Coroner says Augustine died of natural causes

Almost immediately following the death of his wife, state Controller Kathy Augustine, suspicions arose that Chaz Higgs might be a double killer.

On Tuesday, the Clark County coroner announced that one of Higgs' supposed victims, Charles Augustine -- Kathy's previous husband -- died of natural causes and not a lethal drug injection.

"There were a lot of people ... willing to believe Mr. Higgs was a monster responsible for two deaths," Higgs' attorney, David Houston, said Tuesday. "And clearly, it just isn't true."

Higgs, however, remains charged with murder in connection with the death of his wife.

Kathy Augustine's brother, Phil Alfano, said Charles Augustine's autopsy results do not change his belief that Higgs poisoned his sister with a hard-to-detect drug.

"We're relieved to learn that Chaz did not murder Chuck the way he murdered my sister," said Alfano, a high school principal in Modesto, Calif. "Thankfully, Chuck didn't suffer the same fate."

Kathy Augustine, 50, was found unconscious in her Reno home in July, and the state controller's husband publicly said he believed she'd suffered a heart attack.

But police soon became suspicious that Higgs, a critical care nurse, might have poisoned his wife with succinylcholine.

The drug is a powerful muscle relaxant and paralyzing agent used in hospitals to temporarily paralyze a patient so that a breathing tube can be inserted into the windpipe.

It is difficult to detect succinylcholine in autopsies and has been called the murder weapon of choice among medical professionals.

As part of a Reno police investigation, detectives interviewed former Carson-Tahoe Hospital nurse Kim Ramey, who said Higgs told her on July 7 that succinylcholine was the perfect way to kill someone because it could not be detected.

"If you want to get rid of someone, hit them with a little sux," Ramey recalled Higgs telling her.

The next morning, Higgs called 911 and reported finding his wife unconscious.

Tests by the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed the presence of succinylcholine in Kathy Augustine's urine, samples of which were taken before her death.

Authorities also said two tiny puncture wounds were found on Augustine's buttock, and police believe this was a possible injection site.

In September, Higgs, then 42, was charged with murder. After his arrest, Clark County authorities started to investigate the death of 63-year-old Charles Augustine as well.

In 2003, Charles Augustine was recovering from a stroke at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center when he suddenly died.

Higgs was Charles Augustine's nurse at the time. Three weeks later, Kathy Augustine married Higgs, her fourth husband, in Hawaii.

A physician listed Charles Augustine's cause of death as complications due to stroke.

An autopsy was not performed.

In October, Clark County officials exhumed Charles Augustine's remains from a grave at Paradise Memorial Gardens on Eastern Avenue in an effort to determine if he might have been poisoned.

Coroner Michael Murphy said Tuesday an autopsy was carried out, and extensive forensic testing at one of the nation's most renowned forensic labs failed to detect the presence of succinylcholine or any other poisons in Charles Augustine's system.

Murphy said the autopsy confirmed Charles Augustine had, in fact, suffered a stroke, and it also showed Charles Augustine had both heart disease and a severe case of bronchopneumonia.

"The was nothing in our investigation that would lead us to believe Mr. Augustine died of anything other than natural causes," Murphy said.

Higgs told the national television show 48 Hours, which airs Saturday, he had nothing to do with Charles Augustine's death.

"Incredible," Higgs said of the accusation. "It's completely outlandish. Crazy."

On Tuesday, Higgs' attorney said he believes the premise that Charles Augustine was murdered was floated by police to tarnish his client's image.

Kathy Augustine's daughter from a previous marriage, Dallas Augustine, said she hopes the autopsy results will give Charles Augustine's family some "closure."

"They now know that Charles died of natural causes and not at the hands of the criminal," Dallas Augustine said in a prepared statement. "Charles was a good man. I hope this brings some measure of peace to the family."

At the time of her death, Kathy Augustine, a Republican, was running for state treasurer after having been impeached in 2004 for three counts of campaign ethics violations. She remained in office following the impeachment.