News briefs for November 4, 2004

Thursday, Nov. 4, 2004 | 11:25 a.m.

Man found dead in house

A man died early this morning, apparently shot to death in a house near Decatur Boulevard and U.S. 95, Metro Police said.

People living in the gated community called police about 2 a.m. to report the sound of gunshots coming from a house in the 5300 block of Images Court. When officers arrived at the house they found the garage door and front door open, police spokeswoman Carla Alston said.

Officers found a man dead upstairs. They said he appeared to be in his 20s, Alston said.

Neighbors told police the people who live in the house moved in recently and they regularly saw people coming and going, Alston said.

Man to be sent to mental hospital

A man accused of killing his mother, sister and infant nephew was sent to a mental hospital this morning after doctors determined him to be mentally incompetent.

Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman ordered 23-year-old Richard Lentino be sent to Lake's Crossing, the state mental hospital in Sparks.

Police said Lentino strangled his 46-year-old mother, Elaine Lentino, and stabbed to death his 21-year-old sister, Megan Lentino, and 15-month-old nephew, Craig Hanners Jr., at their southwest Las Vegas condominium on Sept. 13.

Neighbors said Lentino walked around his apartment complex with a butcher knife, muttering to himself and grinning maniacally. Police were called several times about his erratic behavior, but he apparently slipped through the cracks of the mental health system.

Lentino's father has said his son was bipolar but didn't like to take his medication because of the side effects.

Lentino is to have another hearing in District Court on Nov. 16.

Ceremony for Marine planned

A remembrance of fallen Las Vegas Marine Pfc. John Lukac will be part of Sunday's 11 a.m. services at First Presbyterian Church, his family said today through a Marine spokesman.

Funeral services, however, are yet to be set for the 19-year-old 2003 honors graduate of Durango High School who was killed in action in Iraq on Saturday.

Staff Sgt. Tom McCarty, a Marine spokesman at the Marine and Navy Reserve Center at Nellis Air Force Base who is helping the family with arrangements, said the arrangements won't be settled until Lukac's body is returned to Las Vegas.

As of early today, Lukac's body was in Delaware, McCarty said. The projected date of arrival in Las Vegas has not yet been confirmed, he said.

Sunday's services at the church at 1515 W. Charleston Blvd., which Lukac attended, will feature prayer and remembrances by fellow Marines, family and other friends, McCarty said.

Lukac, who was remembered Tuesday by teachers and fellow students in a moment of silence at Durango, was one of eight Marines killed and nine injured in the attack in the Al Anbar province.

Reno/Tahoe flights interrupted

There were no flights in or out of Reno/Tahoe International Airport for about six hours Wednesday after part of a system that helps pilots find their way in little or no visibility broke around 2 p.m., an airport spokeswoman said.

More than 12 flights were delayed or canceled because of the problems with the instrument landing system, Washoe County Airport Authority spokeswoman Heidi Berthold said.

Flights resumed around 8 p.m., she said.

An instrument landing system relays information to pilots on where they are in relation to a runway and is used primarily in bad weather conditions.

In addition to cloudy skies, it snowed at the airport from about 1 p.m. until about 5 p.m. Wednesday, Berthold said.

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