Man who says boss was ‘witch’ pleads insanity

Thursday, April 28, 2005 | 9:31 a.m.

A 37-year-old man who said he killed his foreman in 2002 because his boss was a "witch" who placed a black magic curse on him by breaking wind pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on Wednesday.

Reyes Olivares is scheduled to stand trial before District Judge Joseph Bonaventure on Oct. 17 for the murder of 43-year-old Vaughn Russell at a construction site near the Las Vegas Beltway and Durango Drive.

Bonaventure originally deemed Olivares not competent to stand trial and sent him to Lakes Crossing, the state's mental facility in Sparks, in October 2002.

According to his police report, Olivares suspected Russell "was a 'witch' and that he had placed a curse on Reyes."

Olivares told police that the night before the incident he had a dream that Russell was trying to kill him, according to the police report. Olivares told police that Russell had tried to kill him two weeks earlier, but instead Russell had killed Olivares' dog, according to the police report.

He said while at work the next day Russell cast a spell upon him with flatulence, which placed Olivares in "immediate fear of his safety," according to police report.

Olivares pulled out a 9 mm handgun, shot Vaughn and fled in his truck.

On March 28 Bonaventure determined Olivares was competent to stand trial.

It remains unclear, however, how long Olivares will remain competent or even get along with his attorneys.

An affidavit given by Yul Haasmann, who served as a Spanish interpreter for Olivares during a psychiatric evaluation before he went to Lakes Crossing, indicated Olivares had a problem with defense attorney Joe Abood.

In the affidavit Hassmann said that while he was interpreting for Olivares, Olivares asked him, "Have you seen him (Abood), how he transforms himself into a demon?" As Olivares asked the question he used hand gestures to demonstrate how Abood would transform himself into a demon.

Hassmann said Olivares went on to say, "I watch him (Abood) as he goes back, walking down the street. From here I see him walking like that."

Throughout this statement Hassmann said Olivares continued to use hand gestures to illustrate how Abood transformed himself.

Abood was not in the courtroom Wednesday, but his co-counsel, Deputy Public Defender Norm Reed, acknowledged that Olivares has made reference to Abood being a demon. Reed said Olivares' mental state hasn't changed much since he was first sent to Lakes Crossing.

"He's (Olivares) still suffering from severe delusions," Reed said. "Our position is he was (delusionary) at the time of the incident and still is currently."

Reed would not offer specifics on the nature of Olivares' delusions. He said he and Abood were "still investigating the full nature of his delusions."

If the Olivares' case goes to trial it will be one of only a handful of times that a defense of not guilty by reason of insanity has been used in a trial in Southern Nevada since the Legislature reinstated the defense in 2003.

Dante Pattison utilized the defense but was convicted on March 12 of the murders of his sister and grandparents.

Aspiring R&B singer Alfonso "Slinkey" Blake also used the defense and was sentenced to death for the March 2003 triple shooting that left two women dead.

In another case, Michael Kane was under the influence of LSD in October 2001 when he stabbed John Trowbridge. A Clark County jury acquitted Kane of the murder charge because, they found, he had been insane at the time of the killing. As per state law, Kane is receiving treatment at the state mental facility in Sparks.

Sylvia Ewing, a woman who claims Jesus told her to beat her two children to death with an aluminum baseball bat, is also expected to use a not guilty by reason of insanity defense at her trial scheduled for June 6 before Bonaventure.