Jury will hear Floyd statements to police

Kim Smith

Friday, June 30, 2000 | 11:19 a.m.

Two statements made by a Las Vegas man to police moments after he allegedly opened fire inside a grocery store and killed four people will be heard by jurors during his trial, which begins July 11.

District Judge Jeffrey Sobel decided Thursday that Zane Floyd, 23, gave the statements voluntarily and knowing full well they could be used against him at trial.

Deputy Public Defenders Curtis Brown and Doug Hedger had asked that the statements be dismissed.

Sobel made his ruling after hearing the testimony of Metro Police Officer Chris Cantanese and Detective Paul Bigham. Both officers said Floyd, a former Marine, readily agreed to talk to them about his actions on the morning of June 3, 1999, despite being advised of his rights under the Miranda decision.

Both officers described Floyd as being highly excited, but coherent, attentive and cooperative.

According to authorities, Floyd walked into an Albertson's grocery store near Valley View and Charleston boulevards shortly after 5 a.m. that day and went on a shooting spree with a 12-gauge pistol-grip shotgun.

Five people were shot and four were killed.

Cantanese testified that when he arrived, Floyd was sitting on the sidewalk in front of the store holding the shotgun to his head and begging police to "just shoot" him. A fellow officer was able to talk Floyd into setting the gun down and he was taken into custody without incident.

Cantanese said that before Floyd was taken to jail, he spoke with him in the back seat of a police car as a tape recorder sat on an arm rest. Bigham had a lengthier tape-recorded interview with Floyd at the jail.

Although blood tests later showed Floyd had a blood alcohol content of 0.09, both officers said he did not appear to be inebriated. Instead, they said Floyd appeared to be filled with adrenaline and as a result, spoke openly and in graphic terms about what he had done.

In addition to the murder charges, Floyd is also being tried for the sexual assault of an outcall service employee just minutes before the spree.

Floyd faces the death penalty if convicted.