Ex-FBI agent’s Las Vegas manslaughter sentence stands

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld an 8-to-20-year manslaughter sentence given to former FBI agent Edward Preciado-Nuno for killing his son’s girlfriend in Las Vegas in 2008.

Preciado-Nuno, 65, beat Kimberly Long to death by striking her 13 times in the head with a hammer. He claimed self-defense.

In the decision, justices rejected arguments by Preciado-Nuno that a juror should have been dismissed because of questions about her impartiality and that numerous in-chamber conferences lawyers held with District Judge Donald Mosley should have been recorded.

Although the conferences should have been recorded, the court found “this misstep does not warrant reversal.”

The justices also found that a juror Preciado-Nuno wanted dismissed had “demonstrated the ability to set aside any preconceived prejudices.”

Preciado-Nuno, a 25-year FBI agent and a former Marine who served in Vietnam, came to Las Vegas to try to settle problems between the victim and his son, Jeffery Long, who had had a five-year relationship.

According to new accounts, Preciado-Nuno wanted to gain custody of his grandson.

He apologized at the sentencing hearing for killing Long.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Follow him on Twitter @edisonvogel.