Retired FBI agent arrested in hammer beating death of LV woman

A former federal agent arrested in the death of a woman who was beaten with a hammer Thursday was once an agent with the organized crime division in the Las Vegas FBI office, a source said Friday.

Edward Preciado-Nuno, 61, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center early Thursday on suspicion of murder with a deadly weapon.

Kimberly Long, the girlfriend of Preciado-Nuno’s son, was killed during the attack in the garage of 8790 Ashley Park Ave., according to a Metropolitan Police Department report.

“He was a very quiet, low key guy; a good agent,” said a retired FBI agent, who asked that his name be withheld. “I was very surprised (to hear about the slaying). It’s totally out of character for him.”

Preciado-Nuno told police he had to defend himself when Long attacked him with a hammer, the report states.

According to the report, Preciado-Nuno’s son, Jeffrey Preciado, called his father in San Diego after a Sunday morning fight with Long and asked for help in evicting her. Preciado said he and Long fought after she returned home after two days of partying and he had locked her out of the home near Durango Drive and state Route 160.

Preciado told police he tried to stop her from dialing 911, and she punched him in the nose and eye. The two then scuffled, and she fell when he pushed her into a pile of toys, according to the police report. When officers arrived, the couple reported the fight was verbal, not physical.

When Preciado-Nuno arrived in Las Vegas, he checked into the South Point and began documenting Long’s past behavior, including shooting videotape of his son’s home to show Long was a poor house cleaner and a bad mother. His son told officers that Preciado-Nuno planned to confront Long with his documentation and videotape her response in hopes she would say something incriminating, the report said.

The father and son set up a video camera in the garage of the home, which Preciado owns, the police reports stated. Police officer Bill Cassell said he did not know whether the crime was captured on tape.

The police report said Long’s 9-year-old son and the couple’s 10-month-old son were at home when Preciado-Nuno confronted Long, but Cassell said it is unclear whether either child witnessed the beating.

Preciado-Nuno called his son at 6:08 a.m. Thursday, shortly after Long returned from work, and said Long was attacking him with a hammer.

“Jeffrey said he had never heard his father sound the way that he did and it scared him,” the police report said.

Preciado, who had left the house before Long returned but had been in contact with both his girlfriend and father during their confrontation, called police.

When officers arrived at the home at 6:20 a.m., Preciado-Nuno was kneeling next to Long’s body, which was lying on the garage floor in a pool of blood. Officers discovered two bloody claw hammers nearby and blood splattered against the wall and ceiling. The police report says Long suffered injuries on the head and face consistent with being struck with a claw hammer.

In a mug shot released by police, Preciado-Nuno appears to have cuts on his head.

Ashley Park Avenue seems more like a slumbering suburb street, than home to a grisly homicide.

Neighbor Manuel Ayala, 32, said he rarely saw Long and Jeffrey Preciado together. “It appeared she did her own thing and he did his own thing,” Ayala said today.

Ayala added he has seen police go to the house before.

Normally, “this is a nice, pretty quiet and peaceful neighborhood,” Ayala said.

Stan Krusemark, 49, had been living on Ashley Park Avenue for a week when on Thursday morning he left his house and found a homicide crime scene across the street.

Krusemark said he saw a man in handcuffs covered in blood and shaking. Krusemark didn’t know if it was Preciado-Nuno’s blood or the victim’s.

“My first impression was that he looked in shock from what had happened,” Krusemark said.

Review-Journal writer Francis McCabe contributed to this report. Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.