Four teens headed to prison for slaying of homeless man

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2001 | 11:46 a.m.

Moments before they were sentenced Tuesday, four Las Vegas teens who pleaded guilty to beating a homeless man to death learned something about their victim.

"He was a gentle guy," the sister of Russell Dean Frasher sobbed during the court appearance. "He had a home (in Ohio). He had a family. He had two sons."

District Judge Jeffrey Sobel sentenced Donald Jones Jr., Edward Hayes, Rocky Arbaugh and Anthony Quickbear to spend at least six years in jail for the April 1 death of Frasher, a 50-year-old Army veteran who spent the past 20 years living on the streets of Las Vegas.

Jones and Hayes, both 17, pleaded guilty to battery with use of a deadly weapon and were sentenced to six to 15 years in prison. Arbaugh, 17, and Quickbear, 18, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and were given life sentences with parole possible after 10 years.

Frasher's sister Shirley Keadle said she flew to Las Vegas from Barnesville, Ohio, to tell the teens that, despite his lifestyle, her brother wasn't a faceless, insignificant man whose presence will not be missed.

Keadle, her arms filled with pictures of Frasher, told Sobel how unfair it is that the teens will one day gofree.

"I wanted to bring him home, and all I got to bring home was a box of ashes," Keadle said. "These (parents) will see their children again. I'll never see my brother again."

When asked about the boys' sentencing, Keadle said, "I didn't want to hear the word 'parole' anywhere close to it."

The teenagers told police that on April 1 they beat up a homeless man because he had thrown rocks at them and had refused to buy them beer.

They said later that day they found Frasher sleeping in a vacant field near Alta Drive and Martin Luther King Boulevard, and they attacked him, too.

The teens used their fists, feet, rocks, bottles and a shopping cart to attack Frasher. The fatal blow to the head came from a large piece of concrete, police say.

During the teens' preliminary hearing, Dr. Gary Telgenhoff said Frasher's skull fractures were so bad that he could see brain matter before he began the autopsy. Frasher also suffered multiple facial fractures, broken ribs and a torn liver.

Each of the teens stood and apologized Tuesday for their part in the attack. Quickbear and Jones partially blamed alcohol for their actions, but said they were ready to accept responsibility for Frasher's death.

Sobel called Frasher's death an "unnecessary, cruel tragedy."

"It is just an awesome tragedy," Sobel said. "We had four kids just sitting around drinking with nothing better to do than take a life."

After the hearing, Keadle said her brother came home from a tour of duty in Germany a changed man. He married and divorced twice and fathered two sons, Russ and Brent.

When their father died in the early 1980s, Keadle said her brother left for Las Vegas, having fallen in love with the West while stationed in Colorado.

Keadle said her brother would never explain why he chose to remain homeless when he had a loving family in Ohio.

"When I asked him, he would just say 'You'll understand one day,' " Keadle said.