Woman describes three days with murder suspect

Cathy Scott

Friday, Nov. 8, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Brenda was petrified when a photograph of a man wanted in a double homicide flashed on a TV screen.

It was the same man with whom she had spent the last three days.

She knew she had to do something, to tell someone, but she was afraid.

Brenda, in Las Vegas on an extended visit from Virginia, met 30-year-old Theodore Sean Widdowes Monday night and spent the next three nights with him.

The 37-year-old who asked that her last name not be used had a friend call Secret Witness about 9:45 a.m. Thursday.

Police quickly closed in on Widdowes, shutting down Las Vegas Boulevard from Oakey Boulevard to St. Louis Avenue as they surround the Oasis Motel.

A standoff ended about noon Thursday when Widdowes shot himself to death with a .357-caliber Magnum, the same gun used in the double homicide, police said.

The bodies of James "Hank" Hancox, 28, and Rhoda Priebe, 30, were found shot to death inside Priebe's mobile home in Pahrump Sunday afternoon. Widdowes, Priebe's ex-boyfriend, was the prime suspect, Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke said.

Lieseke said after the shooting Widdowes had spent his time and money in casinos "and on legal prostitution," using credit cards and his own name. While on the run, Widdowes telephoned friends and family and said he intended to kill himself, Lieseke added.

"He had recently broken up with the female victim, and he just didn't take that very well," Lieseke told reporters.

Sheriff's deputies had just missed catching Widdowes two days earlier at a casino, Lieseke said.

Brenda met Widdowes at Dino's Lounge in the 1600 block of Las Vegas Boulevard South where she had gone to watch "Monday Night Football."

During halftime, "he asked me if I wanted to play blackjack, if I was good," Brenda said. "We took a cab to the Sahara Hotel." He explained that he had left his car at the Texas hotel-casino, where police later found it, because he didn't want to drink and drive, she said.

Brenda and Widdowes gambled and danced most of the night, and from there they went to the Stardust hotel-casino where they booked Room 15 for two nights, she said.

Because of a convention, they couldn't get a room for Wednesday night, so they checked into the Oasis Motel at 1731 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Brenda woke up about 6 a.m. Thursday and switched on the TV set.

"Here was a picture of his face," she said. "I said to myself, 'Oh, shit.'"

When Widdowes woke up, she told him she was hungry. She said she didn't want to alarm him, so she returned with two hamburgers from a nearby Burger King.

After they ate, "he told me to go get the room for another night and cigarettes, and he gave me a hundred dollars," she said. "I tried to act natural, like nothing had happened."

She left, but instead of going to the motel's office, she went to Dino's Lounge. She told some acquaintances about what she had learned, and they advised her to call the police.

"She asked us what to do," said Brenda Faith, who was in the bar with Brenda. "She was shaking. She wasn't herself."

A man at Dino's made the call to Secret Witness about 9:45 a.m., Metro Police Sgt. Greg McCurdy said. Within minutes, officers arrived and knocked on the motel room door. Widdowes spoke with the officers, but didn't open the door. About 9:55 a.m., officers heard a single round fired.

Three hours later, SWAT officers busted into Room 15 and found Widdowes dead on the floor from a gunshot wound. Next to him were the .357 and a Glock .40-caliber handgun.

In retrospect, Brenda said she feels "dumb and naive right now. I feel lucky to be alive."

She said she was never afraid of Widdowes until she learned his true identity. And she said she didn't see the guns. He talked to her about his ex-girlfriend, but he didn't say she was dead.

"He was running around in casinos like nothing happened," she said. "He acted real natural. He didn't seem like anything had happened. He was real sweet, real kind to me."