s girlfriend, was located at a nearby home.

Karen Eckman had been dating Kesler for three months, according to the arrest report. Her husband knew about the relationship and started threatening her.

Early that morning, Kesler told police, David Eckman had come to the house and knocked on the garage and front and back doors as he tried to get in for more than an hour.

That’s when Kesler grabbed the gun and went outside, he told police.

When confronted, Eckman said that since his wife was cheating on him he had nothing to live for, police said. The two struggled over the gun and it went off, Kesler said.

After being treated for his head injury, Eckman told police he had just returned from California and went to the Tomer address to look for his wife. He said after he knocked on the door, Steven Kesler followed him back to his car and shot him.

Karen Eckman told officers that when she heard the gunshot, she ran out the back door and jumped the wall.

David Eckman was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he was treated and told that his injuries were minimal because of the angle the shot was fired.

When police got a warrant to search Karen Eckman’s phone, they found angry messages but not threatening ones, the arrest report said.

Steven Kesler faces charges of attempted murder and battery. He is being held without bail at Clark County Detention Center and was to appear in court Monday morning.

Contact reporter Annalise Little at alittle@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0391. Find her on Twitter: @AnnaliseLittle_.