Man gets 4 to 10 years in woman’s slaying

Kim Smith

Thursday, July 12, 2001 | 10:55 a.m.

Despite what prosecutors say about him, murder defendant Ernest Valezquez told a judge Wednesday he regrets the slaying of an elderly Las Vegas woman.

"If I could change things if I would," Valezquez told District Judge Sally Loehrer moments before she sentenced him to four to 10 years in prison in the January death of Tiffany Averill.

Police believe Robert Whitesell, 33, Troy Schnabl, 45 and Valezquez, who were all homeless, went to Averill's home on Jan. 15 with the intention of robbing her of her husband's gun collection.

Schnabl had once lived with the Averills and had helped them move into their North Lamb Boulevard mobile home last year.

Tiffany Averill, 67, allowed the men into her home and once inside, police believe, either Whitesell or Schnabl slashed her throat in the master bedroom.

Although Valezquez did not admit guilt in a plea agreement reached in May, he conceded the prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him of conspiracy to commit murder.

Before sentencing Valezquez, Loehrer heard from Averill's husband, Herbert, who was in the hospital at the time of the attack.

Herbert "Russ' Averill, a longtime North Las Vegas constable, told the judge he and his wife had been married for more than 50 years and the entire family has been devastated by her death.

"I'd like to see him get everything that's coming to him," Herbert Averill said from his wheelchair.

It was a call from Herbert Averill that resulted in the men's arrests in March. He read a newspaper article about a fake bomb being found at an area shelter and realized it was probably the same one that had been stolen from his home at the time of the slaying.

The fake bomb was found in Whitesell's locker at the shelter.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Frank Coumou said Valezquez has four prior felony convictions and 10 prior misdemeanor convictions.

The trials of Schnabl and Whitesell are scheduled for January.