Floyd witness will remain in custody

Bill Gang

Thursday, Jan. 27, 2000 | 11:47 a.m.

The outcall entertainer who was with Zane Floyd for an hour before he is alleged to have walked into a supermarket and shotgunned four people to death likely will remain in jail as a material witness until the defendant's March trial.

District Judge Jeff Sobel today set bail at $50,000 for the woman who has said she was raped and threatened during the time she was with Floyd. She also told police that Floyd had revealed his plan to commit the massacre, showing her his shotgun and saying he had 19 shells and intended to kill the first 19 people he saw.

Even if the 21-year-old woman somehow manages to post the bond, District Attorney Stewart Bell said it is unlikely she will be released because Oregon authorities want her on probation violation charges over a drug conviction there.

A complicating factor, however, is that the woman is pregnant -- perhaps with Floyd's child -- and may not be able to fly back to Las Vegas from Oregon because of that.

Her attorney, Chip Siegel, said today he may ask that the woman be allowed her freedom after giving a videotaped deposition that can be shown to the jury at Floyd's trial if the witness again disappears.

Bell pointed out that his office had sought such a deposition from the woman early in the case because of the fear she might disappear, but Sobel rejected the bid.

Bell said there is "more reason now to believe she might not be available if she is not in custody."

Siegel emphasized that she is a victim in the case and it usually the defendants and not the victims who are confined to jail pending a trial.

He said that if she is released, "She's not going anywhere," and added that after she stopped contacting prosecutors in November as she was ordered to do by Sobel, she still remained in Las Vegas.

Siegel said he also wants to ensure she has proper medical care for her pregnancy, but Bell said that is not an issue because there are medical personnel at the Clark County Detention Center who could care for her.

While Bell said he sympathized with the woman, he said that "unfortunate as it is, I think she's where she is going to be (until the trial)."

She is considered a key witness because she is the only person who can talk about Floyd's state of mind in the hour before the June 3 shooting at the Albertson's market at Valley View Boulevard and Sahara Avenue.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Floyd.