TV show generates tip; suspect arrested

Bob Shemeligian

Thursday, Jan. 29, 1998 | 10:21 a.m.

Amy DeChant was scheduled to appear at a bond hearing today at the St. Lucie County courthouse in Florida after her arrest Wednesday on charges of murdering Las Vegas bookmaker Bruce Weinstein.

DeChant, 49, was arrested at a private residence in Port St. Lucie by county sheriff's detectives, acting on a tip from an informant who had seen the Las Vegas woman portrayed on a recent episode of America's Most Wanted.

Metro Police homicide Sgt. Kevin Manning said Las Vegas authorities will now seek to extradite DeChant back to Las Vegas in order to stand trial.

"We're trying to get her back," Manning said. "Either she'll wave (extradition) or she'll fight, and we'll have to get a governor's warrant, but we will get her back."

In a brief press release, Manning stated that the arresting officers had been in contact with Metro "in an effort to coordinate the apprehension."

Manning declined to say more about the case, but Mark Weinberg, public information officer for the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, said he expects Las Vegas investigators to arrive in the bedroom community on the east coast of South Florida 60 miles north of West Palm Beach as early as Friday to execute search warrants and to begin extradition proceedings.

"We seized a number of items including her personal possessions and two vehicles -- a Cadillac and a van," Weinberg said. "We have impounded both."

Dan Albregts, DeChant's attorney, said little about the arrest.

"Unlike Metro, I don't issue press releases," Albregts said dryly. "Amy has contacted me, and we will start preparing her defense. It would be premature to say anything else."

A native of Fords, N.J., DeChant had lived in Las Vegas since 1992, and met Weinstein at The Mirage poker room in October 1995, according to sources. The two were living together by Christmas that year.

DeChant, 49, who owned a carpet cleaning business and liked to frequent Las Vegas poker rooms, disappeared in September 1997 after she and employee Robert Jones were charged with Weinstein's murder by a Las Vegas grand jury. Jones was arrested in New Mexico a month later.

DeChant, 49, was profiled on America's Most Wanted just weeks ago, and White said a tip from a viewer of the television program led to her capture.

"I'm in shock -- this has been such a relief," said Sylvia White, Weinstein's mother, after she learned of DeChant's apprehension.

"I was beginning to have my doubts that she would ever be found, but America's Most Wanted told me they would find her, and that's what has kept me going," White said.

Weinstein disappeared July 7, 1996, from his southwest Las Vegas home that he shared with DeChant.

The remains of the 46-year-old bookmaker were discovered Aug. 11 in a makeshift grave off the Old Alamo Highway about half a mile west of State Route 168.

Immediately, the investigation focused on DeChant and Jones.

Investigators found blood stains in the freshly cleaned carpets of Weinstein's home after searching for clues to his disappearance.

Other sources point out that a rolled-up spare piece of carpet is believed to be missing from the garage of the home, and that DeChant changed her story several times about the events leading to Weinstein's disappearance.

Three weeks after Weinstein disappeared, DeChant was arrested in Maryland when police found more than $100,000 in cash, false birth certificates and wigs in her car.

After spending nearly two months in the Harford County jail in Maryland, DeChant was released Sept. 13, 1996, after Michael Gerber, her brother, posted $5,000 cash bail.

In subsequent months, DeChant lived in Las Vegas and was frequently seen playing in local poker tournaments. She often competed in low-limit 7-card, hi-low-split tournaments conducted Saturday evenings at the Orleans.

During DeChant's recent disappearance, Weinberg said investigators believe that she divided her time between New Jersey and South Florida.

"She was apparently going back and forth between St. Lucie and Belleville," Weinberg said. "I don't know what the connection is."

According to sources in Las Vegas, DeChant's brother lives in Ewing, N.J., and her foster parents live in Delray Beach, Fla., which is less than 100 miles south of Port St. Lucie.

DeChant was arrested at the home Joe Kosa, a Port St. Lucie resident who, police said, runs a commercial cleaning service. Kosa, who has a non-published phone number, could not be reached Wednesday.

Weinberg said sheriff's dep-uties arrived at Kosa's home late Wednesday morning, and when DeChant answered the doorbell, she was wearing a bathrobe, apparently still sleepy after driving to South Florida from New Jersey the night before.

"At first she told deputies her name was 'Sandy,' but she quickly acknowledged her true identity after a deputy replied, 'No, you're not."

Weinberg said Weinstein had curly brown hair when she was arrested.

"To my untrained eye, it does not appear that she did anything to alter her facial characteristics," Weinberg said.

DeChant worked as a bartender at two South Florida establishments in recent months: the Out of Bounds Steak & Grill in Fort Pierce and the Rocking Horse in Stuart.

"She kept to herself," said a co-worker at the Rocking Horse. "She didn't have much of a social life."

"She trained here for about a week," said a co-worker at the Out of Bounds. "Personally, I didn't like her. She would be really nice, and other times she would change and she was kind of mean. I think she was very volatile."