Funeral for slain mother, son held as suspect Weber remains at large

Monday, April 22, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

Teenagers on skateboards came. Men and women, their arms filled with flowers, arrived under a gigantic fir tree south of Palm Mortuary to pay their final respects.

A week after funeral services for Kim Gautier, 38, and her son, Anthony, 15, were postponed because of an attack on Gautier's surviving son, the two slaying victims were buried after a simple, but poignant, ceremony in the spring air Sunday afternoon.

Black-and-white Metro Police cars surrounded the mortuary on North Main Street, a silent testimony to the protection friends and neighbors described for the two remaining children, a 17-year-old son, Chris, and 14-year-old daughter.

Metro Police are still looking for Timmy "T.J." Weber, 28, who is wanted in the deaths of Kim and Anthony Gautier. The bodies of the mother and son were discovered bound with duct tape on April 4 in their home at 700 N. First St.

As Chris Gautier returned to the family home to gather belongings before last week's scheduled funeral service, he said Weber allegedly attacked him with a baseball bat. Gautier and a friend scuffled with the attacker, launching a 12-hour manhunt by police that was unfruitful.

The Rev. Robert Cassels, a local Baptist minister, presided over the 20-minute graveside service Sunday.

About 100 people gathered around a blue awning pitched to shield family members from the warm April sun.

Metro Police cars followed Gautier family members to their cars after the service.

Kevin Miller of Las Vegas helped the Gautiers move from a nearby mobile home on North Main Street to the blue stucco house a block north of Bonanza Road.

"I think she had a lot of best friends," Miller said, glancing at the people gathered around the gravesite.

"For a single mom with three kids, she had a heart of gold," he said.

"She always had a job; she always had a good attitude," Miller said of Kim Gautier. "Everything she earned came back to those kids."

Miller said he took the Gautiers in his four-wheel-drive to the top of Sunrise Mountain to watch Las Vegas lights illuminate the night sky.

The surviving son, he said, "wants to be a Navy SEAL," Miller said. "He's very patriotic."

On New Year's Eve 2000 Weber and the Gautiers gathered at the Miller house for a barbecue, Miller recalled. "He was just cold," Miller said. "No joking there. No slaps on the back."

"She always had a smile for everybody," said Maggie Smith, a co-worker with Gautier at the Fred S. Pennington VFW Post 1753, where Gautier tended bar. "She was a sweetheart," Rita Perrault, a VFW member, said. "She worked to make sure her kids had everything, just a super lady."

Neighbors and friends described last weekend as "really scare." Although Sunday's mood was somber, friends smiled and hugged each other through their tears.

A fund-raiser for the two surviving children is scheduled from noon to 6 p.m. on May 12 at the American Legion Post 8, 733 Veterans Memorial Drive, said Doug Hanson, a family friend.

Donations also may be made at any Silver State Bank branch under account number 25012347 or mail to J.D. Smith Middle School, 1302 E. Tonopah Ave., North Las Vegas, NV 89030. Contributions should be addressed to Memorial Fund.