Halverson calmly talked with husband, 911 call shows

Las Vegas police officers who responded to District Judge Elizabeth Halverson's home last week sounded as though they were stunned at the extent of her injuries when they burst into her bedroom and saw blood pouring from her head.

"Jesus!" yelled an officer, who entered the house while Halverson was still on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. "Expedite medical! Severe head injuries!"

The call ended seconds after police arrived and handcuffed the judge's husband, 49-year-old Edward Halverson, but the tape offers a glimpse into the terror felt by Elizabeth Halverson after she was beaten with a cast-iron skillet on Sept. 4.

The judge dialed 911, but she did not respond to the dispatcher for several seconds. She was heard talking to her husband.

"You might want to clean the floor, too," the judge said calmly.

"Yes, dear," her husband responded matter-of-factly.

"Are you going to help me? Because I'm bleeding a lot from my head," she said.

Elizabeth Halverson then directed her husband to get some ice. When he left the room, she finally spoke to the dispatcher.

"Please, help. Please, help me now," she whispered in a panic. "He's beating me with a frying pan."

The judge remained at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center on Friday, where she began rehabilitation, her longtime friend Bobbi Tackett said.

Tackett said Elizabeth Halverson's right eye, which has been swollen shut for nearly a week, is finally starting to open.

During the 911 call, which was placed shortly before 11 p.m., the judge was heard complaining that she can't see out of her right eye.

"Awww man, it's terrible. Ooooh," her husband said, after apparently looking at her eye.

Halverson, clearly afraid and trying to provide the dispatcher with information during the brief moments her husband was not in the room, seemed to grow frustrated with the operator's questions about her husband's appearance and age.

"Ma'am, I'm taking the chance to try to talk to you," the judge said.

Shortly before police arrived, Elizabeth Halverson became more combative with her husband.

"Why did you kill me?" she asked. "Well, you murdered me. Why did you do that?"

At the end of the call, which lasted less than two minutes, police finally arrived.

"Please come in; help me," the judge moaned.

Tackett said the attack was prompted by Elizabeth Halverson's threat to kick her unemployed husband out of the house.

Tackett said Edward Halverson had told her that he would kill her if she ever made him leave.

"He might have been scared because she was losing her job and he might have to go to work," Tackett said. "It was not because he was an abused man."

Tackett said Elizabeth Halverson, who gets around in a scooter because she is overweight and suffers from various illnesses, could not navigate the home because her husband blocked rooms with boxes.

Elizabeth Halverson asked Edward Halverson to do a chore that night, but he ignored her, Tackett said.

The judge was angry and, in preparing to kick him out of the house, called her sister, Angela LaMacchia, and asked her to call 911.

"When he heard that, he got the frying pan," Tackett said. "I didn't realize how terrified she was of him because she is such a strong woman."

A preliminary hearing for Edward Halverson is scheduled for Sept. 25. He is in the Clark County Detention Center on $113,000 bail.

Elizabeth Halverson was suspended last year after she allowed her personal bodyguards into secured courthouse areas without the property security check. She was also accused of mistreating her staff, falling asleep on the bench and improperly communicating with jurors.

Last month, the 50-year-old judge appeared before the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission, which has yet to rule on her behavior. The commission has the power to remove her from the bench.

Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.