What was on his stolen laptop gave DA cause for nightmares

By Jeff German

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008 | 2 a.m.

For District Attorney David Roger, it could have been a disaster.

On June 11, his briefcase was stolen off the plane after he arrived in San Diego. He was there to attend the U.S. Open — and the briefcase contained $800 in tickets to the golf championship along with the keys to his house and car.

That’s enough to spoil anyone’s vacation.

But there was something more valuable in Roger’s briefcase — his personal laptop containing copies of all of the evidence in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery case, including crucial audio- and videotapes.

“It was a little nerve-racking, Roger says. “I had visions of my entire case showing up on the Internet.”

Roger was notified July 17 that his briefcase had turned up at a U.S. Veterans Affairs clinic in San Diego. He later learned, to his tremendous relief, that nothing was missing, and his computer had not been accessed.

But the theft still cost the district attorney. He had to buy new tickets to the U.S. Open, change the locks on his house and get new remote keys to his car.

Once the briefcase was found, Roger and Mike Karstedt, his top investigator, used a little detective work to track down the suspect. With the help of an airline manifest, they traced the theft to a 71-year-old Las Vegas man who had taken the same flight with Roger that day on his way to the VA clinic in San Diego.

Last week, Karstedt paid a visit to the veteran at his Las Vegas home and obtained a confession.

Roger has since asked the San Diego district attorney’s office to review the case for possible prosecution.

“People ought to be held responsible for their actions,” Roger says.

• • •

Joe Francis, founder of the video company “Girls Gone Wild,” is back in trouble with the law.

At the request of Wynn Las Vegas, the district attorney’s bad check unit has opened a criminal investigation of Francis in an effort to recover $2 million in gambling debts.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Bernie Zadrowski, who runs the bad check unit, says Francis will be given an opportunity to pay back the money before an arrest warrant is issued.

Wynn Las Vegas filed a lawsuit against Francis in District Court on June 27, alleging he has paid back only $800,000 of the $2.8 million in gambling markers extended to him at the Strip resort in February 2007.

Francis also faces tax evasion charges in Reno.

• • •

Good old-fashioned cooperation between FBI agents and Metro Police is being credited for the quick arrest of the couple alleged to have killed runaway teen Nichole Elizabeth Yegge.

From the moment FBI agents in Huntsville, Ala., received a tip about the slaying, Las Vegas FBI agents and police detectives worked together to find the body of the 17-year-old.

Scott Bakken, supervisor of the FBI’s Violent Crime Squad, says the cooperation between the FBI and Metro Police in this case is the result of their long-standing ties to the Criminal Apprehension Team.

The team, established in 1992, was credited with solving another high-profile homicide case in quick fashion this year, the drive-by slaying of Palo Verde High School freshman Christopher Privett.

• • •

In hindsight, County Clerk Shirley Parraguirre says the Marriage License Bureau might have been “overly prepared” for last week’s 08/08/08 rush at the Regional Justice Center.

But she’s not complaining.

Marriage License Bureau officials say they issued 2,274 licenses over a three-day period that ended Friday, about 2 1/2 times the normal number. The biggest day was Thursday, when 964 marriage licenses were recorded.

As it turned out, the Marriage Bureau had no problem handling the “steady flow” of extra couples, Parraguirre says.

Jeff German can be reached at 474-7406 or at german@lasvegassun.com.