Pair wanted in 20-year-old rape case arrested

Kim Smith

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2002 | 9:29 a.m.

Nearly 20 years after they were accused of rape, two former Las Vegas residents are behind bars.

Richard Eugene Miller and Spencer Brooks Jr. disappeared in late 1982 after a Las Vegas woman accused the pair of locking her in an East Flamingo Road apartment and sexually assaulting her multiple times over several hours.

Deputy District Attorney Cheryl Kosewicz said the men were caught when California authorities recently arrested them on unrelated charges and discovered the 19-year-old arrest warrants.

A 10-count indictment against Miller was unsealed Friday, and Brooks was bound over for trial at a preliminary hearing in December.

"The uniqueness of this case is that it is so old, and we're also excited that we were able to find the victim," Kosewicz said. "Usually, we have a hard time getting sexual assault victims to come forward in the first place, and in this case, it's 20 years later and we were able to find the victim and she's willing to testify."

The alleged victim now lives in Washington state.

Kosewicz said that the woman, then 24, accepted a ride from Brooks after meeting him at a local nightclub. Somewhere along the way, he picked up Miller and then made an excuse to stop at his apartment.

Once there the pair sexually assaulted the woman, telling her they were going to make her become a prostitute, Kosewicz said. The woman convinced them she needed to have her child with her and, when they agreed, she escaped.