Fight challenge leaves one dead, one in jail

Thursday, Feb. 11, 1999 | 9:11 a.m.

Frank Ortiz Ortega suffered severe head trauma in the fight Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Ortega and Owen Finnegan, 69, were drinking at an Elks Club when they got into an argument over who was the better fighter, police said. They each bet $100 to decide the issue.

Ortega and Finnegan then went outside to fight.

Finnegan struck Ortega, who then fell backward and struck his head on the pavement.

He was taken to University Medical Center, where he died Wednesday.

Finnegan was arrested for battery with substantial bodily harm, then re-booked into the Clark County Detention Center Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder and challenge to fight.

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