Thursday, May 27, 2004 | 10:52 a.m.
A man found bludgeoned and stabbed to death in his large Spring Valley home Tuesday night was the former slot manager of the Virgin River hotel and casino in Mesquite.
Steven Allmaras, 49, stopped working at the resort several weeks ago and was doing consulting work, Lt. Tom Monahan of Metro's homicide section said.
Detectives are investigating whether the homicide could be connected to Allamaras' work history.
"That's one of the things we're looking at," Monahan said. "At this point we can't find anything sinister in his professional life."
Allmaras was employed for about five years as the controller of what is now the Fiesta-Rancho, when George Maloof owned that property in the 1990s. Maloof currently owns the Palms.
"Oh my God," Maloof said when told of Allmaras' homicide. "I knew him very well. He was a good man. This makes me sad."
Allmaras' wife, Sandra, and their 14-year-old triplets -- two sons and a daughter -- discovered him dead when they returned to their home near Jones Boulevard and Desert Inn Road after seeing "Shrek 2."
Wally Romero, has lived across Palmyra Avenue from the Allmaras family since they moved into their 4,500 square-foot home in 1991, said Sandra Allmaras woke him up about 10:30 p.m. after she had discovered her husband on the floor of their home.
"She came running in and said, 'Something happened to Steven,"' Romero said.
Neighbors said Allmaras was quiet and well-educated, and they weren't aware of him having any enemies.
"I think it was somebody who was trying to rob the place and he surprised them," Romero, an 82-year-old insurance agent and World War II veteran, said.
Monahan said there were no obvious signs of forced entry and it was not clear if anything was missing from the house. The house wasn't ransacked and there was no evidence of a burglary.
Allmaras was awake and clothed when he was attacked, Monahan said.
The level of violence in the slaying was "extraordinary," Monahan said, which suggests Allmaras might have known his attacker.
"That's always a possibility when you have these types of interpersonal murders," he said. Whenever an attacker is able to get that close -- as opposed to using a gun -- "there's a possibility the victim was at least acquainted" with the killer.
Allmaras' family had left the house about 7 p.m. Allmaras had returned home from Mesquite about 10 p.m. and was found dead a half-hour later, Monahan said.
The Allmarases had no history of violence, Monahan said.
The family has four dogs, neighbors said, but no one reported hearing barking at the time of the attack. However, Monahan said the dogs were all in the back yard and fenced in, not inside the home, so the fact that the dogs didn't make any noise may be insignificant.
Allmaras worked as an accountant in the casino industry for more than 25 years. He worked at the Fiesta-Rancho from 1995 until about 2000, when he was hired by the Eureka in Mesquite, Maloof said.
Less than six months ago he began working at the Virgin River hotel-casino in Mesquite. Monahan said Allmaras left his job several weeks ago. A hotel representative refused to answer questions.
Earlier in his career Allmaras was with Primadonna Resorts in Primm and spent 10 years with the Del Webb Corp. He also had experience with casino regulatory compliance.
Sandra Allmaras also works in accounting, Romero said.
"I feel sorry for Sandra," Romero said. "With three kids, oh, this is bad, bad, bad ... She's a good person, a real peach of a gal."
Most of the homes in the neighborhood were built in the early to mid-1970s -- and have large yards and mature, green landscaping.
Wednesday afternoon, shortly after homicide detectives left, a small brown dog with floppy ears barked behind the black wrought iron gates of Allmaras' upscale, five-bedroom house.
A silver Mercury Sable with custom plates reading "TRIPLET" sat in a parking area next to the driveway.
A small bungalow is situated on the Allmaras' property next to the house. Romero said the family rented it to a man and woman who have lived there about a year.
Sandra Allmaras recently told Romero that they had asked the tenants to move out because they were three months behind on their rent, Romero said.
Detectives interviewed the tenants, and Monahan said at this point they are not believed to be involved.
Jimmy Addis, who lives next to Romero, said he was "very surprised" Allmaras was the victim of a homicide.
"I'm wondering what did happen," he said Wednesday as he gazed at the family's house, then shook his head.
archive
