News briefs

Tuesday, Dec. 14, 1999 | 11:53 a.m.

Woman charged in apartment fire

Las Vegas Fire investigators charged a 53-year-old woman Monday with arson -- accusing her of setting fire to the apartment she was about to be evicted from.

Luna Socorro is accused of setting a fire in her apartment in the 1700 block of Alta Drive about 8:40 a.m. Monday, Las Vegas Fire spokesman Tim Szymanski.

Firefighters put out the fire in about 10 minutes. Damage was estimated at $5,000.

No one was home in the apartment when firefighters arrived, but Socorro was at a neighbor's apartment. Socorro was apparently despondent about losing her job and not being able to pay her bill, officials said.

There was moderate damage to the apartment's walls and carpet, but no structural damage. The few belongings the woman had were destroyed in the fire, officials said.

Body found in desert was slain

The Clark County coroner's office has determined that a gunshot wound in the head was the cause of death of a man whose body was found off Interstate 15 in November.

Partial skeletal remains were found on Nov. 20 in a desert area near the Carp-Elgin exit of I-15 near Glendale. The coroner's office said the remains appear to be from a white male or possibly a Hispanic male between 50 and 60 years old. The victim is believed to have been 5 feet 9 inches tall and may have worn prescription glasses.

Police estimate the remains had been in the desert for less than a year. Anyone with information about the victim's identity or his slaying is asked to call Metro Police homicide detectives at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Rudin moves closer to extradition

Margaret Rudin, who spent more than 2 1/2 years on the run after being indicted on charges of killing her millionaire husband, has been served with a governor's warrant -- a document that moves her once step closer to being returned to Nevada from Framingham, Mass., authorities said Monday.

Rudin, 56, is accused of killing real-estate agent Ron Rudin by shooting him in the head on Dec. 18, 1994. A month later, his burned, bullet-ridden and decapitated body was found near Lake Mohave. Rudin, who vanished shortly after her 1997 indictment, was arrested last month in Revere, Mass.

The warrant seeks to return Rudin to Nevada to face prosecution. She has "a reasonable amount of time to contest the warrant," said Anson Kaye, a spokesman for the Middlesex District Attorney.

Two men hit company van

Two men robbed another coin truck Monday night in a method that is similar to other recent robberies.

Two men, one with a handgun, forced the driver back into the van at Eastern and East Owens avenues about 7 p.m. They drove the coin truck to a nearby neighborhood, took the money and left in a waiting car driven by a third man, according to a Metro Police report. The driver was not injured. There have been several coin truck robberies in recent weeks.