Police say man confessed to Mesquite stabbings

Jen Lawson and Judy Odierna

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.

MESQUITE -- A 19-year-old man confessed to fatally stabbing a 3-year-old girl and seriously injuring her sister Wednesday morning in an RV park at the CasaBlanca resort, according to Mesquite Police.

Beau Santino Maestas admitted to the crime Wednesday night while being questioned by investigators at a Utah jail, a police spokesman said.

"He admitted to doing it, and he implicated his sister," said Deputy Chief Joe Szalay of the Mesquite Police Department, who is the lead investigator. "He said they stabbed the girls and left."

Maestas and his sister, 16, are facing charges of murder and attempted murder, and could get the death penalty.

Kristyanna Cowan, 3, died two hours after arriving at University Medical Center. Her sister, Brittney Bergeron, 10, was in critical condition this morning at UMC, where her family is keeping a vigil. They had planned to make a public statement this afternoon.

Police allege Maestas and his sister stabbed the children after a dispute with their mother and her boyfriend over $125. Maestas, his sister and his girlfriend, 18, were taken into custody in Nephi, Utah, six hours after the attack. Nephi is about 250 miles north of Mesquite.

Police and prosecutors are obtaining fugitive warrants, which would allow them to extradite Maestas and the two teenage girls back to Nevada by the end of the week and file charges. They were still being held in Juab County Jail this morning.

After police told Maestas what they knew, Szalay said, Maestas confirmed the police account and confessed. It didn't take very long, the detective said.

Police also spoke to Maestas' girlfriend at the jail, and Szalay said she is cooperating. He was not sure whether Maestas' sister had spoken to police.

Szalay said authorities are awaiting the return of investigators from Utah this morning to figure out the many unanswered questions, including why the children, not the adults, were targets.

"The whole reason why Maestas-- went to the RV-- ... we're still not sure of that yet," Szalay said.

Wednesday night police were piecing together details of the crime. They began searching Maestas' grandmother's house in Mesquite about 7 p.m. and were trying to determine if a butcher knife found in Utah is the murder weapon.

They were also obtaining a warrant to search the recreational vehicle where the attack occurred.

"We want to do over and above what we are required to do," Szalay said. "We want to do things by the book."

The attack occurred shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday in a recreational vehicle where Kristyanna and Brittney lived with their mother, Tamara Bergeron, and her boyfriend, Robert Schmidt.

Brittney told police a man knocked on the door of the RV and told her that her mother had been hurt. When she opened the door, he covered her mouth and began stabbing her. The girl didn't know the man and couldn't remember anything after that.

Earlier in the evening there was an arranged meeting between Maestas and the couple at the casino where Maestas handed over $125, Szalay said. Authorities aren't sure why the exchange occurred, but said drugs might have been involved, he said. The couple and Maestas were acquaintances.

The couple dropped off the money at their RV, then went into the CasaBlanca while the girls slept, Szalay said. At the casino Maestas confronted the couple.

"There was some sort of altercation over money in the casino," Szalay said. "We think the suspect then went back to the RV to steal back the money."

An RV park security guard heard screams and called police at 1:55 a.m. Officers found both girls covered in blood with stab wounds in the head, neck and legs. The girls were flown to University Medical Center, where Kristyanna died in surgery.

Maestas told police his sister also attacked the children. Maestas' girlfriend might have been outside during the attack, he said.

Bergeron and Schmidt told police about the earlier confrontation with Maestas, and an alert on a white 2000 Honda Accord was sent to law enforcement authorities in neighboring states. Utah Highway Patrol stopped the car about 7:45 a.m., and the three surrendered.

They may have been heading to the Salt Lake City area, where Maestas reportedly has family, police said.

It's not clear if Maestas was able take the money from the RV. Szalay said investigators were hoping to determine that during a search.

Maestas, who used to live in Mesquite, has no arrest record in Nevada, police said. He also used to live in Utah and California. Police were trying to determine his current address.

Bergeron and Schmidt were unemployed, Szalay said. One used to work in a fast food restaurant, and the other worked in a casino.

The family has lived in Mesquite for several years, and they had been staying in the RV park at the CasaBlanca for a few months. Mesquite is about 80 miles north of Las Vegas.

John Bratton, a longtime resident of the park, said residents complained to CasaBlanca officials that the children were left unattended, but nobody did anything.

"The parents shouldn't leave the kids by themselves," he said.

Szalay said officers also heard Wednesday that the couple left the kids home alone, but they had no police reports or complaints, and neither does Clark County Department of Family Services.

Police will investigate whether the mother should be charged with neglect, but not yet, he said.

"At this point, we're still focused on the killing of a child," Szalay said. "Then we'll work our way down to things of lower priority."

Mesquite's 19-officer police department was getting help from the Nevada Department of Investigations, which has an agreement with Mesquite to assist in solving major crimes. Metro Police also was helping.

While police were investigating, the community was trying to understand how such a brutal crime could be committed in their quiet town, home to about 13,280 residents.

"Mesquite is really tranquil," Mesquite City Manager Bryan Montgomery said. "This is just not something that happens in Mesquite. You don't even see a running dog here."

Renee Sherman, a waitress at the Chalet Cafe on Mesquite Boulevard, said diners were discussing the stabbing over coffee Wednesday morning.

"It's really shocking, especially since it happened to kids," Sherman said, leaning over the counter during a lull between lunch and dinner. "This is really unusual for Mesquite. It's hard to believe."

Mesquite resident Phyllis Leavitt said townspeople have an "old-fashioned sense of caring for children. Anytime anyone hurts a child, it hurts all of us."

The last homicide in Mesquite was four years ago, when police found a young man who had been beaten to death and dumped in the desert. That crime remains unsolved. Four or five years before that, a domestic homicide occurred, and police arrested a man.