Prosecutor seeks death penalty for slaying

Kim Smith

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2000 | 11:15 a.m.

A man accused of shooting a tourist at Harrah's hotel-casino last month may get his death wish granted.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Schwartz filed on Wednesday a notice of his intent to seek the death penalty for Stephen Mullen Jr., 32.

Mullen is accused of shooting Heather Vitarelli, 29, in the back as he struggled with casino security guards on Sept. 8.

In media interviews after his arrest, Mullen repeatedly said he wanted and deserved the death penalty.

The Clark County district attorney's office only pursues the death penalty in those cases in which a panel believes the aggravating circumstances outweigh any mitigating circumstances and in which it believes the suspect will be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to court documents, Schwartz intends to argue that Mullen deserves to die because he placed more than one person at "great risk of death" during the event and Vitarelli's death occurred while Mullen was wanted on a probation violation charge in Oklahoma.

Schwartz also contends the slaying happened during the commission of a burglary and because Mullen was trying to avoid arrest and/or escape custody.

Vitarelli was shot in the back after security guards confronted Mullen and Michael Frimmel, 31, believing them to be responsible for a handful of thefts within the casino.

As Frimmel ran away, Mullen was tackled by casino guards. Police said that while the guards struggled to handcuff him, he managed to fire two shots with the gun pinned under his chest.

Vitarelli was hit by one of the shots and a security guard was hit in the abdomen with the other and survived.

Frimmel, who was arrested in New Jersey after errors resulted in his release from jail here, is awaiting extradition.