News briefs for January 8, 2002

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2002 | 9:45 a.m.

Man found slain at Moulin Rouge

A man was found shot to death this morning in a stairway of the Moulin Rouge hotel.

Metro Police were called to the hotel in the 900 block of West Bonanza Road near Martin Luther King Boulevard about 3:30 a.m. and found the man dead.

The man has been tentatively identified, but his name was not released this morning pending notification of his family.

No apparent motive was determined for the slaying and no suspects have been identified, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Metro's homicide unit at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Man found dead in apartment

A man was found dead about 5 a.m. Monday inside an abandoned apartment.

Luis A. Vega appears to have been severely beaten in an apartment in the 1300 block of South Casino Center Boulevard near Franklin Avenue, Metro Police said.

No motive or suspects have been identified in Vega's slaying.

Anyone with information is asked to call Metro's homicide unit at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Death penalty trial postponed

The trial of a Las Vegas man accused of shooting his former girlfriend's sister to death has been postponed until July.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday in the death penalty trial of Kenneth Curtis, but District Judge Donald Mosley agreed to postpone it when defense attorneys told him they wanted to interview a few more witnesses.

Deputy Public Defenders Jordan Savage and Kedric Bassett said Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger only recently provided them with information that may help their client and they want time to check it out.

Curtis is accused of shooting Marysol Peres, 21, in the head on Dec. 19, 1997, wrapping her body in a sheet and leaving it in a trash bin to get back at her sister for leaving him two days earlier.

The new trial date is July 22.

Pleas entered in horse slayings

CARSON CITY -- Two men charged in the slaughter of dozens of wild horses in the hills east of Reno pleaded no contest Monday to single gross misdemeanor counts, and a third defendant pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.

Sentencing was set for Feb. 11 in the Christmastime 1998 case that prompted international outrage and led to less-than-honorable military discharges for two of the three former Reno high school buddies.

Scott Brendle, 24, and Darien Brock, 23, pleaded no contest to gross misdemeanor counts of killing or maiming an animal. Those pleas will be treated as guilty pleas. The two former Marine lance corporals could face up to one year in jail and fines up to $2,000.

Anthony Merlino, 23, a Reno construction worker who admitted he shot one injured horse to put it out of its misery, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of disturbing the peace. He faces up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.