Man’s shooting of wife called mercy killing

Kim Smith

Thursday, Oct. 24, 2002 | 11:01 a.m.

Kenneth Costanzo saw no other way to help his wife, his attorney said.

Suffering from multiple sclerosis, as well as complications from breast implant surgery, she was in terrible pain.

She had no health insurance and was suffering horribly, defense attorney Steve Wolfson said, and had attempted suicide before.

Costanzo moved to San Diego and took a job so he could make regular trips to Mexico to get Renee Shreves cheaper medication. The medication reportedly wasn't working, and in March, he shot her twice and killed her.

"Knowing Ken as I do, I think he would have liked for there to have been alternatives, but she had run out of medical insurance and she was unable to get medications," Wolfson said. "I think it got to the point where he felt he had no choice.

"She, in our opinion, wanted to die. She couldn't stand the pain and suffering anymore."

Costanzo has been charged with murder. Prosectors say while Shreves may have been in pain, the killing wasn't justified -- mercy killing is illegal.

Details of Shreves' death were revealed for the first time Wednesday after Costanzo, 51, told Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett-Haron that he intends to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter as part of a plea agreement that will guarantee him four to 20 years in prison.

Shreves' body was found in her home near El Capitan Way and Cheyenne Avenue on March 2 after defense attorney Mace Yampolsky called 911. An autopsy revealed she had been killed by being shot in the head, and Costanzo was taken into custody and charged with open murder.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Schwartz said that although the coroner could not determine if Shreves had multiple sclerosis, he decided not to take the case to a jury.

Had Costanzo given his version of events, a jury would likely have acquitted him or convicted him of the same charge he pleaded guilty to, voluntary manslaughter, Schwartz said.

"Voluntary manslaughter can be probationable, and I thought probation was way out of line in this case," Schwartz said.

As a result of the plea agreement, Costanzo will spend at least some time in prison, Schwartz said.

The plea agreement is also a fair resolution because Costanzo's story is corroborated by the victim's son, roommates, a priest and Costanzo's sister.

"There is some compelling evidence from her own son that she was in horrible pain and in and out of the hospital and doctor's office all of the time," Schwartz said. "She had also attempted suicide before."

Two days before Shreves died, a priest performed last rites, Schwartz said.

"The priest said there was nothing to suggest anything other than she was terminally ill," Schwartz said. "She was 73 pounds when she died and 65 inches tall."

In addition, a roommate said that shortly before she died Shreves asked for a gun and instructions on how to use it, Schwartz said. He took it away from her upon realizing her intent.

Wolfson said Shreves was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system, two years ago. She also suffered from complications from breast implant surgery, he said.

Although he declined to go into details, Wolfson said Shreves' medical insurance eventually ran out, forcing the couple to search for alternatives.

Not only did Shreves re-marry her first husband to obtain insurance for a time, but Costanzo moved to San Diego, taking a job with a fire extinguisher company, so he could buy medicine in Mexico, Wolfson said.

"He would buy the medications and then drive here and back on the weekends to take care of her," Wolfson said. "He drove because it was cheaper than flying."

Wolfson hinted that Shreves may have not only married twice to obtain drugs, but she may have skirted the law in other ways as well.

"I'm not sure some of the more traditional avenues of help were open to them because of the questions that would be asked," Wolfson said, declining to elaborate.

Nina Davenport, the program coordinator for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Las Vegas chapter, was stunned by the details in the Shreves case.

However, she said, people going without medical insurance is not a rarity.

According to the Great Basin Primary Care Association's website, a study funded by the Bureau of Primary Health Care showed that nearly 19 percent of Nevadans, or 388,332 people, did not have insurance in July 2000.

"It's a major problem. For many people multiple sclerosis is a pre-existing medical condition so they can't get insurance and some insurance companies drop people," Davenport said.

Complicating matters is the fact that multiple sclerosis most often attacks people between 18 and 50 -- an age group that often doesn't have money set aside, Davenport said.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, sometimes disabling disease that results when a person's body attacks its myelin, a fatty substance that surrounds the central nervous system causing nerve impulses to get distorted or interrupted, Davenport said.

Symptoms in each patient vary, with some people simply experiencing a tingling sensation and others crippling pain or paralysis, Davenport said.

The disease is not a terminal one and "most people can cope with it and lead productive lives," Davenport said.

More than 350,000 people in the U.S. suffer from the disease and one person is diagnosed with it every hour, she said.

About 1,600 people are registered with the Las Vegas M.S. society, Davenport said.

In fact, Davenport said they sometimes refer clients to drug companies, who often times help patients who can't afford their prescriptions.

There are four drugs used to treat M.S. patients at a cost of about $12,000 a year, Davenport said.

There are many patients who have insurance that can't afford the $100 monthly co-pay, Davenport said.

Davenport said people can also apply for disability through the Social Security Administration and Medicaid.

Chuck Duarte, Medicaid administrator for the state of Nevada, said once a person qualifies for disability, they automatically qualify for Medicaid.

"It's a shame she didn't come to us and we couldn't have referred her to someone," Davenport said. "But depression can be a major problem for people with multiple sclerosis. Sometimes they tend to not want to do anything about it."

Costanzo will formally enter his plea in District Court within the next two weeks. He will then be sentenced approximately 45 days later. He will remain in custody in the meantime.

Wolfson said his client is fully prepared to serve his sentence.

"He doesn't have the attitude of 'What am I doing in jail?' " Wolfson said. "He realizes that what he has done was wrong."