Police: Man slain over $100 loan refusal

Jen Lawson and Mary Manning

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 | 11:01 a.m.

Carl Henry, arrested last month on charges of domestic violence, wanted to track down his estranged wife in Washington state, Metro Police said.

His neighbor, Craig Haupt, tried to discourage him.

And, after Haupt refused to give Henry money for a trip to Washington, Henry allegedly bludgeoned Haupt to death Friday in his Lakes area apartment.

"Why kill someone for $100?" Haupt's mother, Janice Allen, said Monday. "I don't think people who have lived here for a long time, old timers, know how dangerous it is, no matter where you live."

Haupt had been in Southern California on a short break from Southern Nevada's heat until Thursday, Allen said. He had returned to Las Vegas for a dental visit. After having dinner with his mother, Haupt went home to do laundry. Allen never saw him alive again.

"My heart's broken. They massacred him. To lose a child is the worst thing that's ever happened to me," Allen said, her voice breaking. "He was going to look after me in my old age."

Haupt neither drank nor smoked; his passion was taking care of his motorcycle, Allen said. In the 1960s he began racing motocross in Nevada and California.

Haupt worked as a valet parking attendant at the Las Vegas Hilton and had previously worked at the Plaza downtown.

In 1984 Haupt witnessed a robber pointing a gun at an elderly woman, Allen said. He chased the gunman for more than a mile and captured him. Then-Sheriff John Moran presented him with a certificate of appreciation for his bravery on Jan. 23, 1984.

Haupt's father, Ernest, didn't want to talk about the homicide.

"When I talk about it, I get emotional," Ernest Haupt said. "His whole life was in Las Vegas."

Henry's friend, Martin Deville, told officers that Henry wanted to see his wife in Spokane before his next court date, which was scheduled for Monday. Henry was arrested June 28 for battery domestic violence.

Over a beer Thursday night, Henry said "Chopper Craig," his neighbor in the Crystal Cove apartments near Desert Inn Road and Durango Drive, had money and he was going to borrow some, Deville told police. Haupt's nickname comes from his love of motorcycles.

Henry, 25, went to the 48-year-old Haupt's apartment and asked for money to visit his wife, "but he (Haupt) refused because he thought it wasn't a good idea (for Henry) to see his wife since she had just left him," the police report says.

Henry went home to get another beer, then returned to Haupt's apartment, according to the police report.

After Haupt closed the door, Henry allegedly pulled out a 2-foot long black object and beat Haupt's head from behind, causing him to fall to the ground, at which point Henry continued beating him, Deville told police.

Later, Henry told Deville he wanted to go back to see if Haupt was still alive. Moments later, according to the report, Henry returned and said he was dead.

Deville told police he left Henry's apartment and called 911 from a nearby Walgreens, but chickened out and hung up.

He called again around noon on Friday and spoke to a homicide detective, and told him where to find Haupt's body. It was on the floor of a bedroom, covered by a blanket.

Haupt's apartment was ransacked -- drawers were pulled out and the contents were dumped on the floor -- and his VCR and 1999 Mercury sedan were missing, the report says.

Police found the blood-spattered VCR in Henry's apartment.

Henry was found Friday unconscious at the apartment tennis courts, apparently overdosing on drugs, the police report says. He was taken to Southern Hills Hospital, where he was treated and released into police custody.