Trial looms for man accused of stalking Reid, Ensign

Bill Gang

Wednesday, May 6, 1998 | 10:02 a.m.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., are on opposite sides of this year's campaign trail, but they will be on the same side at the trial this month of a Las Vegas man charged with stalking them.

Michael McCusker, whose self-proclaimed motto is "Justice or Death," had gone to the men claiming he had been victimized in a Mexican investment scam that cost him perhaps $40,000.

He sought the help of Reid, Ensign and other government leaders to muscle reparations from Mexican authorities, but the assistance he wanted wasn't in the cards.

McCusker's frustrations, according to Deputy District Attorney Abbi Silver, resulted in a string of threatening telephone calls, letters and armed visits to the offices of both Reid and Ensign.

Both men testified at a preliminary hearing in September that they were in fear not only for themselves but for their families and staffs -- a critical element in stalking cases.

Reid ranked the threats from McCusker as among the "top five" he had ever received.

At the end of the preliminary hearing, Justice of the Peace Doug Smith ordered McCusker held for trial.

While McCusker is charged with two felony counts of stalking between December 1995 and July 1997, court documents indicated he had not used his .22-caliber pistol to threaten the legislators or their staffs.

In fact, the only time he pulled the weapon was when he fired a single bullet into his own chest March 18, 1996, outside Reid's office at Las Vegas Boulevard South and Charleston Boulevard.

Silver said the bullet passed through his body without hitting any vital organs and he recovered.

At Ensign's office in 1995, McCusker gave a note to an aide asking to see the congressman, saying that he would be waiting in his car outside the Las Vegas office.

The aide called Metro Police, who learned of the weapon and talked McCusker into surrendering it in exchange for an officer's efforts to have Ensign call him.

McCusker was not arrested and Ensign, in fact, did call. But the congressman testified that McCusker was upset during the hour-long conversation when he was told the U.S. government couldn't intervene.

The defendant, who referred to himself as "Honest Mike," also took exception to Ensign's suggestion that he get a job to recover the lost funds, suggesting instead that the congressman host a fund-raiser for him "with lots of rich people."

McCusker's frustrations and anger were apparent in a message he is alleged to have left for Ensign in July that "this will be a day Las Vegas remembers" and vowing "somebody is going to pay."

Ensign, testifying at the earlier hearing, said he believed the statement was a threat that a senator or congressman would be killed.

"I'm about to take some action even better than (the attempted suicide) ... I guess to make sure the press doesn't ignore me this time," McCusker was quoted as saying.

Voice mail left at Reid's office purportedly by McCusker on July 12 stated, "The TV people like blood and guts and that's what I will give them. This disaster will make every TV network in Nevada."

"This final action will be dedicated to Nevada clowns like Reid and (Gov.) Bob Miller who don't have the backbone to join the struggle for justice," the voice-mail message said.

Deputy Public Defender Patricia Justice argued in court documents that McCusker was not a threatening or homicidal person but "a suicidal individual."

Justice noted that in a 1995 note to Ensign, a frustrated McCusker said, "This big-time victim admits defeat unless you have a way out. Time to check out and I won't be back. I hope the good Lord understands and sends me to a place where the BS and bribery are not in vogue."

McCusker lamented that "one dedicated lawmaker named Ensign never acknowledged I exist."

McCusker's mental state became an issue after his arrest by the FBI on July 17. District Judge Joseph Bonaventure ordered psychiatric evaluations to be performed and had McCusker sent to the state's mental facility in Lakes Crossing.

The conclusion of the evaluations was that McCusker is competent, setting the stage for his May 26 trial.