Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

law enforcement:

Suspect in custody after police determine victim in February fire was robbed, shot

Patrick Edward Wilcock

Patrick Edward Wilcock

A man found dead after an apartment fire in February had been shot in the head and robbed prior to the blaze, according to an arrest report released Monday.

An investigation led police to 42-year-old Patrick Wilcock, who was arrested Friday on counts of murder with a deadly weapon and robbery with a deadly weapon, the arrest report states.

Emergency crews responded Feb. 25 to a fire at 1309 Del Mar St., near Maryland Parkway and Tropicana Avenue. Inside a condominium unit, they found a dead man – identified in a police report as James LaCella – with apparent trauma on his head, police said.

An autopsy revealed LaCella had died from a gunshot wound to the head and his body began decomposing prior to the fire, according to the arrest report.

Metro Police homicide detectives continued the investigation and determined several items were missing from the victim's home, including a video game console and a debit card, the arrest report states.

Detectives interviewed LaCella’s roommate who said he had left the residence Feb. 17 and had not been able to reach LaCella since, according to the arrest report. The roommate told detectives he last saw LaCella with Patrick Wilcock, who recently had obtained a handgun from a mutual friend, the report states.

Wilcock denied receiving a handgun and said he last saw LaCella Feb. 20, when the two used their remote-control cars, police noted in the report.

A records check of Wilcock revealed that he recently had pawned several of the items missing from LaCella's residence, according to the arrest report.

The mutual friend also told detectives that Wilcock had asked for the handgun in late January or early February, police said.

When homicide detectives contacted Wilcock again, he refused to answer questions and requested an attorney, police said in the report.

Detectives detained Wilcock while police obtained a search warrant for his residence, where they found a key belonging to LaCella's Ford vehicle in an outdoor garbage can, according to the arrest report.

Wilcock was booked into the Clark County Detention Center, where he remains without bail, according to jail records. His first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.

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