Man ‘terrified’ amid Murray case probe

A former Las Vegas man says he's become a target of intimidation in the investigation of Dr. Conrad Murray.

Los Angeles resident Ben Harris Jr., who attended Las Vegas Academy a decade ago, said the harassment includes a message left on his car that said, "This is all your fault. Keep quiet."

Harris was a former close friend of Murray's girlfriend Nicole Alvarez. The former Las Vegas stripper has been uncooperative with law enforcement in the investigation into the death of Michael Jackson and was forced to testify on Sept. 23 before the Los Angeles County grand jury.

Harris said in an e-mail to Vegas Confidential that the "campaign to shut me up" has him "terrified." The aspiring actor and author said he has gone to authorities with the information, including a "vicious e-mail" that Alvarez's aunt sent him the morning Alvarez testified in front of the grand jury.

The celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported last week Murray was living at Alvarez's home during the days preceding Jackson's death and that propofol, a powerful anesthetic, from Las Vegas-based Applied Pharmacy was sent to the address of Alvarez's home.

Autopsy results indicated that lethal levels of propofol caused Jackson's death. Murray, a Las Vegas doctor who was Jackson's personal physician, has been under investigation for homicide in the case.

CANTEENWALLA HONORED

Kim Canteenwalla, executive chef at Steve Wynn's Society Café Encore, is in New York City today to pick up a Best New Restaurant award from Esquire food critic John Mariani.

In a leaked press release announcing the 19 winners, Mariani wrote: "At the new Wynn Encore, Steve Wynn has continued his practice of nailing chefs' clogs to the kitchen floors instead of simply buying a celebrity chef's name to put on the door.

"He hires people like chef-partner Kim Canteenwalla, who make sure everything is done better than anywhere else in Vegas. The food itself is a reformulation of old favorites done with extraordinary panache, like the addictive mac-and-cheese bites with a truffle dipping sauce."

Canteenwalla, former executive chef at the MGM Grand, is attending the Esquire event with his wife, Elizabeth Blau, a leading restaurant development executive who has recruited talent for Wynn at Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.

FOOD REIGNS IN SPAIN

We're back after a two-week Twitter-free tapas-fest in Spain, and it shouldn't surprise anyone that we ran up a hefty tab at the Chocolate Museum in Barcelona.

Nowhere near as hefty, however, as the big spender from the Middle East who walked out with a purchase of 4,000 Euro ($5,835.60 U.S.).

Other highlights: a to-die-for tapas feast at Barcelona's legendary Cal Pep, suckling pig at Madrid's 284-year-old Restaurante Botin, Los Caracoles' divine roast chicken, lunch at Tangier's Le Mirage on a bluff overlooking the Moroccan king's beach home, and a sentimental journey to Marbella and its world-class beaches.

Of course, there was a Vegas moment: a hole-in-the-wall casino in Madrid named "Las Vegas."

The wrapup of our "Spanish Trails" blog, with food photos galore, is being posted today at NormClarke.com and NormClarke.net.

A big thanks to colleague Doug Elfman for filling my column space with a daily bonanza of entertainment nuggets during my getaway.

THE SCENE AND HEARD

A Garth Brooks Web site is abuzz over chatter that he has an Oct. 15 news conference scheduled regarding the Wynn Las Vegas offer. ...

We hear Wynn Resort's interior design guru, Roger Thomas, has been asked to design the green room for the 2010 Academy Awards.

SIGHTINGS

Tiger Woods, part of a star-studded turnout for the fourth anniversary bash at Tao (The Venetian) and one-year anniversary of Lavo (Palazzo) on Saturday. Woods watched from a Tao skybox while Sean "Diddy" Combs put on an hourlong impromptu performance. Others at various Tao venues: Vanessa Minnillo and Nick Lachey, Adrien Brody, Emile Hirsch, Matt Sorum, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Nicole Scherzinger, Aubrey O'Day, Amanda Bynes, and Brandi Cibrian with Jennifer Gimenez of VHI's "Sober House" (Actor Eddie Cibrian recently left Brandi for LeAnn Rimes). ... Boxing legend Evander Holyfield, joining Zowie Bowie onstage Saturday at The Pub in the Monte Carlo. ... Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, celebrating her 25th birthday Saturday at Wet Republic pool (MGM Grand) with husband Pete Wentz, sister Jessica Simpson, her parents, Joe and Tina Simpson, and friends.