Trial set for woman charged in stabbing death of husband

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 | 8:39 a.m.

The 59-year-old Laughlin woman charged with the stabbing death of her estranged husband in December 2002 won't stand trial until next year and in the meantime will remain in jail, a judge ruled Tuesday.

District Judge Donald Mosley begrudgingly set a new trial date of July 17, 2006 for Margaret Joyce Modelfino. She is charged in connection with the death of Gino Modelfino, 66, a retired electrician.

A week earlier Mosley voiced displeasure over the fact Margaret Modelfino's attorney, Stanley Walton, said he was not prepared to go forward with the trial that was originally scheduled to have started on Monday.

Walton successfully argued he needed more time because he had only been retained in the case three months ago. Prosecutors did not oppose Walton's request.

Mosley, however, denied setting bail for Margaret Modelfino.

The judge said he was already concerned that because the "case is so old" witnesses would be hard to locate and if "she gets in a car and leaves" that problem only worsens.

Walton had requested bail be set at $100,000 for Margaret Modelfino because her criminal history consisted of nothing more than a minor traffic infraction.

Deputy District Attorney Roy Nelson, however, said if bail were to be set at all it should be set at $500,000 considering evidence that Margaret Moldefino had previously attempted to flee Las Vegas.

Nelson said Margaret Modelfino was "having an affair with an individual and after the murder asked the individual for $2,000 and indicated to the individual she would be leaving the jurisdiction with the money."

The prosecutor would later concede that Margaret Modelfino gave back the money and didn't flee. But, he said, the fact remained that she considered fleeing to avoid facing the charge against her.

After the hearing Walton said Margaret Modelfino really was not cheating on her husband because she did not begin the relationship until some nine months after she had filed for a divorce.

Police responded to Modelfino's home after neighbors called police because they hadn't seen Gino Modelfino for several days.

Officers assigned to Metro Police's Laughlin substation found Gino Modelfino dead in the house in the 3100 block of Cottonwood Drive in Laughlin, about 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas. It was not immediately apparent that he had been the victim of a homicide, police said.

Gino Modelfino's body was taken to the Clark County coroner's office. While the autopsy results were pending, detectives returned to the house and searched it for evidence.

The completed autopsy showed he suffered a single stab wound that had not been visible by officers at the scene, police said.