Body found outside Henderson bar

Stephen Curran

Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 | 10:57 a.m.

Henderson Police this morning were investigating the death of a man found in the parking lot of a Green Valley bar.

The 45-year-old man, whose name was not released, was found by a security guard outside Brando's Grill and Bar in the Town and Country shopping center, 2801 Green Valley Parkway at Sunset Road, about 5 a.m. today, Officer Todd Rasmussen, a department spokesman, said.

Employees and patrons at the bar had told officers the man had been in the bar before he died, although few details about what happened after he left Brando's were available, he said.

Paramedics responded to the scene, but Rasmussen said he did not know if the man was dead before they arrived.

Detectives, following department policy, were investigating the crime as a homicide, although an official cause of death had not been determined, Rasmussen said.

The department's policy dictates all bodies found in such a manner be treated as homicide victims until evidence proves otherwise, he said.

No arrests had been made and no possible suspect information was available this morning, Rasmussen said.

Officers were also seen examining a Chevy pickup parked nearby. The side of the truck bore the business name "Mitchell Framing Contractors," a Las Vegas-based construction company. Rasmussen would not confirm if the truck belonged to the victim.

A manager at the company, who refused to give her last name, declined to comment this morning.

"This is still pretty new," the woman, who asked that her first name not be published, said. "I have no idea what's going on."

Detectives were seen interviewing a woman in a parked car next to the truck about 8 a.m. Police later said she had identified herself as the victim's wife

When approached by a Sun reporter, the woman shook her head indicating that she did not want to comment.

By 8:30 a.m., employees and business owners in the shopping center stood outside the blocked-off area around the body, asking officers when the parking lot in front of their stores, small restaurants and banking branches would reopen.

Walt Hutchinson, who manages a Radio Shack store across the parking lot from the bar, said he and the other employees of businesses in the strip center have seen their "share of robberies, but probably no different than other shopping centers.

"But this is going to cut into business," he added.