Competency hearing set in slaying of Vegas singer

Bill Gang

Tuesday, Oct. 26, 1999 | 10:23 a.m.

A Nov. 22 mental competency hearing has been set for the man charged in the bizarre slaying of Las Vegas singer Ginger Rios.

John Flowers had been declared to be mentally incompetent to stand trial on murder charges, but doctors at the state mental facility say he's better now and at least one psychiatrist has suggested he was faking.

But psychiatrists hired by the public defender's office who have examined Flowers since his return to Las Vegas say he still is mentally unfit for trial.

Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane also suspects Flowers is malingering and sought the competency hearing before a decision is made to return the defendant to the state mental facility at Lake's Crossing, near Sparks.

On Monday District Judge Michael Douglas agreed.

If Flowers eventually is determined to be sane, he will return to Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis' courtroom for a preliminary hearing in the case. The case is in Douglas' courtroom only for the competency matter since only District Courts have the authority to rule on such issues.

Kane has argued that the continuing delays are unwarranted, and the criminal charges in the 1997 slaying need to be resolved.

The competency hearing will involve testimony from psychiatrists at the state's mental facility as well as those from Las Vegas.

There has been concern by the Rios family and prosecutors that Flowers is attempting to be declared too mentally ill to ever stand trial. That would result in his being dispatched to a long-term mental facility.

Rios was killed April 4, 1997, after her husband, Mark Hollinger, drove her to the Spy Craft store, 3507 Maryland Parkway, managed by Flowers. Hollinger told police the 20-year-old victim never emerged from the store.