Rios murder suspect returned to Nevada

Cathy Scott

Thursday, Dec. 18, 1997 | 10:19 a.m.

Craig Jacobsen, a 27-year-old spy shop owner accused of killing a Las Vegas entertainer, has been returned to Nevada, Metro Police said.

Jacobsen, who also goes by John Flowers, was returned to Las Vegas Wednesday and booked into the Clark County Detention Center and charged with the murder of 20-year-old Ginger Rios, a dancer and singer, according to homicide Sgt. Kevin Manning. He was placed in protective custody at the jail where he was being held without bail, a jail spokeswoman said today.

Jacobsen had previously been in the custody of the U.S. Marshal's Service since his arrest in Los Angeles Aug. 17. Jacobsen tried to hang himself with a sheet from his cell ceiling Aug. 26, a Los Angeles County Jail spokesman said. A week later, he was released from a hospital and returned to a jail cell, the spokesman said. He was then extradited to Tampa, Fla., to answer to federal charges, Manning said in a news release.

"The federal charges were dismissed and Jacobsen was made available to Nevada," he said. "Jacobsen was considered a high-risk prisoner and the U.S. Marshal's Service offered -- for a price -- to transport (by air) Jacobsen to Las Vegas."

Homicide detectives met Jacobsen Wednesday afternoon at McCarran International Airport "where the transfer of custody took place," Manning said.

He was to appear in court for arraignment within 48 hours.

Rios' body was found by sheriff's deputies in a shallow grave Aug. 15. Jacobsen's wife, Cheryl Ciccone, led deputies to the body near Tucson, Ariz., 6 1/2 miles west of State Route 177 just off the Florence-Kelvin Highway.

Before Rios' body was found, Jacobsen denied in an interview with the SUN of having anything to do with her disappearance.

Jacobsen owns the Spy Craft store on Maryland Parkway from where Rios disappeared April 4 after she told her husband she was going inside to buy a book. Jacobsen also owns stores in Phoenix and Los Angeles.

A second body found May 10 near Rios' grave is still unidentified, police said.