Suspect arrested in 1996 slaying in Las Vegas

For almost 13 years, Angelo Mastrio lived every day wondering who killed the man who was like a father to him.

Joseph Meli, 61, was stabbed to death in his home in 1996. Mastrio never understood why someone would viciously and repeatedly stab the former cabdriver and friend he described as "'happy-go-lucky."

"I lost my dad in 1980," Mastrio said. "And it was like God gave me Joe as a replacement."

During the years the case remained unsolved, Mastrio derived hope from television crime shows, such as "Forensic Files," where killers are brought to justice through DNA evidence and science. He started to believe that advances in forensics could help solve Meli's slaying.

In December, he decided to call Las Vegas police and ask them to review his friend's cold case.

Detective Steve Popp was on the other end of the phone.

Police arrested a suspect in Meli's homicide Wednesday night. Popp booked 60-year-old Paul Alexander into the Clark County Detention Center on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon. Alexander, who was not a suspect in the original investigation, is jailed without bail.

"Here's a guy that's overlooked in 1996," Popp said. "He has a nice house. He lives in a nice neighborhood. And here he is now as a murder suspect."

Alexander is the ex-husband of the woman who was then Meli's live-in girlfriend. Popp said the detectives in the original investigation knew of Alexander but couldn't locate him for an interview. Alexander, who worked in the Las Vegas Valley as a real estate agent, has no prior arrest history, Popp said.

Meli was killed on Oct. 14, 1996, in his two-bedroom mobile home on the 2900 block of South Valley View Boulevard, south of Sahara Avenue. Police were called to the residence about 4 a.m. after Meli's live-in girlfriend, identified in a police report as Lynda Alexander, returned home from gambling.

Popp said she saw the door open and did not enter. Instead, she went to a neighbor's home and called 911.

Police found Meli's body on the floor. He died of multiple stab wounds, Popp said.

There were no signs of forced entry and the home had not been ransacked.

"It appeared he was attacked while he was sleeping," Popp said. "It was a brutal murder."

Paul Alexander's arrest report said detectives in the original investigation received an anonymous tip that he moved in with his ex-wife after Meli was slain. Lynda Alexander confirmed to police in December that her ex-husband "may have lived with her sometime before or after the murder," the arrest report said.

Paul Alexander denied that to police in December. The arrest report said he also told police there was no reason his DNA would be at the crime scene but refused to provide a DNA sample.

Police secured a warrant to obtain Alexander's DNA and performed a mouth swab to get a sample of his DNA earlier this year.

The results affirmed Mastrio's faith in science.

"Forensic scientists were able to positively identify Alexander's DNA with DNA that was left at the scene," Popp said.

An attempt to contact Paul Alexander in jail was not successful. He refused to give police a statement Wednesday night. Popp said the investigation is ongoing and that police are still trying to establish a motive for the slaying.

Popp said he's elated that an arrest has been made.

"There's a lot of satisfaction when you're able to call up family members or loved ones and say, 'Your loved one's case has finally been resolved.' "

Mastrio applauds Las Vegas police for making an arrest, but his satisfaction is hollow.

"It's bittersweet," Mastrio said. "It's not going to bring him back. It's not going to replace the 13 years we lost. But I feel glad that justice was done."

Mastrio said he'll remember the laughs he shared with Meli. The two met in Laughlin in 1982 when Mastrio was performing at a casino with his band. In the decade before he was killed, Meli also worked for Mastrio's cleaning business, which clears construction sites.

Mastrio said his sons took to Meli right away, and he became "Uncle Joe" to them.

As for Mastrio's feelings about Alexander: "I could fill up the whole newspaper on what I'd like to say to him."

Mastrio said he knows Meli is smiling down from heaven. And Mastrio can't help but smile at how it all began with his phone call.

"I was just lucky they were interested in solving an old case," he said. "It just took one phone call."

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.