Friends, family recall Weiss as nonviolent

By Emily Richmond

Wednesday, March 30, 2005 | 11:09 a.m.

He was a soft-spoken man, the one his co-workers relied on to cool things down when business meetings turned volatile, friends say.

He wasn't a shouter, they said, and they can't remember him uttering a single profanity. To his family he was a devoted brother, husband and loving father, playing a paternal role in the lives of nieces, nephews and friends of his children.

That's the Lawrence Weiss friends and family say they knew, and the description of a man who allegedly pulled open the door to a woman's vehicle outside a Las Vegas car wash to yell profanities at her and her two young children doesn't match up.

"When Larry got angry he actually got quieter," said Helen Zeilberger, former vice president of human resources for Warner/Elektra/Atlantic Corp., where Weiss was also an executive prior to his recent retirement. "He'd talk slowly and over-enunciate. He just wasn't one for confrontation. If someone else was yelling he'd say, 'Talk to me when you've calmed down,' and walk away."

Weiss, 60, died March 13 at University Medical Center, two days after, according to a police report, he was pushed down and struck his head at Fabulous Freddy's Car Wash in the 1100 block of South Fort Apache Road at West. Charleston Road. A Las Vegas chiropractor, 36-year-old Stephen B. Shaw, has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in Weiss' death.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Eugene Martin this morning set Shaw's preliminary hearing for June 7. Shaw was not present in court for his arraignment as his presence had been waived during bail negotiations. He is free on $100,000 bond.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Schwartz said this morning he had just received the case file and would not comment until he had adequate time to review it. Shaw's attorney, Pete Christiansen, declined comment.

Metro Police Sgt. Mike Thompson, homicide division spokesman, said investigators spoke with numerous witnesses prior to turning over their recommendations for prosecution to Clark County District Attorney David Roger. Thompson declined to say whether any of those witnesses corroborated Raquel Shaw's version of the events.

Bob Soscia, a Summerlin resident and one of Lawrence Weiss' best friends for 25 years, said he hopes witnesses who saw the exchange between Weiss and Raquel Shaw come forward.

"We're only hearing her side of the story and what she's saying is ridiculous," Soscia said. "We want the truth to come out."

A resident of Thousand Oaks, Calif., for 30 years, Weiss purchased a second home in Summerlin in 2002. The family had recently been spending more time in Las Vegas after his retirement as vice president of operations for Warner Music Group's U.S. sales and marketing company.

According to police reports, Shaw's wife, Raquel Shaw, said she and Weiss crossed paths outside the car wash when Weiss believed she had cut him off at the entrance. She told police he yanked open her car door, yelled profanity and frightened her with his tirade. She called her husband at work and he arrived about 15 minutes later, according to the report.

Witnesses say Weiss was walking away from Shaw when the younger man, who was yelling at the time, shoved him from behind. Weiss struck his head on a metal cage holding propane tanks and fell to the ground. Shaw initially left the scene but returned voluntarily when asked to do so by law enforcement, police officials said.

Shaw, who has been a practicing chiropractor in Las Vegas since 1997, has no record of discipline with the state licensing board and no history of criminal convictions. Shaw, according to the police report, is 6 feet 2 inches tall and 185 pounds. Weiss was 5 feet 9 inches tall and 150 pounds, officials said.

In a brief interview with the Sun shortly after the incident at the car wash, Shaw said he "did what I did for my family." When asked whether he had felt threatened at the time of the incident Shaw replied, "extremely."

The second-degree murder charge carries a possible penalty of 25 years to life in prison. The lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter has a potential punishment of one to six years behind bars.

Weiss' sister, Linda Edwards, said she believes criminal charges are warranted.

"Whatever was supposedly said between the woman (Raquel Shaw) and my brother was over by the time he (Stephen Shaw) arrived," Edwards said. "For this man to push my brother from behind while he was walking away, it's unfathomable. My brother is dead all because of what he (Stephen Shaw) did and it never, ever had to happen."

Weiss' older daughter, Teresa Paczkowski, was on her honeymoon in Italy March 11 when she received a frantic e-mail message from her mother, telling her to call home as quickly as possible.

Despite her frantic efforts to make train and plane reservations, Paczkowski was unable to reach Las Vegas before her father died.

"I didn't get there in time to see him," said Paczkowski, 33, a graphic artist who lives in Simi Valley.

As for her feelings about Shaw, Paczkowski said it's almost irrelevant.

"This guy, no matter what happens, gets a second chance," Paczkowski said. "He didn't give that to my dad."

Weiss' younger daughter, 24-year-old Lauren Weiss, said she's glad her father came last year to spend the day at the inner-city high school outside Washington, D.C., where she is in her second year teaching social studies.

"He was a little iffy about what I doing because it's kind of a rough crew," Lauren Weiss said. "But I could tell he was proud of me. All of us, my brother and sister and a lot of our friends, growing into adulthood have been striving to be just like him."

In addition to his daughters, Weiss is survived by his wife, Sheri, and their 19-year-old son, Michael, a freshman at the University of Maryland-College Park.

Elaine Kissel, Weiss' mother-in-law, said he insisted on helping her move to Sun City in Summerlin last year, convinced she wasn't as safe in her hometown of Palmdale, Calif.

"It's ironic, he wanted me to be up there (in Las Vegas) in a safer place and he's the one who got hurt," Kissel said.