Siblings to stand trial in killing of woman’s husband

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003 | 9:35 a.m.

Attorneys representing a sister and brother charged in a bizarre murder-for-hire plot tried unsuccessfully Wednesday to persuade a District Court judge to dismiss the charges against their clients.

Susanne Carno, 34, and John Ray, 36, appeared before District Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

Prosecutors allege Carno hired her brother to kill her husband in exchange for $50,000 in life insurance money.

Carno and Ray each face four felony counts: murder with the use of a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping with the use of a deadly weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit murder.

Carno was out of custody after being released on a $25,000 bond. Ray is being held at the Clark County Detention Center.

Their joint trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 24.

Ray's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Joseph Abood, argued for a pretrial writ of habeas corpus, saying the plastic bag police allege was used to suffocate the victim cannot be considered a deadly weapon.

Carno's attorney, Deputy Special Public Defender Alzora Jackson, argued that her client should not be charged because she was not present at the time of the slaying.

Bonaventure denied both motions, saying the state needs only to prove "marginal or slight evidence" to take the case to trial.

Carno's husband, Richard Charles Carno, 36, was found in his car Jan. 31, 2002, near a trailer park in northeast Las Vegas, police say.

A coroner's report revealed that he died from asphyxiation, Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owens said.

But Abood argued that the plastic bag found on the victim's chest, along with the duct tape and plastic zip ties police allege Ray used in the murder, can't be considered deadly weapons.

"Deadly weapons have to be capable of causing death," Abood said. "The items used by the state don't amount to a deadly weapon. If that were the case, anything can be considered a deadly weapon."

Owens argued it depends on how the item is used.

"A plastic bag can be considered a deadly weapon if it is used in a manner to create death."

Owens said an eyewitness also saw Ray with a firearm.

Jackson also argued that the charges against Carno, a UNLV student, should be dismissed because prosecutors are relying primarily on two inadmissible hearsay statements from witnesses who claimed Ray told them he was doing "a job" for his sister.