Elderly man arrested in slaying of older brother

Keith Paul

Wednesday, May 17, 2000 | 10:01 a.m.

A 73-year-old man is being held in the Clark County Detention Center this morning, charged with beating his older brother to death in their southeast Las Vegas apartment.

Ronald Brauch called 911 about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, claiming his brother was unresponsive. When paramedics arrived at the apartment in the 2600 block of South Nellis Boulevard, they discovered his 74-year-old brother dead and bloody.

Brauch, who was arrested on suspicion of homicide, sat in a police car Tuesday morning with blood on the side of his face while detectives were inside the apartment.

"It looks like there was some type of blunt force trauma involved," said Lt. Wayne Petersen of Metro Police's homicide unit. An autopsy was scheduled for this morning.

Brauch's brother, whose name had not been released, apparently wasn't shot or stabbed, Sgt. Kevin Manning of the homicide unit said.

Police said Ronald Brauch's name was the only one on the lease at the South Nellis Boulevard apartment and he had lived there about two years. Manning said he was unsure how long the brothers have lived together.

A computer check of public records on both brothers show they have lived at the same address in various locations in Las Vegas since 1987.

Petersen said they don't know what occurred between the brothers before the 74-year-old's death.

Police didn't have any record of officers being called to the apartment before for incidents between the brothers, Manning said.

The elderly man's death is the 36th homicide so far this year in Metro's jurisdiction and is believed to be the third domestic-related homicide this year.

Last year 27 of the 113 homicides in Metro jurisdiction were related to domestic violence. In 1998, of 149 homicides, 21 involved domestic violence, Detective Chuck Pierce of Metro's domestic violence unit said.

While domestic violence is most often mentioned in association with husband and wife or boyfriend-girlfriend relationships, Pierce said, domestic violence also includes siblings, parents and roommates -- whether or not there is a romantic relationship.

Keith Paul

covers crime and public safety for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4057 or by e-mail at keith@lasvegassun.com