News briefs for December 11, 2001

Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2001 | 9:02 a.m.

The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that a homeowners association in Sandy Valley is entitled to five vacant lots and an airplane landing strip in the area.

The court Monday upheld the decision of District Judge Kathy Hardcastle that the Sky Ranch Estates Owners Association should have title to the property. It rejected the claim of Sandy Valley Associates, which developed the area about 50 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

It also directed Hardcastle to hold an evidentiary hearing into whether the homeowners association was entitled to $74,567 in attorney fees from the developer.

The homeowners association in 1992 sued Sandy Valley Associates, claiming that the five lots in the area were to be used for a swimming pool and tennis courts and were not to be developed. It also said that the landing strip, which is parallel to another landing strip, belongs to the homeowners association.

Jury deliberates fate of LV man

Jurors were deliberating this morning on the fate of a man facing consecutive life sentences for the February 1999 shooting deaths of two men.

Gustavo Cumplido was tried on two counts of open murder, one count of attempted murder and two counts of discharging a firearm out of a vehicle. If convicted, he faces multiple life counts.

He is accused of shooting Eloy Numez, 17, and Carlos Lopez, 20. Cumplido said he chased the men down in his pickup, alleging that someone shot at his house. Police say the two men did not have a weapon in their vehicle, and a witness said they did not drive past Cumplido's home.

Cumplido had already served a year in prison under a plea bargain in the case that called for a 20-year sentence, but a judge allowed him to withdraw his plea and face a trial because his former defense attorneys failed to tell him he wasn't eligible for parole.

The jury received the case Monday and deliberated for two hours before going home for the day.

Japanese man was at Grand Canyon

A Japanese tourist visiting Las Vegas was reported missing after not returning from a Grand Canyon tour last month.

Masafumi Yatabe, 50, was last seen Nov. 27 at Maswik Lodge in the Grand Canyon National Park. He was reported missing when he didn't show up for a return flight to Las Vegas on Nov. 28, National Park Service officials said.

Yatabe came to Las Vegas as part of a tour group from Japan, officials said.

The FBI and the Coconino County (Ariz.) Sheriff's Office are assisting in the investigation.

Anyone with information regarding Yatabe's whereabouts is asked to call the National Park Service at (928) 638-7805, Coconino County Sheriff's Office at (800) 338-7888 or the FBI at (928) 774-0631.