News briefs for October 21, 2004

Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004 | 9:34 a.m.

Trial continues in fixed-fight case

A federal trial in connection with allegations that a boxer and a promoter fixed fights, including a bout in Las Vegas, continued today with additional prosecution witnesses.

The sports bribery trial began Tuesday with jury selection before U.S. District Judge James Mahan.

A federal grand jury indictment returned in August 2001 alleges that Thomas Williams was approached by his promoter, Robert Mitchell, and brought into a scheme to throw a fight.

The indictment states that Williams and Mitchell arranged for Williams to lose an August 2000 match against Richard Melito Jr. on a Don King-promoted card at Paris Las Vegas.

The indictment further states that the pair and others "arranged for at least some of Richard Melito Jr.'s opponents to accept bribes of money and other considerations to agree to intentionally lose to Richard Melito Jr."

Mitchell and Williams are charged with sports bribery and conspiracy to commit sports bribery. Both have pleaded not guilty. Sports bribery carries a possible sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Body in tub a homicide victim

The death of a 28-year-old woman found Tuesday night in a bathtub has been ruled a homicide, Metro Police said.

There were no obvious signs of trauma to Keysha Brown's body, Lt. Tom Monahan said, but a medical examiner found a stab wound on her torso during an autopsy Wednesday.

Brown's boyfriend found her about 7:15 p.m. in their apartment in the Deer Creek complex. Monahan said the boyfriend is not considered a suspect because detectives were able to account for his whereabouts during the time the homicide occurred.

Monahan declined to say if she was clothed, but said the way she was found "was not consistent with someone taking a bath." There was no blood in the tub, he said.

Detectives have not yet determined a motive for Brown's homicide. Although drugs have not been excluded as a possible factor, Monahan said it doesn't appear that was the primary factor.

Police found no clear sign of forced entry into the apartment.

Anyone with information on the woman's death is asked to call police at 229-3521 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.

Perkins to head growth committee

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, plans to create a new committee in the Assembly to examine growth and infrastructure issues, he said Wednesday. Perkins will serve as chairman of the committee.

Growth is one of the biggest issues Perkins said he is encountering when talking to his constituents. The new committee can work with other government committees and task forces that are examining the issue, Perkins said.

A similar committee was created in the 1997 session and passed a bill to limit growth, but that bill eventually died in the Senate.

A man killed Sunday

when he lost control of his silver Corvette on Interstate 15 just south of Las Vegas has been identified as 65-year-old Ronald Forrest Myers of Las Vegas. The Nevada Highway Patrol said Myers was thrown from the car as it flipped about 100 yards off the highway. He was not wearing his seat belt.