Slaying suspect from Henderson jailed in Florida

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2001 | 9:38 a.m.

A Henderson murder suspect on the run for more than 18 months was grabbed in Miami Beach, Fla., Tuesday after apparently squandering a $70,000 inheritance used to fund his getaway.

Stephen A. Briller, 41, was in a Florida jail this morning awaiting extradition to Henderson on a murder charge. Florida police detectives and FBI agents received information Tuesday that Briller was in the area, and began looking for him.

While locating Briller solves one part of the mystery, many questions remain after the March 22, 2000, discovery of the decomposing body of 33-year-old Teri Roberts, found in her bed in her Henderson apartment.

A Clark County medical examiner still lists Roberts' cause and manner of death as undetermined. But Coroner Ron Flud said that doesn't prevent criminal charges from moving forward to a trial. He pointed out that Brookey West was convicted in July of murdering her mother, even though a cause of death was never determined.

But Briller's actions, such as pawning Roberts' belongings, taking her dogs to the pound to be euthanized and draining a bank account of the rest of his inheritance -- in addition to Roberts' apparent expressed desires to leave him -- led Henderson Police to obtain an arrest warrant weeks after Roberts' body was found.

Though Roberts was not found until March 22, 2000, police believe she was likely killed on March 1.

Briller had been getting checks twice a month from his uncle, Mort Kapp, in Los Angeles, who was doling out a $170,000 inheritance after Briller's mother died in January 1999. But on March 3, 2000, Briller called his uncle, saying he no longer lived with Roberts and that she left him for a new boyfriend, a Henderson Police report states.

Briller then showed up unannounced at Kapp's office on March 8, 2000. Briller "was giving him many stories why he was there, but basically was desperate and wanted more money," according to the report.

Kapp told police he was tired of his nephew's stories, lies and antics and withdrew the rest of the money -- about $70,000 -- and gave it to Briller. Kapp told detectives Briller had been diagnosed as being schizophrenic.

"Briller mentioned something (to his uncle) about going to Florida to get a new identity," the report states.

Briller, who several people told police was often on drugs, apparently squandered his twice-monthly checks on gambling and drugs. Roberts even called Briller's uncle, crying, on Feb. 29 or March 1, 2000, saying he had spent a recent check and was demanding money from her.

Briller was seen leaving the apartment at 1250 American Pacific Ave. near Stephanie Street on March 9, 2000, according to a Henderson Police report.

But Roberts was last seen alive on March 1 last year, when she was at a meeting at What's Up, a Henderson strip club where she was a dancer. After that, Briller started telling various stories as to where Roberts had gone. The police report details several accounts.

On March 4, when Roberts didn't show up at work, another dancer went to her apartment, and Briller wouldn't let her in. Instead, he stood outside in his underwear in the rain as he talked with the woman. Briller told her Roberts had gone to California and would be back in a few days, and that he would have Roberts call her.

On March 5, 2000, Briller told two apartment complex office workers, "Roberts had moved out of the apartment, that she had left him," according to the report.

The workers said Briller was "really nervous, rubbing his head, mumbling something about losing money and saying, 'Teri left me ... Teri left me.' " The workers added Briller was "acting crazier than normal," the report states.

But police found that Briller started disposing of Roberts' belongings and later learned Roberts appeared to be preparing to leave Briller.

Briller brought three dogs, including Roberts' beloved dog Rainbow, to the Henderson Animal Shelter on March 6. The three dogs were euthanized in the next few days.

"Everyone who knew Roberts knew that she loved her dog Rainbow, and that she would never allow her to be put to sleep," Henderson Detective Howard Scow wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant. "Almost everyone I have spoken with in this investigation says how fond she was of her dogs, as she did not have children and treated her dogs as if they were her children, calling them her babies."

Roberts' mother even found a note in Roberts' purse when going through her belongings that indicated she would be leaving Briller. The note included things to do, such as "sell or throw away kitchen stuff, keep only computer cameras and Rainbow and buy a mini-kennel for Rainbow," the report states.

Briller also pawned several of Roberts' belongings, including a television, a camera and a computer on March 2 and March 5 at a pawnshop on Mountain Vista Street.

In the weeks after Roberts' body was found, police pieced together enough information to get a warrant charging Briller with murder.

Briller's picture was shown four times on "America's Most Wanted."

Henderson Police spokesman Officer Terry Bowler said, "We're glad he was captured and is being brought back to Henderson to face murder charges. Several agencies have worked very hard on this case."

In Miami Tuesday, an FBI agent had just seen Briller walking down the street. The agent grabbed Briller and quickly handcuffed him, said Special Agent Wayne Russell, a spokesman for the FBI's Miami office.

"He made comments that he had been living on the street for the last 11 days in the beach area," Russell said.