Couple to be arraigned in death of missing Henderson cab driver

By Dave Toplikar

Friday, April 13, 2012 | 12:15 p.m.

A married couple who are both accused in the slaying of a missing Henderson cab driver — the wife's ex-boyfriend — will go before a judge next week in Henderson Justice Court.

Georgene “Cookie” Ross, 56, and her husband, Christopher Ross, 52, will be arraigned at 9 a.m. Tuesday before Justice of the Peace David S. Gibson on murder and conspiracy to commit murder charges in connection with the death of Keith Goldberg, 54.

The Rosses are each being held in the Clark County Detention Center on $145,000 bail.

Police said there was probable cause to believe that Christopher and Georgene Ross killed Golberg, because they each had an argument with him inside his Green Valley apartment on Jan. 31 and Goldberg has not been seen or heard from since.

Goldberg had been recently living with Georgene Ross at the apartment, but their relationship had ended and he was in the process of moving out of the apartment they had shared, witnesses told police.

Witnesses told police Goldberg was last seen at his apartment on Jan. 31, when he allegedly had physical altercations with both of the Rosses.

Police say his family has been trying to contact him since that time. Officers said Goldberg's family hired a private investigator to try to find him and filed a missing persons report with Metro Police.

Police said cell phone records showed Christopher Ross spent almost the entire night of Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at the Green Valley apartment, contrary to what Ross told detectives. Officers also said Georgene Ross had been in possession of Goldberg's phone and car keys, which have never been recovered.

The police report also said phone records showed Christopher Ross spent more than six hours in the desert area surrounding Sunrise Mountain and Lake Mead Recreation area on Feb. 1, in contradiction to his statement to police that he was moving furniture all that day.

Officers said Goldberg's vehicle was eventually located by police on Feb. 10 in the street in the 2600 block of Van Patten Street in Las Vegas.

"The car was dirty and had some scratches on the sides which appeared to be consistent with being driven in the desert," the police report said.

Witnesses told police the car had been left on the street between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Feb. 3.

Police said they had began surveillance on Georgene Ross' vehicle and at about 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 13, she drove to where the Goldberg's abandoned car had been located, slowing down to 2 mph as she passed the place where it had been recovered.

The police report also said that Georgene Ross had told her sister that minutes after the police were called by neighbors about the Jan. 31 fight at the Green Valley apartment, that she and Christopher Ross intentionally didn't answer the door because "Chris was on Keith."

The police report said Christopher Ross called in sick to his job as a valet at the Fiesta three minutes after police had left the apartment. Then an hour later, Georgene Ross called in sick for Goldberg to his job at Lucky Cab, the report said.

Also, the report said Georgene Ross had told one of her friends that Christopher Ross had punched Goldberg, knocking him to the ground, and that she then had kicked Goldberg in the head.

Officers said there was blood recovered from the apartment and on the bumper of the victim's car.