News briefs for March 4, 2002

Monday, March 4, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

Woman's body found in home

Kenneth Costanzo of Las Vegas was arrested Saturday on murder charges after Metro Police discovered the body of a 50-year-old woman inside a home in northwest Las Vegas.

Costanzo, 50, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center after officers were called to the 8800 block of Chapman Point, near El Capitan Way and Cheyenne Avenue. Patrol officers were met by Costanzo and his attorney.

Officers found a woman dead from an apparent gunshot wound. Evidence at the scene indicated the wounds were not self-inflicted, officers said.

Homicide detectives are investigating information that the woman had been suffering from a lengthy illness. Detectives are also trying to determine what the relationship was between the woman and Costanzo.

The woman's name was not released this morning pending positive identification by the Clark County coroner's office.

Killing might be gang related

Metro Police are investigating the shooting death of a 23-year-old, who was found dead in the intersection of Alto Avenue and Taurus Court near Pecos Road about noon on Sunday.

Witnesses told police that Louis M. Hawkins was walking west on Alto when he was approached by two men between 18 and 20 years of age.

The men, one tall and slender wearing a black beanie, black shorts and a black shirt and the other short and stocky wearing a green beanie, were seen running from the scene.

Police said that the victim had gang affiliations. Police do not know what the motive for the killing, but are pursing the possibility of a gang-related slaying.

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

Murder-suicide is suspected

Metro Police suspect a man killed his estranged wife and then himself in his home near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus Friday.

Police called to a home in the 1300 block of Del Mar Street, near Maryland Parkway and Harmon Avenue, about 7:30 a.m. Friday found the bodies of a man and a woman. Police say the evidence suggests that 62-year-old Jose Sanchez Ortiz shot his wife, 36-year-old Teresa Moreno, and then shot himself.

The couple were still married, but had been separated from some time, police said.

Metro Police are trying to identify

a woman found dead in a remote area near Sunrise Mountain last month. Detectives are trying to determine if the woman had been reported missing and how she ended up in such a remote area. The woman may have been dead for as long as two weeks before her body was found on Feb. 24, police said. Anyone with information in this case is asked to call Metro's homicide detectives at 259-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

A Clark County jail inmate

found leaning his neck on two telephone cords tied together in an apparent suicide attempt died last week. Anthony M. Bentel, 22, died Wednesday at University Medical Center. He was being housed in a holding cell with other inmates until he could be moved to a cell, officials said. Bentel was booked into the jail on a domestic violence charge over the weekend of Feb. 16.