In Brief
August 18, 2009 - 9:00 pm
SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOT
Suicide victim was 48-year-old LV man
The man who committed suicide Aug. 5 near the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada sign has been identified by the Clark County coroner's office as David Bryan Moore.
The 48-year-old Las Vegas man was found slumped over the steering wheel of a brown pickup in the early morning by an off-duty police officer. Investigators said Moore died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
NORTH LAS VEGAS HOMICIDE
Stabbing victim was 68-year-old woman
The Clark County coroner's office identified the woman fatally stabbed in a North Las Vegas apartment earlier this month as 68-year-old Yoneko Bailey.
About 8 p.m. Aug. 10, North Las Vegas officers went to an apartment at 2566 E. Deer Springs Way, near Losee Road and the Las Vegas Beltway, on a call about an unresponsive woman.
The coroner's office said Bailey later died of stab wounds to the chest.
Police arrested 62-year-old Melvin Bailey in connection with his wife's slaying. He was booked at the North Las Vegas Detection Center on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon.
FATAL INJURIES
Authorities ID man who died after fight
The 39-year-old man who died Sunday after a fight in the northwest valley has been identified by the Clark County coroner's office as Brent Baldes of Las Vegas.
Baldes was found dead about 1:30 a.m. on the 8700 block of Harvest Valley Avenue, near Durango Drive and Cheyenne Avenue. Witnesses told police Baldes and another man had been drinking and got into a fight.
Baldes died from his injuries. The coroner's office has not yet determined the cause and manner of death.
A possible suspect is cooperating with authorities, police said Sunday.
Anyone with information concerning the case is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.
KINGMAN ACCIDENT
Pastor fatally injured when hit by vehicle
A Kingman, Ariz., pastor walking his dog was fatally injured when struck by a vehicle Saturday.
The Mohave County sheriff's office identified the victim as Helmut A. Duttchen, 62, pastor of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.
Sheriff's office spokeswoman Trish Carter said Duttchen was pronounced dead after he was taken to Kingman Regional Medical Center.
She said he was struck about 8:21 p.m. in the area of Thompson Way and Ames Avenue.
Carter said a 16-year-old Kingman girl driving a 2007 Ford Explorer struck Duttchen when making a wide turn onto Thompson.
Carter said that drugs or alcohol do not appear to have played a role in the accident.
ARIZONA SLAYING
Man gets 12-year term in roommate's slaying
A Mohave Valley, Ariz., man who admitted killing his former roommate in late 2004 was given a 12-year prison term Monday.
The sentence for Daniel Vasquez, 57, was stipulated in a plea agreement for second-degree murder.
Defense attorney Steve Glazer said Vasquez admitted shooting and killing Christopher Smith, 33, but contended it happened during a struggle for control of a weapon in a quarrel over money.
Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steve Conn said that the state characterized Smith's death as something closer to an execution.
Vasquez's nephew tipped authorities about the homicide when he was being questioned in a domestic violence case three years after the killing.
Authorities used the information to obtain a warrant and exhume Smith's body, which was buried at Vasquez's residence in the 9500 block of Evans Lane.
DESERT BREEZE
Police officers arrested in park on pot charges
Authorities said two Honolulu police officers tried to elude park police but were arrested on marijuana charges during a weekend softball tournament in Las Vegas.
Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling said Monday that 37-year-old Kevin Fujioka and 47-year-old Shayne Souza were arrested Saturday night near Desert Breeze Park, about six miles west of the Strip.
Welling said 38-year-old Scott Wilson of Honolulu also was arrested.
Park police approached the men in a white van because it was parked sideways across two spots in the park's parking lot, Welling said.
She said that as officers approached, the van drove off and that after a short car chase, Fujioka and Souza tried to elude authorities on foot.
All three men are charged with possession of marijuana, she said.