Killer gets life in strip club slaying

Erica D. Johnson

Friday, Jan. 24, 2003 | 9:11 a.m.

The daughter of a local man killed at a North Las Vegas strip club told a District Court judge Thursday that the shooting was prompted by jealousy.

Holli Rowan said Jack Perry shot her father, Kenneth Rowan, because he suspected Rowan was trying to take over the Palomino Club, where both men worked as managers.

"No one deserves to be murdered in cold blood over jealousy," she said. "Especially not my father."

Jack Perry, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one count of attempted robbery.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure sentenced Perry to life in prison on the murder charge and four to 10 years on the robbery charge. The sentences will run consecutively. Perry will be eligible for parole after 10 years.

Rowan died in his son's arms in an office at the club on Dec. 27, 2000, prosecutors said.

"I can't imagine a father bleeding to death in the arms of his son," Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane said.

Christine Anderson, another one of Rowan's daughters, said she would never forgive Perry for killing her father.

"Because of you I got to watch my father lay in a pool of blood while my brother held his head up," she said. "You have no heart. I hope to God you die in jail. I hope you never see freedom again."

Though Perry made a brief statement prior to his sentencing, he did not give his reason for the shooting.

"I'm very sorry for both families concerned," he said. "I'm remorseful."

Bonaventure said it bothered him that Perry would not tell him the details of the incident.

"I've seen hundreds of murder cases and I've always known the motive," he said. "But this one I just don't have any grasp of."

Kane called the shooting a "cold-blooded execution." He said Perry, whose mother owned the club, "had been getting a free ride for a long time."

"Mr. Perry knew that if Mr. Rowan bought the club, his free ride would be over," Kane said.

But Bill Terry, Perry's attorney, said Perry believed Rowan was stealing money from the club.

"This was not a cold-blooded killing as Mr. Kane indicates," he said. "There was in no way a conspiracy. The full reasons may never be known."

Perry, who does not have a history of violence, took full responsibility for his actions, Terry said.

Kane said the fact that prosecutors negotiated the case did not mean they didn't think it was serious.

Prosecutors believed other people were involved in the shooting and some evidence was lost, such as the shirt Rowan was wearing at the time he was shot, Kane said.

"I've always believed there's more to this case than meets the eye," Kane said.