Not-guilty plea made in robbery of motel guests

Kim Smith

Friday, July 21, 2000 | 9:51 a.m.

A Las Vegas couple accused of robbing and killing a tourist at the Stratosphere hotel-casino over the Memorial Day weekend was arraigned Thursday on charges in another downtown motel robbery.

Jamie Shuey and Val Stallworth pleaded not guilty to burglary, kidnapping and robbery in the May 15 robbery at the Travelodge Motel, 2830 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

A couple staying at the motel were tied up with torn bedsheets and robbed of credit cards, cash and a cellular phone.

Police said they tied Shuey and Stallworth to the robbery after they were arrested in the May strangulation slaying of Stephen Nally, 42.

Nally's bound and gagged body was found in his hotel room May 29. A check of security videotapes showed that no one but Stallworth, Shuey and Nally had entered the room between May 26 and May 29.

Detectives, remembering that the victims in the Travelodge robbery had also been bound with torn bedsheets, showed those victims a photo lineup. Police said the victims were able to pick out Shuey and Stallworth.

DNA tests performed on a cigarette butt found at the Travelodge also linked Shuey, 23, to that crime, police said.

Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty for Nally's death, plan to ask District Judge Kathy Hardcastle next month to combine the two cases.