Suspects in beating of vet go on trial

Bill Gang

Thursday, June 11, 1998 | 11:14 a.m.

There is no doubt Las Vegas veterinarian James Reilly was lured to a remote house four years ago and ambushed. He was beaten nearly to death and his head injuries put him into a coma for several days that left him with brain damage including memory loss.

Reilly eventually named his attacker as his former partner, Henderson veterinarian Alan Ruegamer, who was accompanied by two women.

As the District Court trial began Wednesday for Ruegamer and Jacqueline Demaria, an auto repossession driver, the issue for the jury seems to revolve around Reilly's memory -- the only substantial prosecution evidence.

Deputy District Attorney Steve Owens told the jury during opening statements in District Judge Michael Douglas' courtroom that Reilly clearly recognized his baseball bat wielding attacker.

Reilly had been called to the house in northwest Las Vegas by a person who professed to need help for a sick or injured cat.

But defense attorneys, while sympathetic to the injuries Reilly suffered, said the victim's memory is suspect and if it can't be trusted, the defendants must be acquitted.

Ruegamer's attorney, Lew Wolfbrandt, contended that investigators for the state Board of Veterinary Examiners and police targeted Ruegamer for prosecution in the beating rather than seeking the true culprit.

Two days after the incident on May 24, 1994, Reilly was scheduled to testify against Ruegamer in a disciplinary hearing on allegations he had practiced medicine on a suspended license.

Ruegamer, 55, and Demaria are charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the beating that also affected Reilly's speech.

His lingering health problems also caused delays in the criminal case but Reilly finally testified before a grand jury in October 1994 that Ruegamer was the man he remembers swinging the bat.

A third defendant in the marathon case was Charmaine Guss, 42, but charges against her were thrown out in 1995 by a judge who ruled that if she was present at the beating scene, there was no evidence to show she was a participant.