Police kept busy with six killings

Ed Koch and Mary Manning

Monday, Oct. 27, 2003 | 9:34 a.m.

Police in Las Vegas and Boulder City discovered six people dead in separate homicides over the weekend.

The most recent occurred early today in the area of Mesquite and Eastern avenues, when a man covered with blood banged on doors of area homes, apparently seeking help for his friend who had apparently been shot.

Metro Police said the incident occurred about 1:45 a.m. when the man, startling residents from their slumber, told them he had been shot in the arm and needed help getting his friend to a hospital.

Police arrived on the scene to find a body. Further details were not immediately available.

About 11:30 p.m. Sunday, a 34-year-old man was found shot in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 1900 block of H Street, Metro Police Homicide Sgt. Kevin Manning said.

Police, responding to a call of a man having been shot in the head, arrived to find a large crowd gathered around the body. Manning said investigators could not locate anyone among the onlookers who had details about the shooting.

The man, who was identified today by the Clark County coroner's office as Melvin L. McMurray, 34, residence not known, was declared dead at the scene, police said.

On Saturday Metro detectives arrested Rosario Detancourt, 63, of Las Vegas and charged him with murder with a weapon in connection with a Saturday evening stabbing incident in an apartment in the 300 block of West Cleveland Avenue, Metro Homicide Lt. Tom Monahan said.

Detancourt was taken to the Clark County Detention Center after an argument erupted at 6:45 p.m. and led to a man being stabbed in the chest with a knife, Monahan said.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The coroner's office said today he had been identified but his relatives had not yet been notified of his death.

Two hours before that incident, police went to a house at 1931 Ophir Way near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Washington Avenue. A neighbor had noticed a broken window, Sgt. Rocky Alby said.

Officers discovered the body of a 57-year-old man dead from a gunshot wound on the kitchen floor. The coroner's office today identified the dead man as Ralph Richard Skeels of Las Vegas.

Metro detectives said the homeowner may have been confronted an intruder.

The body of a 32-year-old man was discovered about 4 a.m. Friday on the side of the road at Haven Street and Shelbourne Avenue, near Wigwam Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South, police said.

The victim appeared to have died from gunshot wounds, police said. He was identified today by the croner's office as Michael Jason Moore of Henderson.

Boulder City Police were investigating a body buried in a shallow grave discovered Sunday afternoon in the Eldorado dry lake bed. Few details were available about the body.

The coroner's office said the remains have not yet been identified.

Anyone with information about the killings can call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555 or Metro's Homicide Section at 229-3521.