Woman, boyfriend charged in 2002 slaying in Henderson

Jen Lawson

Thursday, Jan. 29, 2004 | 9:52 a.m.

Henderson Police on Wednesday charged two people with a murder that has remained unsolved for 14 months.

Police arrested Jennifer Dolezal, 22, on charges of murder, conspiracy and robbery with a deadly weapon in connection with the death of 57-year-old James Eady.

Her boyfriend, Robert Ellis McDonald, 23, who had been booked into the Clark County Detention Center earlier this month on a probation violation, was charged with the same offenses.

Officers discovered Eady's decomposing body Nov. 15, 2002, in his home at 124 Metropolitan Drive after his sister asked police to check on him because she had not heard from him for some time.

Eady, a customer service representative with a home developing company, had been shot three times in the torso and stabbed once with scissors, according to the arrest warrant. His 1991 Ford F-150 pickup truck was missing and his house had been ransacked.

Police allege Eady had bought methamphetamine from McDonald in the past, and about a week before his body was found, the couple went to Eady's house with a plan to steal from him. They discussed the possibility of having to kill him if necessary, police said in the report.

According to police, Dolezal was to keep Eady occupied in the master bedroom while McDonald looked through his house for things to take.

Police believe Eady "accepted Dolezal's friendly overtones as a prelude to sex, at which time Eady ... approached Dolezal," the report says.

Dolezal then "became frantic," and McDonald, enraged, ran into the room and allegedly shot and killed him.

McDonald and Dolezal stole Eady's laptop computer and pickup truck, then went to a friend's house where they burned their bloody clothes in a barbecue pit, police allege.

The couple told numerous people about the homicide, according to the arrest report. Dolezal allegedly told a friend that McDonald shot Eady because Eady "was acting gay."