Friday, May 9, 2003 | 9:42 a.m.
Driver indicted in fatal accident
A grand jury has indicted a Las Vegas man who prosecutors say had drugs in his system when he caused a collision that killed an elderly woman.
The document, unsealed Wednesday before District Judge Gene Porter, charges John Leroy Hall, 37, with a single count of DUI causing death in the October 25, 2002, collision that killed Margaret McGreevey, 67.
Authorities allege Hall was driving his 1987 Ford south on Boulder Highway near Missouri Avenue when he ran a red light and struck the 1999 Saturn McGreevey was driving.
The collision caused McGreevey's car to run off the road and into a ditch, Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said.
Booker said Hall had marijuana and carboxylic acid, a marijuana metabolite, in his system at the time of the collision. He has no prior DUI arrests.
Hall is being held at the Clark County Detention Center with bail set at $1 million. He will be arraigned May 14 before District Judge Kathy Hardcastle.
Not-guilty plea in baby's death
The woman authorities say gave birth to her baby in a toilet at the Lady Luck hotel nearly six years ago pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder and drug charges.
Kristine Sue Westin, 29, was arraigned before District Judge Joseph Bonaventure. Westin faces second-degree murder, child abuse and neglect and drug charges stemming from the baby's July 1997 death.
Westin is being held at the Clark County Detention Center. She is scheduled to stand trial Sept. 29.
Authorities allege Westin was seven months pregnant when she delivered a nearly three-pound son into the toilet in her hotel room. Prosecutors say Westin and the baby's father, Kevin Dale Woo, 35, made no attempts to remove the newborn. Woo is now deceased.
Westin's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Drew Christensen, said he plans to further investigate the cause of the child's death, as well as the nature of Westin's relationship with Woo.
Man given life for killing roommate
A Las Vegas man convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his elderly roommate will spend the rest of his life in prison.
District Judge Donald Mosley on Thursday sentenced Donald Leo Sjolseth, 53, to two consecutive life sentences in the August 2000 death of 72-year-old Harley Peters. A jury convicted Sjolseth after a March trial.
The second life sentence came because the victim was 65 or older. Sjolseth was also ordered to pay $700 in restitution.
The shooting occurred in a mobile home the two men shared at the Tropicana Village Mobile Park in the 5900 block of West Tropicana Avenue.
Sjolseth originally claimed Peters' death was a suicide, but prosecutors said Sjolseth shot his roommate and business partner twice when a pyramid scheme venture the two men had started failed.
Teen's trial delayed in stabbing death
A jury trial for the 15-year-old boy charged in the stabbing death of a Las Vegas man was postponed Thursday.
District Judge Joseph Bonaventure postponed Mark Ford's trial to October 13 after Deputy Public Defender Curtis Brown asked for a continuance.
Ford faces one count each of murder with use of a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon and invasion of the home in the February death of Vincent Gomes, 53. He was scheduled to stand trial next week.
Brown said he'd hoped to go to trial quickly to prevent his young client from remaining in custody at the Clark County Detention Center for longer than necessary, but that he needed more time to investigate.
Further scheduling conflicts with the attorneys and the judge also contributed to the delayed trial date.
Police say Ford broke into Gomes' home in the Wellington Park gated community near Grand Canyon Drive and Sahara Avenue intending to rob it and attacked Gomes, when he discovered him home.
Ford faces a life sentence with or without parole, prosecutors said.
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