Kinsinger, ex-FBI agent, former deputy district attorney, dies

Monday, June 20, 2005 | 9:10 a.m.

As a boy, John Kinsinger raised prized Angus cattle on his family's Illinois farm, all the while dreaming that one day he would be a crime fighter.

Kinsinger realized his dreams, serving 34 years in law enforcement in New Jersey, New York and Las Vegas, where he retired in 1988 as deputy district attorney of the liaison section.

John R. Kinsinger, an FBI agent in Las Vegas from 1963 until 1977 and later a local prosecutor, died June 14 in Las Vegas. He was 84.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 42 years were to be earlier today at Palm Mortuary-Eastern. Arrangements were handled by Palm Mortuary-Cheyenne.

In his role as Clark County District Attorney liaison, Kinsinger served as the middleman between Metro Police and prosecutors and developed a reputation as the man cops routinely went to when they needed to more clearly understand certain legal ramifications of their jobs.

"I was Mr. Answerman for many, many people," Kinsinger told the Sun for a story about his retirement that was published on Feb. 14, 1988.

One reason officers went to Kinsinger was that not only was he a lawyer, but also one of them, a longtime law enforcement agent with a go-get-'em attitude.

"As they say, we were running and gunning every night," Kinsinger said of his days as an FBI agent in New York. "A lot of good cases, a lot of good times."

Kinsinger was with the FBI in New Jersey and New York from 1954 until he transferred to Las Vegas in 1963.

After reaching the FBI's mandatory retirement age in 1977, Kinsinger, who had passed the Nevada Bar in 1973, was hired by then-District Attorney George Holt.

Kinsinger initially worked Justice Court hearings and later presented cases to the Clark County Grand Jury for indictments. But his primary duty during his 11 years with the DA's office was the liaison work.

Born March 18, 1921, in Bloomington, Ill., Kinsinger was raised on his family's cattle and grain farm just outside of Chenoa, Ill. He graduated from the University of Illinois with an agricultural degree.

During World War II, Kinsinger served in the Army. After the war, he returned to Illinois where, for a short while, he was an agricultural extension agent.

After graduating from the University of Illinois Law School in 1949, Kinsinger spent four years in private practice before joining the FBI.

He worked one year at the Newark, N.J., office, before being reassigned to New York. There, he worked for what was called the "hoodlum-hijacking" squad for eight years before coming to Las Vegas.

Kinsinger enjoyed traveling and trekked throughout Europe.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Suzy Kinsinger; a brother, Kenneth Kinsinger of Richmond, Va.; and four sisters, Kathryn Bayston of Pontiac, Ill., Mary Chase of Portland, Ind., Margaret Dell of Tallahassee, Fla., and Josephine Vercler of Chenoa, Ill.