Las Vegas news briefs for June 17, 1999

Thursday, June 17, 1999 | 11:16 a.m.

Roommate held in woman's death

A 75-year-old woman was found shot to death in her southeast Las Vegas mobile home Wednesday night.

Metro Police say the woman's roommate, 58-year-old Joel Marks, called police dispatchers about 7 p.m. Wednesday to say that several hours earlier he had shot the woman, whose name was being withheld until relatives can be notified. Officers and paramedics found the woman in her mobile home in the 1400 block of Palm Street dead of an apparent gunshot wound.

Marks, who police say was renting a room, was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of murder with a deadly weapon. Police recovered what they believe to be the murder weapon at the scene, but have no motive for the shooting.

NELLIS PLANES

Pilot hospitalized after F-15 crash

An Air Force pilot remained hospitalized this morning after his F-15 and another F-15 crashed during a routine training mission 60 miles east of Tonopah Tuesday night.

Maj. Bruce A. Till is being treated at O'Callaghan Federal Hospital for broken bones in his feet, Nellis Air Force Base spokeswoman Lt. Nikki Credic said. The pilot of the other F-15, Capt. William R. Cooley, was treated and released from the hospital.

The two fighters were flying a training mission with the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron over the Nellis Air Force Range when they crashed around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, Credic said, and findings will not be available until an investigation board completes its work, a process that usually takes four to six months.

The two aircraft were stationed at Nellis and belonged to the 53rd Wing.

MANSLAUGHTER

LV man indicted in fatal accident

A 41-year-old Las Vegas man has been indicted on involuntary manslaughter and felony reckless driving charges in a March 1998 traffic collision that resulted in the death of a woman.

Acting Chief District Judge Michael Douglas issued a warrant Wednesday for Terry Craig Palmquist and set bail at $100,000.

Palmquist is alleged to have made a U-turn on Lamb Boulevard near Charleston Boulevard and drove his 1971 Ford pickup into the path of a 1988 Chevrolet pickup driven by Andrea Kitchen.

Deputy District Attorney James Hartsell said the 35-year-old woman suffered head injuries that left her in a coma for five months before she died.

CANADA BUST

Four arrested in telemarketing scam

Four people have been arrested in Canada in a telemarketing scam in which the money was filtered through Las Vegas, the state attorney general's office said Wednesday.

Police in Toronto Tuesday closed Starrline Traders, a loan company that placed advertisements in the United States offering consolidation loans. Starrline asked for up-front fees and informed the victims they were approved for the loans.

The victims then sent their money by mail or overnight express to a Las Vegas post office box. The cash or checks were picked up and relayed back to Toronto, but the loans never came through.

LEASE INKED

Sunrise signs to use technology

Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center has entered into a lease agreement with GK Financing LLC of San Francisco for the use of a Gamma Knife.

The Gamma Knife is a radiosurgical device used to treat certain vascular malformations and brain tumors without invasive surgery. The device uses three-dimensional computer modeling to target a high dose of radiation at abnormal tissue. No incisions are made.

The hospital plans to build an addition to its diagnostic center to house the sophisticated instrument before taking possession. Ann Lynch, spokeswoman for the hospital, said she expects the knife to be operational by the end of the year.

More than 100,000 patients worldwide have been treated with a Gamma Knife.