Man arrested after wife found dead in truck

Mary Manning and Jen Lawson

Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2003 | 10:52 a.m.

Henderson Police arrested a 29-year-old man on a murder charge Monday after officers found the body of his wife inside a cardboard box in the back of his Ford Explorer.

Joel Michael Rakers is being held in the Henderson Dentention Center without bail in connection with the death of his wife of nine months, Katherine Concepcion Nauta, 31.

According to an arrest report obtained this morning by the Sun, Raker's father, George, called police about 1:30 a.m. Monday and reported that his son Joel told him he had killed his wife and that she was in his SUV.

When Boulder City Police arrived, they found a sealed cardboard box in Rakers' green 2001 Ford Explorer.

Officers cut the box open and discovered a dead woman inside with her wrists and ankles bound with packing tape.

George Rakers said to Boulder City Police that "his son, Joel, told him he got into an argument with his wife and that he pushed her and that she fell back and struck her head on the corner of the counter or the floor of the condominium they share," the arrest report says.

Joel Rakers then drove from his home at 75 N. Valle Verde Drive in Henderson to his father's house in the 1400 block of Bronco Drive and let himself in with a key, George Rakers told police.

George Rakers "found his son sitting in the entryway of the house crying hysterically," the arrest report says.

Henderson Police went to Rakers' condominium and found several drops of blood on the kitchen floor.

Officers also noticed blood smears on Joel Rakers' hand, scratches on is forearms and bruises on his knuckles, the report says, incicating "Rakers had very recently been in a physical altercation with someone."

Nauta's head was wrapped in white paper towels and several layers of clear packing tape, Henderson Police said. She had "Joel" tattooed on her back, the police report said.

Clark County marriage license records show that Joel Rakers and Nauta had married on Nov. 3, 2002, but Rakers filed for an annulment less than three months later, on Feb. 14, 2003.

The complaint was dismissed in March, according to county Family Court records. He filed for an annulment again April 29 and the case was still active Monday.

Reached Monday night by telephone, George Rakers said: "I have no comments at all."

Neighbor Timothy Tilman said he had known the family about 10 years.

"He was a very good kid," Tilman said of Joel Rakers. "I never saw a bit of a temper."

Tilman said Joel often worked in the yard with his father. "They're wonderful people," he said.