Slayings, rape suspect could face death penalty

Keith Paul

Thursday, April 11, 2002 | 11:06 a.m.

Donations

Donations to help pay for funeral costs for the victims may be made at any Silver State Bank branch under account number 25012347.

Donations may also be dropped off or mailed to J.D. Smith Middle School, 1301 E. Tonopah Ave., North Las Vegas, NV 89030. Checks and contributions mailed should be addressed attention Memorial Fund.

A man accused of killing his girlfriend and her teenage son could face the death penalty for the gruesome slayings in the woman's downtown Las Vegas home last week.

While Timmy J. Weber, a seven-time convicted felon, remains on the run from Metro Police, a prosecutor on the case said there are aggravating factors in the slayings that make Weber "death eligible."

"The death penalty is not sought for every defendant that is eligible, but there are circumstances in this case (that indicate) he may very well deserve the death penalty," Robert Daskas, a chief deputy Clark County district attorney, said.

One aggravating factor is that more than one person was killed, Daskas said. A decision on seeking the death penalty has not been reached and a committee of prosecutors will make the determination, he said.

Weber has not been located, but his 1991 Cadillac was found Wednesday afternoon in the parking garage of El Cortez downtown. The car was towed to Metro's crime lab to be searched for evidence. Police did not reveal if any evidence was found in the car.

Police suspect Weber has fled town. In the days since the April 4 double slaying, Weber's picture has been in the newspaper and on television broadcasts, but there have been no reported sightings of him.

"He was identified pretty quickly and we put his face on the (television news) but we didn't get a single phone call. That's rare," Lt. Tom Monahan of Metro's homicide unit said.

Police contacted the TV show "America's Most Wanted," asking if the program would profile Weber. The show, which profiles wanted suspects, has scheduled a segment on Weber for Saturday's broadcast.

"We want to get his name out there as quickly as possible," said Kim Newport, a spokeswoman for the show, which airs on the Fox network and appears locally on KVVU Channel 5 at 9 p.m. Saturday. "This will give the case national exposure to 10 million viewers and hopefully generate some tips."

Since "America's Most Wanted" aired its first show in February 1988, 695 fugitives profiled on the show have been captured, Newport said.

A warrant is on file charging Weber with murder and sexual assault. He is accused of the slayings of his 37-year-old girlfriend and her 15-year-old son, a Rancho High School student.

Weber also is accused of assaulting the woman's daughter in the North First Street home. She was freed when her older brother and a friend found her bound with duct tape in her room. She then fled the home, according to a police report.

The friend flagged down a passing police officer, and the bodies of the woman and her 15-year-old son were found in the house when Metro officers entered about 4 p.m., the police report stated. The woman died from blunt force trauma, and her son died from asphyxiation, Clark County coroner's office officials said.

Police found a receipt from a drugstore showing the purchase of three rolls of duct tape dated April 4 at 11:39 a.m. The wrappers from the rolls of duct tape were found in a trash can in a bedroom, according to the police report.

The woman had known Weber for several years and he apparently recently moved in with her and her three children, police said.

Weber has spent several years in Nevada prisons. He was in various prisons from December 1995 until August 1997, when he was paroled from his 10-year sentence for burglary and other related crimes in connection with breaking into three restaurants and a shoe store.

Weber was sent back to prison in August 2000 on a parole violation after he was arrested in a domestic dispute with the woman at her home. Weber was accused of kicking in her front door. He pleaded guilty to malicious destruction of property in connection with the case and was sentenced to eight months in jail.

He was paroled again in February 2001 and was discharged from parole in February 2002, Nevada Parole and Probation officials said.