Murder trial of transient begins

Erica D. Johnson

Wednesday, March 12, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.

A transient from Ohio is on trial for his life, charged with killing a kitchen worker in a downtown motel with the help of his 15-year-old girlfriend.

Steven Kazmarek, 33, faces multiple felony counts, including capital murder, robbery and first-degree kidnapping in the Sept. 25, 2002, death of Pedro "Pete" Villareal, 58.

Alicia Burns will face murder charges separately. She will be tried under state law that automatically treats juveniles over 8 years old as adults in murder cases, but she will not face the death penalty.

Prosecutors offered Kazmarek life in prison without parole if he agreed to plead guilty to murder Tuesday.

"I'd rather take my chances," Kazmarek, who is expected to take the stand in his own defense, told District Judge John McGroarty.

During opening statements Tuesday, prosecutors laid out the tale of two homeless people who they said killed for a VCR and a gold chain.

Villareal, a kitchen worker at Caesars Palace, met Kazmarek and Burns at the McDonald's on Fremont Street, Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Guymon said.

Kazmarek and Burns, who were homeless, persuaded Villareal to take them back to his room at the Uptown Motel at 813 Ogden St., Guymon said. They may have been accompanied by a fourth man who has not been identified, Guymon said.

Villareal was expecting to pay Burns for sex, but Kazmarek attacked Villareal instead, strangling him while Burns ransacked the room for valuables, Guymon said.

Villareal's body was found by a maintenance worker. He had been hogtied with an electrical cord and placed in a bathtub with the water running. A sock had been stuffed down his throat.

"Pedro made a very foolish decision to bring them back to his room that night," Guymon told jurors.

Defense attorneys don't dispute that Kazmarek killed Villareal, but they said he only intended to rob the man.

Defense attorney Paul Wommer called the case "overcharging by the state." He claimed it was Burns' idea to rob Villareal, after the couple's begging proved unsuccessful.

Villareal had offered to pay Burns $200 for sex, he said.

"They came to Las Vegas in a hope that the streets were paved with gold," he said. "When you're begging on the street, $200 is equivalent to a king's ransom."

Wommer also said it was Burns, not Kazmarek, who first attacked Villareal.

"She hit him, knocked him out and took his money," he said. When Villareal began to regain consciousness, "that's when Steven jumped in," Wommer said.

Kazmarek was arrested when he allegedly discussed the murders with two inmates at the Clark County Detention Center. Kazmarek had been arrested on unrelated warrants.

The inmates are expected to testify.

When questioned by police, Kazmarek outlined the crime in a 42-page confession, Guymon said. Kazmarek allegedly told police he had pawned Villareal's VCR and a gold chain for $70.

"Pedro's life meant that little," he said. "This was a senseless, senseless killing."