Nevada Supreme Court upholds murder conviction in controller’s death

CARSON CITY — Chaz Higgs’ conviction on charges he murdered his wife, then-state Controller Kathy Augustine, has been upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court.

“Fantastic,” said Augustine’s daughter, 28-year-old Dallas Augustine, when she learned of the decision Wednesday. “I am very happy about it.”

Justices in a 5-2 ruling found there was ample evidence to prove that Higgs, now 44, murdered Augustine, 50, by injecting her with succinylcholine, a paralytic drug used in hospital emergency rooms.

Higgs was a critical care nurse for several hospitals in the Reno-Carson City area.

Other nurses testified during his trial in 2007 that Higgs had access to the drug.

The couple had been married three years at the time Augustine was rushed unconscious to a Reno hospital on July 8, 2006