Witness describes how suspects took getaway vehicle

Kim Smith

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2001 | 9:01 a.m.

The charges The following are the charges Jose Vigoa and Pedro Duarte will face at a trial should Justice of the Peace James Bixler determine there is sufficient evidence:

A California resident testified Monday that he saw Jose Vigoa and Pedro Duarte step into a getaway vehicle moments after the Desert Inn was robbed in June 1999.

Monday was the first day in what is expected to be a weeklong hearing to determine whether Vigoa and Duarte will face trial on multiple charges in a series of casino heists.

Police allege Vigoa, 41, began robbing hotels in June 1998 with the help of Duarte, 37, Luis Suarez, 37, and Oscar Sanchez Cisneros, 23. The men are also accused of killing two armored truck guards in March 2000.

John Thornberg said he was walking his dog in the parking lot of the Vagabond Inn when an Isuzu Rodeo, driven by Duarte, screeched into the lot.

Duarte got out of the car and jumped into a red Nissan pickup, which was parked a short distance away, Thornberg said. After fiddling around under the steering wheel for a few moments, Duarte was able to start the truck, the witness said.

Thornberg said that one of the other men then threw three duffle bags into the bed of the truck and lay down. The third man jumped inside the truck with Duarte.

Vigoa and Cisneros were arrested on June 7, 2000, a few days after the Bellagio was hit in an $188,000 heist. Suarez was arrested two months later.

As detectives worked to tie the three men and Duarte to all of the same crimes, prosecutors presented their case against Vigoa, Cisneros and Suarez to two magistrates, who decided there was enough evidence to try them in connection with the Bellagio heist. That trial has not been scheduled.

Cisneros committed suicide in October 2000 after implicating himself and the others, seriously hampering prosecutors' attempts to obtain additional charges against his alleged co-conspirators.

Although still unable to tie the three remaining men with all of the same crimes, prosecutors in June charged Vigoa with murder. They also filed 27 other counts against him pertaining to three additional casino heists.

Vigoa was charged in connection with the robberies of the MGM Grand Sept. 20, 1998, the Desert Inn June 28, 1999, and Mandalay Bay Oct. 11, 1999.

Prosecutors also charged Duarte with seven criminal counts pertaining to the Desert Inn robbery.

Justice of the Peace James Bixler must evaluate the latest charges to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to go forward.

On Monday, Bixler heard from 12 of the 40 witnesses expected to be called this week.

Among those who testified were two Brinks armored truck employees who were robbed. Brian Lane was robbed at gunpoint at the MGM, and Donald Bowman was shot in the arm while exchanging fire with robbers at the Desert Inn.

Witnesses to the Desert Inn robbery saw the suspects flee in an Isuzu Rodeo that matches the description of the vehicle Thornberg saw at the Vagabond Inn.

Under cross-examination, Thornberg insisted that although he didn't pick Vigoa and Duarte out of a physical lineup in August 2000, he now recognizes them.

Duarte, who wasn't arrested until June, was not in the lineup.

In addition, Vigoa was the second man in the lineup, not No. 1 or No. 3, as Thornberg said.

It was also revealed during Monday's hearing that the three men who took part in the Desert Inn robbery apparently got into the wrong getaway vehicle.

Another red pickup truck was found parked two spaces away from the Isuzu Rodeo. A latent print examiner testified Duarte's fingerprints were on the back of the vehicle's stolen plates, and a detective testified the vehicle was registered to Duarte's wife.

Prosecutors speculate that the men accidentally got into the wrong vehicle and, when they couldn't start it, opted to hot-wire it instead.