Laughlin man faces murder charge in father’s death

A Laughlin man was arrested Tuesday in connection with the September death of his father, Las Vegas police announced.

Thomas Supranovich, 52, was booked Tuesday, nearly five months after Demetry Supranovich, 88, was found dead.

Las Vegas police found the elder Supranovich’s body Sept. 20 in his own apartment while conducting a welfare check, according to an arrest warrant. His son was there and told police his father was asleep.

But officers said they could see the older man lying face down and naked on a cushionless couch while his son spoke to them. And, they soon found out, he was dead.

There was blood in his mouth, police said, and blood on a nearby pillow.

Demetry Supranovich had died a day before, the Clark County coroner’s office later determined, and the cut in his mouth may have been the result of smothering.

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, the warrant said. They later learned that Supranovich took a total of $3,300 from his father’s bank account in a series of 11 withdrawals from Sept. 1 to Sept. 20.

Police did not arrest the son the day the body was found, and he left with a backpack, the warrant said, 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.

Las Vegas police issued a warrant for Thomas Supranovich’s arrest Dec. 4. He is being held at the Clark County Detention Center without bail on one charge of open murder.

Police had responded Aug. 22 to a domestic disturbance call at the apartment, the warrant said. Elder Protection Services found no evidence of physical abuse and thought Thomas Supranovich had left for good when they closed the case on Sept. 4.

Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lauxkimber.