Woman guilty of murder, robbery

A 20-year-old prostitute pleaded guilty Thursday to murder and robbery in connection with the slaying of one of her frequent customers two years ago, according to District Court records.

As part of the agreement, Simone Taylor will cooperate with investigators and testify against her boyfriend and pimp, Kenneth Thomas, 29, and his friend David Jones, 28, in connection with the March 2008 shooting death of 62-year-old Heinz Jurgen Wietfeldt.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Thomas in connection with the shooting, court records said.

Wietfeldt's body was found bound and gagged in his Cadillac Escalade on March 19 in the Southern Highlands neighborhood. He had bullet holes in his leg and his head.

Wietfeldt was attracted to young black female prostitutes and had taken Taylor out to dinner and to his house on several occasions, investigators said.

Authorities said that on March 16, 2008, Taylor lured Wietfeldt to her apartment, where Thomas and Jones were waiting to rob him.

They beat him up, bound and gagged him and left him in a closet, bleeding heavily, Taylor told Las Vegas police.

Taylor then went to Wietfeldt's east Las Vegas house and took a handgun from his safe. He had given her the safe combination, police said.

Thomas and Jones then stuffed Wietfeldt into a plastic tub, carried him to his Escalade and drove to Southern Highlands. Once there, Thomas shot Wietfeldt multiple times, police said.

Taylor told police she tried to talk Thomas and Jones out of shooting Wietfeldt.

A trial date for Thomas and Jones is pending. They are being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center.

Taylor is set to be sentenced in May.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.