Court briefs for September 6, 2000

Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2000 | 11:37 a.m.

Brothers to be tried separately

Two brothers who are accused of stabbing a North Las Vegas woman to death in April will be tried separately.

Chief Deputy District Attorney William Koot said District Judge Joseph Bonaventure agreed Tuesday that James Cook and Daniel Cook should not be tried at the same time, because they implicated each other in statements made to police.

James Cook will be tried Nov. 20 and his brother's trial will begin Nov. 29.

According to authorities, the brothers went to Walburga Soult's home on April 8 and an argument erupted.

During the argument, James Cook, 17, allegedly took out a gun and shot at one of Soult's four daughters, 22-year-old Pamela Fremou. A bullet struck Fremou, who was pregnant, near the collarbone and grazed one of her ears.

Fremou was able to escape out a back window. When she went back inside a few minutes later, her mother was lying on the living room floor bleeding from several wounds in her head.

An autopsy revealed Soult, 61, died from cutting and stabbing wounds. Fremou was taken to the hospital, where she miscarried.

James Cook faces two counts of attempted murder and one count of murder with use of a deadly weapon and Daniel Cook, 20, faces a single count of murder with use of a deadly weapon.

Airman enters plea agreement

A 23-year-old Nellis Air Force Base airman entered a plea agreement Tuesday in the December 1999 death of her newborn daughter.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Vicki Monroe said that while Candice Kitto did not admit guilt, she said prosecutors have enough evidence to convict Kitto of second-degree murder.

Monroe said that Kitto delivered a baby girl on Dec. 9, stuffed her in a plastic bag and placed her in a box in an apartment closet. When her husband came home, Kitto explained away the blood he found all over the apartment, but when she continued to grow ill, she ended up at the Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital.

When doctors at the hospital discovered the placenta, Kitto initially denied having given birth, but eventually told them about the baby in the closet, Monroe said.

Kitto was charged with murder after an autopsy revealed the baby had been born healthy.

Monroe said Kitto could get a 10-year to life sentence or a 10- to 25-year sentence when she is sentenced Oct. 16.

Man sentenced in woman's death

A 50-year-old Las Vegas man who pleaded guilty of strangling a woman and keeping her body hidden in a bathtub was sentenced Tuesday to eight to 20 years in prison.

David Leo Smith pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon in connection with the Jan. 2, 1999, death of Heidi Zwieg, 34.

Police found Zweig's body in a bathtub filled with water and bleach at the Gateway Motel, 928 Las Vegas Blvd. South, after Smith called his son to tell him he had killed her. Smith, a limousine driver, was arrested at the wedding chapel where he worked.

Police believe Smith hoped the bleach would mask the smell of Zweig's body until his son could arrive from the East Coast to help him get rid of the body.

Deputy Special Public Defender Kristina Wildeveld said District Judge Donald Mosley sentenced Smith based on a deal worked out between Zweig and prosecutors, but probation officers had recommended Smith receive between 16 months and six years in prison.