Metro Police’s cold case files

David Kihara

Monday, Dec. 19, 2005 | 8:27 a.m.

Nine months after her husband was killed, Arlinda Howard is still looking for answers.

About 3:45 a.m. on March 22, a passer-by found her 58-year-old husband, Harry Hays Howard, lying in a downtown street near Seventh Street and Stewart Avenue, bleeding from his chest. An autopsy later showed that someone stabbed Howard to death.

His killer has not yet been caught.

Following his death, Arlinda Howard called Metro Police once a week for an update, then began having a relative call because it became too painful to hear that there still had been no arrest.

"I got tired of feeling like I wasn't getting any answers," Howard said. "I thought within six months they would have something."

In that, Howard is hardly alone, giving her something else in common -- beyond the grim link of the killings themselves -- with the relatives and friends of other homicide victims in the Las Vegas region.

Although Metro's homicide clearance rate -- cases in which a suspect is arrested and prosecuted -- is above the national average, dozens of families like the Howards face protracted waits to see their loved one's killer brought to justice. For some, the wait is forever.

Since Jan. 1, 173 people have been murdered in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson, 146 of them in Metro's jurisdiction. Police have made arrests in 105 of the cases, with Metro making 90 of the arrests.

Howard's killing is one of this year's 68 open local homicide cases.

According to the FBI, police departments nationwide cleared 62.6 percent of killings in 2004. In the West, including Nevada, the clearance rate was 47 percent.

The FBI's numbers include all homicide arrests for the year, including those made in killings from previous years. Using that formula, Metro's 2004 clearance rate was 64 percent, a figure that has climbed to date this year to 74 percent.

By Metro's own statistics, which measure strictly arrests made in that year's homicides, its 2004 clearance rate was 57 percent, with 78 arrests made in 138 homicides.

But these numbers mean little to Howard or her family. Harry left behind seven children -- five with Howard and two from previous relationships -- and they, too, want resolution to his case.

"We're not getting anywhere," said his 25-year-old daughter, Shannon Howard. "He was a good father. We never wanted for anything."

Lt. Tom Monahan, of Metro's Homicide Detail, said there are circumstances that lead to a case being more difficult to solve. The evidence may have been destroyed by weather or other factors; no witnesses may come forward; considerable time may have elapsed between when a killing occurs and when it is discovered -- these and other factors are among the common obstacles for police.

Deputy Chief Greg McCurdy, though, said that he is happy with the homicide detail's clearance rate.

"We look at every possible lead in (unsolved) cases," McCurdy said. "When those are exhausted, we go onto the next case and come back after a period of time to review evidence, especially if new evidence comes in."

Unsolved homicide cases remain open indefinitely because there is no statute of limitations.

While still hoping to one day hear the news they have been waiting for from the police, the Howards are looking for other avenues to help find Harry's killer.

Howard said her daughter, Felicia, has called the "America's Most Wanted" television show for assistance. Arlinda Howard also wanted to post fliers with Harry's photo around downtown, but the idea of going anywhere near the scene of his death was too painful.

The entire family, she said, now avoids downtown.

"If I go downtown, I literally get sick to my stomach," she said.

David Kihara can be reached at 259-2330 or at davidk@lasvegassun.com.