Courthouse security increased after slaying suspects threatened

Bill Gang

Friday, June 18, 1999 | 11:03 a.m.

There has been a heightened state of security at the Clark County Courthouse since authorities learned that a friend of the victims in a quadruple murder case wanted to avenge the killings.

Assistant District Court Administrator Rick Loop said that police in Idaho were informed that a 22-year-old man made threats against Sikia Smith and two other defendants in the murder case and was headed for Las Vegas in a stolen Chevrolet.

A picture of the 5-foot-7, blue-eyed, blond-haired man has been distributed to bailiffs and security personnel at the courthouse, Loop said.

"We're ready if he comes here looking for trouble," Loop said.

But he added that the man's criminal past, which involves alcohol and drug problems and a few theft-related counts, does not include violence.

"I suspect that if he comes, he will see our scanning equipment and not bother," Loop said, referring to the metal detectors and X-ray equipment that prevents weapons from being carried into the courthouse.

Since prisoners housed in the Clark County Detention Center travel to and from the courthouse through an underground tunnel, access to the three purported targets outside the courthouse would be impossible.

If the man actually shows up and isn't driving a stolen car or carrying weapons, Loop said, he would be permitted into the courthouse like any other citizen.

Smith's trial over his alleged role in the execution-style slayings of four men during a well-organized robbery in August is expected to conclude next week in District Judge Joseph Pavlikowski's courtroom.

The trial of the second defendant, Terrell Cochise Young, 19, would then begin. The trial of the alleged triggerman, Donte Johnson, will be later this year.