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StumblePolice: Strangling suspect tied to Craigslist attack on transsexual
Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009 | 6:06 p.m.
Michael Lane
Sun Archives
- Police have suspect in woman’s death (12-8-2009)
A man suspected in the death of a woman found strangled in her garage is facing charges in connection with a separate incident in which he allegedly solicited a transsexual man for sex on Craigslist and then, after an argument, attempted to run the person over with his vehicle.
Michael Lane, 34, who police named Tuesday as a suspect in the death of 44-year-old Ginger Candela, found dead in her home in the 3100 block of Westfield Street on Nov. 30, has been charged in an attack on the transsexual man that allegedly occurred Nov. 24 near Sunrise Hospital.
The vehicle used in the alleged attack was registered to Candela, with whom Lane had been living, according to an arrest report released Wednesday. The arrest warrant was issued Dec. 2.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office has ruled Candela’s death a homicide. She died from strangulation, with blunt head trauma as a significant contributing factor, a coroner’s spokeswoman said today.
Lane is facing one count of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, one count of battery with a deadly weapon and one count of leaving the scene of an accident in connection with the alleged attack on the man. Police said Tuesday that Lane hasn’t been charged in Candela’s death, but is a suspect in her death and had been questioned in California, where he was taken into custody.
Police say Lane, a British citizen, has been involved with spiritual healing and motivational speaking. He might have befriended women in that way and possibly defrauded them without their knowledge, authorities said.
Police are still seeking information about Lane, whom they say also goes by the name “Chae Saville.” Raised in London, he is known to have spent time in Las Vegas, San Diego and Portland, Ore. He might have lived in the Philippines at some point, and police believe he might still have a daughter who lives there, authorities said.
On Nov. 24, the alleged male victim made contact with another man on Craigslist who identified himself as “Michael.” Michael, later identified by police as Michael Lane, told the man online that he lived in Las Vegas and wanted to meet a transsexual male, according to the police report.
The two arranged a meeting and Lane came to the alleged victim’s home in the 300 block of Harmon Avenue at about 2 a.m., the report said. The two men then left the residence in Lane’s maroon sport utility vehicle, police said.
Lane drove the man to a residence in the 3100 block of Westfield Street, where the two were intimate, then fell asleep, according to police. After waking up, the male victim asked Lane for a ride home and they got into the SUV, the man told police.
That was when Lane got angry, the man said, because Lane had wanted to continue sleeping.
The alleged victim became fearful and called his uncle for a ride, which prompted an argument between Lane and the man, police said. Lane stopped the vehicle near Sombrero Drive and Arabella Street and ordered the man to get out, which he did, and he began to walk toward the sidewalk, again using his cell phone to call his uncle.
As he was walking, the man heard the SUV accelerate and saw the vehicle driving toward him at about 35 mph, he told police. The front of the vehicle struck him, knocking him under a fence and causing part of the bumper to break off, the report says.
Lane then allegedly got out of the vehicle and punched the man, police said.
Two witnesses yelled at Lane to stop and the alleged victim asked the witnesses to get the license plate number of the SUV, the report said. Both witnesses told police the vehicle had personalized South Dakota plates that read CHARIS.
The man’s uncle heard the commotion over the phone. The uncle responded to the scene and found the man under an iron fence, according to the report.
The alleged victim was taken to Sunrise Hospital, where he was treated for injuries that included a broken collarbone, injured ribs and severe abrasions to his shins, police said. He also had an irregular heartbeat, possibly caused from bruising, police said.
The man described to his uncle the house where he was taken. His uncle drove to the area and found a home matching the description in the 3100 block of Westfield Street. The home was the same residence where Candela was found dead.
In the course of the missing person investigation in Candela’s case, police learned about the uncle’s attempt to find information about the man driving the maroon SUV. Witnesses told police the missing woman owned a vehicle matching the description of the one used in the alleged attack Nov. 24.
Candela’s adult daughter told police that a British man was living at the residence. He had recently arrived in the United States, she said.
A description she gave police of the man living with her mother matched a description given by the alleged victim of the man who attacked him with his vehicle, the report said.
On Dec. 1, when contacted by investigators, the man picked Lane from a photo lineup. He also turned over to police a part of the maroon vehicle he said his uncle had found at the scene.
Metro Police are asking anyone with information about Lane or Candela’s death to contact the homicide section at 828-3521. Additionally, Candela’s family is seeking information about her dog, a Chihuahua named “Gi Gi” that Lane might have given away to an unknown woman on the Strip. Callers who want to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.
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Now, hold on there mikegino (I read your post before removal)... Sure, it's a long report - but, well written. Kinda twisty turny - like a good crime/murder novel. Lots of colorful characters in this story!! I'd pay to see this 'movie'! The only thing I couldn't place in the script is the dog and the unknown woman. That would have to be the red herring. Unless >>> "she" turns out to be a prominent political figure!! Whoo hoo! We have a blockbuster!!
Only in Vegas. Gotta love it.
Hey Ancora: I can't tell you how thrilled I am that you think the murder of my family member calls for a Whoo hoo! Or better yet a blockbuster. Please humor my family, and allow her to be put to rest before you make any other offensive comments.
Nancy Candela
Interesting that the suspect in this case would hook up with someone with a female to male transsexual past. That is what you meant, isn't it? Because a transsexual man is someone who was assigned female at birth and has transitioned to being male. A transsexual woman, on the other hand, is someone who was assigned male at birth and has transitioned to being female. And of course, the journalism standards set by the AP are to refer to the person by the gender and pronouns they are presenting as, not those they were assigned by a doctor at birth. But I'm sure you people are aware of that, and that this suspect was indeed involved with a person presenting as male at the time of the crime.
Hi Beth, there was a lot of discussion about how to correctly refer to this person in the story. The police report contained only vague information about the person's past, but we did discuss this exact topic before publishing the story. Thank you. I hope that helps.
Hi Cara,
I can't comment on your on-staff discussion, I will just say that there is an AP standard already in place for how to approach transgendered individuals, especially transsexuals who have already had confirmation surgery. (The convention is to describe them in the gender that they present as.)
It even caused issues with the death of sports writer Mike Penner recently, who had briefly transitioned to the female role but changed back before his death; many of his friends, while knowing and thinking of him as Christine, still honored his decision to live as Mike when they wrote his obituaries and referred to him as male. It's simply a sign of respect and decency to the deceased, as well as clarity.
As long as you were doing that, there wasn't any harm done here, as far as I can tell.
Thanks,
Jennifer
I really didn't mean to offend anyone; it was the alcohol!
Nancy Candela,
My apologies to you and your family. My comment was actually a response to mikegino. It was referring to the 'writing' of the article. I honestly do understand your emotional upheaval during this trying time. There is no offense meant. And no snark.
Ancora:
Thank you.
To the Candela Family.....with my sympathy I hope this is resolved for you and the family.Obviously Lane will pay for this and I hope this brings some sense of relief for you
I, as well as my family thank all of you for your kind words. This scumbag has now been charged with Ginger's murder, along with other charges. Since I live out of state, we will be contacting the "Powers that Be" in an effort to express our concerns and hope he will recommend death to this sub-human.
Thank you all again.
Nancy Candela
I knew this man in the UK, he is not a spiritual healer, it was his latest con trick. 12 months ago he was living in Marbella selling Kamagra/viagra online. He has travelled around the world conning people and has somehow ended up in the US. I personally rang the Sheriffs office in Orange County and warned them about this man at the end of September and another UK lady has also made calls to warn the authorities. It is a terrible shame for all concerned that these warnings were not acted on. My sincere condolences to Ms Candelas family. (apologies to the editors, I had to make up a zipcode for your computer to accept me - this post is being made from the UK)
I met this guy at a bar in Manila way back in 2004 and he was no spiritual leader over there either. He co-owned an internet cafe with an American expat who also owned a travel agency upstairs from him. He claimed he was one of the actors of Miss Saigon doing shows around Southeast Asia. Last time I heard he swindled many people there until he had lawsuits thrown at him. He fled back to the UK to avoid facing his litigators. He tried to make some business proposals to me but I declined firmly due to a gut feeling about him. My sincere condolences to the Candela family. I am so shocked to learn about this horrible news. I hope justice will be served for her.( My apologies to the editors as well for using a fictitious zip code)
I know this ass, he is 100% criminal. Faith healer "What a joke" Serves him right--- I told him Karma would catch up with his stupid ass! He is a con man --- 100%. He prays on girls with good hearts or business contacts with good hearts to scam money. I remember one of his girlfriends he threw a plate at her and messed up her eye.(Now her eye looks another way) It was tragic because she was very nice and pretty. The father wanted him erased but the girl took mercy on him because he gave her some sobbing sorry bull storey conning her again. She eventually got smart and dropped his ass. Mike was constantly on the scam and could talk a good line of bull to make you think he knows what he is talking about. Miss Saigon I read -- what a joke --- he had a GF in that show and that's it! He contributed nothing!!!
That computer shop was not his -- actually he stole $10,000 from his girlfriend promising her high return. She received nothing!!!! He was just an It guy watching everything. He eventually faked a robbery and stole half the computers and sold the rest of his interest to his partner who was a very nice guy trusting him too much. His partner was such a nice guy who actually stood up for him giving him the benefit of the doubt but he later uncovered he was scum throwing him out. That guy had a big heart helping Xpats who were down on their luck, however it seems to me that every Xpat he helped always stab him in the back. I hope God blesses that guy because he helped many people and always got screwed. He was just to kind trying to find the good in people!!! I am sure people will read this and know the guy I am talking about. Anyways, The poor girlfriend never got a cent!!!! He then moved on to many other victims where he bleed them dry and emptied out there bank accounts leaving them devastated. I think even one of the girls ended up going to jail for his theft. He keeps promising from the UK to send money but that never happened.
He was a sickO too -- looking at porn all day meeting girls on the internet and asking them to come to his house for sex. In the Philippines he scammed on many chicks with this method. After having sex with them he would tell they to get out never allowing them to return unless he saw opportunity to scam money from them.
I know everything about this fool when he lived in the Philippines. He was looking at jail, lawsuits and many hits of death where on his head. He sought the help of an immigration friend who managed to get him out of the country. He scammed the immigration girl with some sob storey. I actually thought to myself if she had not helped him this murder would have never happened because he would have been dead or in prison here in the Philippines.
I knew he would end up in prison but I never knew he had the balls for murder. He was a punk who thought he was smart. I feel sorry for the families involved and all the girls and business men who have been scammed by him.
I hope that this young lady did not die in Vain and that justice will be served!!!!!!!!! It's finally time for Mike to pay for his injustice and it seems that the death sentence will fit nicely!!!
He was also linked to a murder of a businessman in Boracay Island when he used to work there. He fled to Manila after rumors broke that he and his accomplices hired a hitman for the job. The murder case was left cold.