Case of alleged killer dog, hit man muddled

Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003 | 11:27 a.m.

Las Vegas Animal Control authorities will file a criminal complaint against the owners of a Rottweiler that allegedly killed an Italian Greyhound in an upscale Summerlin neighborhood, supervisor Roger Van Orrdt said Monday.

Animal control will also declare the dog dangerous and place special restrictions on how the animal is kept, Van Orrdt said.

The Rottweiler was allegedly the intended victim of a hit on Dec. 5. A Las Vegas man allegedly hired another man to beat, kill or abduct the Rottweiler in retaliation for the Italian Greyhound's death the day before, Metro police Sgt. Mike Thompson said. Thompson and Van Orrdt both said the case was one of the most "bizarre" cases of their careers.

Neighbors in Country Club Hills where the dog lives claim three Rottweilers have been running loose and terrorizing people on and off for months, Van Orrdt said, but the death of the 10-pound Italian Greyhound named Sasha was the first formal complaint his office received.

"We are right in the middle of our investigation," Van Orrdt said. "As soon as we determine ownership, the dog will be declared dangerous."

Metro Police allege in an arrest warrant affidavit for Ryan Schiestel, 25, that the death of Sasha led Schiestel to hire Melvin Gilchrist, 26, to either beat up or kidnap the Rottweiler "to keep this dog from harming anyone or anything again."

Police found Gilchrist in the backyard of Mark and Shirley Escoto, purportedly the owners of the Rottweiler that killed Sasha, about 5 a.m. Dec. 5. Gilchrist had a bat and a butcher knife, and Shirley Escoto had called police to report a prowler in her yard.

Metro Officer Bryan Yant shot at Gilchrist twice when he failed to follow orders to drop the weapons, which Yant thought included a shotgun. One shot wounded Gilchrist in the hip before he was taken into custody.

Schiestel's 2001 Jeep Wrangler was parked in the 1800 block of Glenview near where the Rottweiler lives, the arrest warrant states. Police found two pieces of luggage bearing Gilchrist's name in the truck.

Gilchrist and Schiestel had casually met the night before, Thompson said. Gilchrist told police Schiestel bought two DVDs from him and then offered to pay for a ticket to New York if he would beat up the Rottweiler for him. Schiestel told police he had only asked Gilchrist to kidnap the dog, the arrest report states.

"Mr. Schiestel appears to have known somebody in the neighborhood and he took it upon himself to orchestrate the attack with Mr. Gilchrist," Thompson said.

Thompson did not say who the neighbor was or why the neighbor or Schiestel would seek retaliation for Sasha's death.

Sasha's owners are not suspected in the alleged hit and do not know the suspects, Thompson said.

Rosemary Sketchley-Deets, the matriarch of Sasha's family, said she was baffled by the suspects' involvement but speculated they may have been acting out of frustration with Nevada's animal control laws.

"I can't fathom why anybody would get involved, it's just so bizarre," Sketchley-Deets said. "It must have just struck a nerve with somebody who knew what I learned later on -- that nothing would happen to the owner."

If the owners of the Rottweiler are charged and convicted, it will only be for a misdemeanor, and they will at most face a $1,000 fine and six months in prison, Van Orrdt said. The actual punishment will be up to a judge, he said.

Animal control officers can only impound a dog if it is found running loose or if an animal control officer witnesses it attack another animal, Van Orrdt said. Dogs usually are not taken away from their owners unless a judge mandates it or if it is the dog's second attack on another and the dog is declared vicious.

The only other recourse is to sue the dog's owners in civil court, Van Orrdt said.

Sketchley-Deets said she is "disgusted by the lack of regulations."

"I really fault the laws of Nevada," she said. "We have crummy laws when it comes to this sort of thing. All these things need to be raised to the level of felony."

Sketchley-Deets said her family is so traumatized by the loss of one of their dogs that she may investigate how to pursue stronger laws.

"This is with us every single day," Sketchley-Deets said. "It has shifted the entire dynamics of our home life. My son has bad dreams, he cries in his sleep. It's amazing to me that someone can inflict this on a family and it is not a big deal."

Several neighbors who witnessed the Rottweiler tear Sasha practically in half have named Mark and Shirley Escoto as the Rottweiler's owners, Sketchley-Deets said. Her 11-year-old son was walking Sasha and another Italian Greyhound named Diva when the Rottweiler first growled at the boy and then attacked the one dog.

The Escotos, however, dispute the neighbors' claims and have been "somewhat evasive" in the investigation, Van Orrdt said. His office has not yet verified who owns the Rottweiler.

Shirley Escoto, when reached through the guard gate security phone, said she was pregnant with twins and must say in bed. She deferred questions to her husband, Mark, who did not return phone calls.

The district attorney's office issued an arrest warrant for Schiestel on Dec. 16 on one felony count of attempt killing an animal of another person and one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit killing an animal of another person. Records showed Schiestel has not yet been arrested on the dog charges.

Gilchrist also faces two misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to maim, poison or kill another person's animal. He is also charged with one felony count of assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, and one felony count of resisting a police officer.

Gilchrist is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 9 before Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis.

Police believe Schiestel was the second prowler they saw in the Summerlin neighborhood bordering the TPC Summerlin Golf Course, the arrest warrant states. Schiestel told police he and Gilchrist drank some alcohol at Schiestel's nearby apartment before he drove Gilchrist to the home and supplied him with the bat and the knife.

Schiestel told police he parked his car and waited in the gated and guarded community while Gilchrist went into the backyard. He said ran on foot when he saw police arrive and then heard gun shots.