Monday, April 6, 1998 | 6:05 a.m.
SPARKS, Nev. - Police on Monday were trying to determine if the killing of a paralyzed woman was connected to an earlier slaying the victim witnessed in her home.
Officers found the body of Kimberly Jean Fondy, 33, at her home around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, police Lt. David Zarubi said.
Officers went to the home in the 1800 block of 19th Street after dispatchers received a 911 phone call from an unidentified woman asking for police assistance, Zarubi said.
Zarubi said Fondy's body was found in her wheelchair. She had been confined to a wheelchair because of an automobile accident several years ago.
He said it appeared she had been shot, though autopsy results were pending.
Fondy was a witness to a murder that occurred in the same house last year, authorities said.
The body of Judith Ann Laine, 33, was found in late December buried under 3 feet of snow near Boca Reservoir west of Reno.
Laine was last seen Nov. 13 in Sparks, but was not reported missing until Nov. 29. Police said they initially had no reason to suspect foul play.
But a subsequent investigation revealed she was stabbed in the shower during what police termed an insignificant dispute at Fondy's home. Fondy shared the home with Laine and John Andre Bazile.
Bazile, 21, was charged with murder in Laine's killing and is scheduled to stand trial in August.
Fondy testified against Bazile in initial hearings in the case, Zarubi said.
"We don't know whether there will be a connection to that case," Zarubi said during a news conference. "The coincidence is striking and we are working that aspect of it."
There was evidence of a forced entry into the home, but Zarubi would not discuss other details about the crime scene because of the ongoing investigation.
Detectives also were looking for a small, older model red pickup truck that was seen in the area with up to three people in it, he said.
Police asked anyone with information to contact them.
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