Fugitive in rape video case ‘sick of running’

Chester Arthur Stiles, the man who authorities allege videotaped himself raping a Las Vegas toddler, was arrested in Henderson on Monday night.

Stiles, 37, had been the subject of a nationwide manhunt since Sept. 28, when he was named as the man seen abusing a girl, about 3 years old, on a videotape that surfaced in Pahrump.

A routine traffic stop in the southern part of the valley ended his time as a fugitive.

About 7 p.m., Henderson police officer Mike Dye spotted a white Buick Century with no license plates on Green Valley Parkway at Sunset Road.

Dye pulled the car over but didn't immediately recognize him. Henderson police officer Mike Gower arrived to back up Dye. When the two officers questioned the driver about the expired license he had given them, the driver admitted he was the man wanted for sexually assaulting a child.

"He finally told us, 'Hey, I'm Chester Stiles. I'm the guy you're looking for.' And at that time he said, 'I'm sick of running,'" Dye said at a news conference a few hours after the arrest.

The mother of one of the Las Vegas girls Chester Stiles is alleged to have molested was disappointed that Stiles was arrested.

She had hoped that when police caught up with him, the encounter would end with Stiles' death, her lawyer, Jerry Donohue, said Tuesday.

"She's angry enough that, if we had the death penalty for this kind of offense, she'd volunteer to pull the switch or pull the trigger," Donohue said.

MONDAY

Execution delayed

for convicted killer

Convicted killer William Castillo was 90 minutes away from death by lethal injection when the Nevada Supreme Court issued a stay to allow more time to consider legal issues raised by the ACLU of Nevada.

The order halting Castillo's execution for the 1995 murder of a retired Las Vegas teacher did not detail the reasons for the court's decision.

But during an emergency hearing earlier in the day, members of the court asked lawyers for the attorney general's office and the Department of Corrections what harm would be caused by a delay while questions about the use of lethal injection were more thoroughly reviewed.

"What's the hurry," asked Justice Michael Cherry, during the hearing. "Where's the fire?"

TUESDAY

Prices drop, but not far enough

Despite declines in real estate prices, analysts said Southern Nevada is still short of affordable housing.

The median annual household income in Las Vegas was $53,000 in 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But the average price in September for a single-family home was $352,137, or nearly seven times the median income.

The average condominium or townhome cost $217,494, or more than four times the median income, last month.

"The affordability problem has not gone away at all," said Jeremy Aguero, a principal in local economic-research firm Applied Analysis.

WEDNESDAY

Chancellor refuses to plan for cuts

Chancellor Jim Rogers said he will refuse Gov. Jim Gibbons' request for the university system to come up with a plan to save money.

Rogers said he does not think Gibbons will force the system to slice 5 percent, or $64 million, from its budget, as the governor has requested.

Rogers said he will not create a plan to do that.

"I don't think that'll happen," he said. "I think that this is no time to panic."

Prompted by concerns that the state's revenue will not meet expectations, Gibbons had asked the Nevada System of Higher Education and the Department of Health and Human Services to come up with plans to reduce spending.

THURSDAY

Magician's building raided by FBI

FBI agents raided the Las Vegas warehouse of magician David Copperfield in an investigation of possible sexual misconduct by the illusionist, a source with knowledge of the investigation told the Review-Journal.

Copperfield's accuser said the misconduct occurred outside the country, but the case came under the FBI's jurisdiction because the accuser was a U.S. citizen, the source said.

Copperfield's lawyer, David Chesnoff, confirmed his client was the subject of an investigation.

"If in fact those are the allegations, unfortunately false allegations are all too often made against famous individuals," Chesnoff said.

FRIDAY

Three police officers shot

Three Las Vegas police officers were shot after responding to a domestic disturbance call at an apartment complex just east of the Strip.

Police received a 911 call about 1:30 p.m. from a woman who said she was fighting with her son. Upon responding, officers engaged in a gunfight with the suspect.

One of the officers was shot in the right wrist. The other two officers were spared serious injury by a protective vest and an equipment belt.

"If this isn't bravery to the extreme, I don't know what is," Sheriff Doug Gillespie said.

COMPILED BY MICHAEL SQUIRES READ THE FULL STORIES ONLINE AT www.reviewjournal.com/wir