Wednesday, May 28, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.
Ron Flud, Clark County's first full-time paid coroner, always has set challenging goals for himself.
In January 1984 he took over a coroner's office that had difficulty keeping up with 1,700 cases a year and his goal was to modernize the operation. Today's computerized coroner's office on Shadow Lane handles more than 9,000 cases annually.
"The other day, I ran across a piece of paper with goals that I had set for myself when I got here," Flud said. "I started checking them off and when I was done, I saw I had accomplished everything I had set out to do here."
With no more worlds to conquer in his law enforcement career that began 30 years ago, 51-year-old Flud will ride off into the sunset -- literally.
Flud has bought a ranch in the foothills of Cedar City, Utah -- meeting yet another of his life's goals -- and is retiring Friday from his $135,395-a-year job to become a cowboy. His wife of six years, Beverly, is giving up her local real estate sales job to help Flud raise cattle, goats and horses.
"When I was 7, my goal was to work in law enforcement," the former North Las Vegas police officer and Nevada Division of Investigations narcotics and homicide detective said. "I achieved that goal at age 21 and had a great career.
"When I was 41, I put a down payment on the ranch with a goal of paying it off and retiring in 10 years. I wanted to retire while I still have my health and while I can still chase my wife around the room."
A separation check for about $135,000 from the county will buy a lot of feed for their critters. The breakdown of that before-taxes pay, according to county finance records, is:
Clark County Chief Administrative Officer Don Burnette said those figures have not yet been verified and are subject to review and possible change.
Flud said that even though his stint at the coroner's office has been rewarding, it also has taken its toll, especially dealing with so much death and assisting so many grief-stricken survivors.
"The worst cases are always the kids," said Flud, who has a grown daughter. "The face of 5-year-old Jessica Cevallos is forever burned into my memory."
Cevallos, the victim in one of the most infamous child abuse cases in local history, died on Nov. 11, 1985, after three days of torture at the hands of her mother's boyfriend. She was scalded in hot water and hung by her hair in the closet.
"All of that because she wet the bed," Flud said. "This is a stressful job. You have to look hard to find the positives."
One positive in that haunting case was the coroner's investigative work that helped convict Manuel Lopez of first-degree murder. Now 44, Lopez sits on death row at the maximum security Ely State Prison.
Flud took the coroner's job at a time when the public's image of a coroner was heavily influenced by the TV series "Quincy," about a doctor whose medical examinations solved crimes. Flud spent much of his early years explaining to reporters and others that he was not a doctor and was not required to be one.
"You don't have a surgeon run a hospital, you have an administrator do that job, which is what I tell people my job is," said Flud, who received a master's degree in public administration at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. He previously had graduated from Clark High School and earned a bachelors degree in criminal justice from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Flud said a number of misconceptions still exist about coroners and medical examiners.
"We project we will do 9,300 medical examinations this year, but of those, just 1,300 to 1,400 will require autopsies," he said. "A misconception is that we perform autopsies on everyone and that every death comes through this office. That's also not true. About 13,000 people a year die in this valley."
Flud said no county examinations are necessary in cases where people die at home, in a hospital or at a hospice with a doctor present.
As former president and current chairman of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, Flud gives a number of lectures to law enforcement and other groups, educating them on the role of the coroner.
His department's success has created much interest among other communities to copy what Clark County is doing. His office is a recognized leader in the field of digital photography in investigation of deaths and death scenes.
A recent independent audit comparing the Clark County Coroner's office to offices in 12 cities of similar size, found that the local office operates on substantially fewer employees and on a smaller budget while providing equal or better quality services, Flud said.
In 1983, Flud was one of six finalists from a nationwide search to replace Otto Ravenholt in the coroner's post, which at the time was a non-paying duty. Ravenholt, who at the time also was the Clark County Health District director, had been coroner since the job was created by the Nevada Legislature in 1965.
"Otto was my mentor -- I owe him a deep debt of gratitude for all that he taught me," Flud said.
Ravenholt, now retired and living in Las Vegas, said he never regretted his choice of hiring Flud as his replacement.
"I was wearing too many hats at the time and we needed a person with energy and competence, two things that Ron brought to the job," Ravenholt said.
"But the quality I really admired about Ron was that he was non-political. As an independent person, he brought fresh ideas to the department"
The changes Flud has been responsible for making over the years include new computer systems and a state-of-the-art morgue that opened in 1988.
"It was one day before Pepcon," Flud said, referring to the explosion of the rocket fuel plant near Henderson that destroyed the factory and caused widespread neighborhood property damage. "We were expecting 350 bodies that day, but just two people died. I considered myself the most fortunate coroner in America."
Instead of being overrun on its second day of operation, the morgue received from that disaster scene just one body -- that of a man who died in the plant's parking lot when the force of the explosion caused his lungs to collapse.
The body of the only man to remain inside the plant after all other employees had evacuated during the pre-explosion fire was never found. It apparently disintegrated.
Jim Becvar, who 15 years ago went to work for Flud as a volunteer investigator and today is the department's manager of investigators, said Flud is the kind of boss people like to work for.
"He doesn't micro-manage you," said Becvar, a retired longtime Chicago funeral home director. "If you disagree with him about a finding, he will listen and he is willing to change his mind if your argument is convincing.
"I have worked with him on many budgets and, when he goes for more staff, he seeks only what is necessary to get the job done. And he gives his workers the tools we need to do our job effectively. The laptops he got us investigators to use in the field have been vital to getting the job done."
Sheriff Bill Young says the work Flud has done "will never be forgotten."
"Ron is a professional," said Young, who first met Flud in the mid-1980s.
"There have been times we've disagreed with findings, but that's going to happen anywhere between the coroner and police. He has done his job with great integrity. The work of his staff at crime scenes to remove bodies and preserve evidence has played a key role in many of our investigations."
Flud said his departure will not spell the end of progress for the department.
"This office is in a constant state of change and flux," he said. "Under aggressive leadership it will continue to strive to improve the way medical examinations are done to best serve the public."
On Saturday, Michael Murphy, who has been at the coroner's office training for several months, is scheduled to take Flud's reins. He served nine years as chief of police in Mesquite and more recently was assistant director of the city of Las Vegas detention services.
Murphy will receive an annual salary of $111,376. The salary range for the coroner's job is $89,756 to $139,119.
As for Flud, he can't wait to get his boots dusty and awake each morning to look out on a breathtaking vista that includes Brian Head.
"I'll be taking classes in saddle-making and to be a silversmith so I can make my own custom saddles and do the engraving on my firearms and saddles," Flud said. "I'm going to God's country. I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
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