Alleged supermarket shooter suspected of raping escort service employee

Robert Macy

Sunday, June 6, 1999 | 12:21 p.m.

A man accused of shooting four people to death in a supermarket is suspected of raping an escort service employee just before the killing spree, allegedly telling the victim he had 19 bullets and was going to kill the next 19 people he saw.

Zane Michael Floyd, 23, is accused of barging into an Albertsons grocery store two miles east of the Strip and opening fire on workers at dawn Thursday, killing four employees and wounding one.

Late Friday night, a woman filed a sexual assault report, saying she had been raped just prior to the shooting, Las Vegas Metro Police spokesman Lt. Rick Alba said Sunday.

An employee at Love Bound, an outcall escort service, told The Associated Press on Sunday that a man named Zane had called for the services of a young woman, age 18 to 21, at his home on West Oakey.

The service dispatched a 20-year-old woman to the address about 3:30 a.m. Thursday, said the employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The young woman was not identified.

The employee said the young woman arrived at the residence and "as soon as she walked in the door he grabbed her, handcuffed and taped her, then raped and sodomized her."

"He said he was here to kill, he was trained to kill, that he had 19 bullets and was going to kill the next 19 people he saw," the Love Bound employee recounted.

The employee said the man threatened to kill the young woman, fired five shots from a pump-action shotgun, then released her and told her to walk west on Oakey; he headed east, toward the store.

She walked several blocks until she found a pay telephone and called the escort service, which filed a company report of the incident that was taken as evidence by police, the employee said.

The 20-year-old woman is from Portland, Ore., and started work on Jan. 3 at Love Bound, one of scores of escort services operating in Las Vegas. The employee said the man identified as Zane was to have paid $150 for the young woman's services but attacked her without paying.

"She's devastated by this," the employee said.

Police have received dozens of tips since Floyd allegedly barged into the store with the shotgun at 5:16 a.m. Thursday, including one from the Love Bound employee, said Alba, the police spokesman.

"We attempted to contact the victim but she chose not to involve herself until late Friday night" when she filed the rape complaint, Alba said.

Floyd, who had been working as a security guard and a bouncer at a local club, is being held without bond on four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The former Marine from Camp Pendleton, Calif., is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning.

As of Sunday, Floyd had not been charged on the sexual assault complaint, Alba said.

Police continue to search for a motive as friends and employees struggle to recover. Albertsons offered counseling for its employees before reopening at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Metro homicide Sgt. Kevin Manning said he believes that after the five employees were gunned down and others fled or hid, the killer apparently ran out of victims.

There were 25 people inside at the time, including 14 employees.

When police arrived, Floyd first tried to flee, then put the gun to his head before finally surrendering.

Manning said one victim was found just inside the entrance, two were in the center of the store, one was in a produce area and a fifth was in a grocery preparation area.

Investigators believe the victims were shot at random. Most were taken by surprise and shot at close range, Manning said. One victim was chased, he said.

The four dead employees were identified as Thomas Darnell, 40; Chuck Leos, 41; Dennis Troy Sergent, 29; and Luci Tarantino, 60, all of Las Vegas.

The fifth victim, Zachary Emenegger, 21, of Las Vegas was upgraded to fair condition Sunday at University Medical Center.