Applebee’s death believed a homicide

Jen Lawson

Monday, Aug. 25, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.

A 45-year-old man was found dead this morning inside a Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar in Henderson, the victim of an apparent homicide, police said.

The victim worked at the restaurant in Whitney Ranch Center, 699 N. Stephanie St., Officer Shane Lewis, spokesman for the Henderson Police Department, said.

Shortly after 5:30 a.m., Henderson Police received a 911 call from an employee of the restaurant reporting that a co-worker was dead inside, Lewis said.

Lewis declined to say where in the restaurant the victim was found, saying that information may be important in figuring out who killed the man.

The cause of death will be detemined by the Clark County coroner's office. The victim didn't appear to have any gunshot wounds, Lewis said. About 7:30 a.m. the victim's body was still inside the restaurant.

The entire Applebee's parking lot was cordoned off with police tape "because we have no idea where things of evidentary value could be," Lewis said.

Homicide investigators were canvassing the parking lot and talking to as many workers as they could find from surrounding businesses, but many of those businesses had not yet opened.

The restaurant normally opens by late morning, but it was to remain closed today, police said.

John Hamilton, 21, just started working as a server at Applebee's three days ago. He arrived at the restaurant wearing his black uniform, red hat and Applebee's tag shortly before 11 this morning to find police and reporters all around the building.

"Are you serious?" he said when a reporter told him about the murder. "I've never heard of anything like this ... It's obviously mind-blowing."

Hamilton, who said he lives nearby, said was going home to call co-workers to find out when the restaurant was scheduled to reopen.

The restaurant is owned by the parent company and Laurie Ellison, spokeswoman for Applebee's International in Overland Park, Kan., issued a brief statement about the death this morning. It said: "We are fully cooperating with local law enforcement as it investigates this tragic incident at our restaurant in Green Valley."

The Whitney Ranch Center was the scene of a double fatal shooting in March 2000. Two armored car employees were killed outside Ross Dress for Less at 649 N. Stephanie St. Jose Vigoa is serving a life sentence for that and several other robberies.

The Applebee's death was the third homicide in Henderson in the past two weeks. No arrests have been made in the most recent previous homicide, which occurred Thursday. Stephanie Roy, 50, was found shot to death inside a running car in the parking lot of the South Valley Ranch apartments, near Boulder Highway at Sunset Road.