Murder defendant incompetent for trial

Bill Gang

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 1998 | 10:29 a.m.

After a second psychiatrist determined John Flowers' mental problems were too severe for him to aid in his defense, the disheveled defendant was declared incompetent to stand trial in the murder of Las Vegas singer Ginger Rios.

District Judge Michael Douglas on Monday ordered Flowers sent to the state mental facility at Lake's Crossing near Sparks for evaluation and treatment.

One psychiatrist already has declared Flowers to be "acutely psychotic" and unable to help his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Will Ewing.

Deputy District Attorney Gary Guymon has conceded that Flowers' mental condition could delay the case for months but such postponements are sometimes unavoidable.

It won't be Flowers, also known as Craig Jacobson, first foray at a mental facility.

Flowers spent significant time in a mental facility as a result of a criminal case he was facing several years ago in Federal Court on a charge of transporting stolen property, court sources said.

Rios was killed April 4 after her husband drove her to the Spy Craft store, 3507 Maryland Parkway, managed by Flowers.

Mark Hollinger told police that his 20-year-old wife never emerged from the store although Flowers told Metro Police detectives at the time that she left after buying a book about how to kill people and then disappear.

But police said Flowers' wife came forward with information in August that led to the recovery of Rios' body in a grave in a southern Arizona desert. A second body was found nearby and police are investigating whether Flowers may have been responsible for that death as well.

Flowers was arrested in Los Angeles on murder charges in Rios' death and returned to Nevada.