Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Lawyer: Man accused of group home slayings suffers from dementia

David Settle Hearing

Leila Navidi

David Settle appears in Las Vegas Justice Court for a hearing at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Thursday, January 3, 2013.

David Settle Hearing

David Settle appears in Las Vegas Justice Court for a hearing at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Thursday, January 3, 2013. Launch slideshow »

David Settle, accused of bludgeoning to death two people at a group home last month, suffers from a condition related to Alzheimer’s disease and needs more medical testing, a public defender told a judge.

Settle, 68, appeared Thursday morning before Justice of the Peace Cynthia Cruz in Las Vegas Justice Court for a case status check.

Public defender Scott Coffee said Settle has undergone psychological and neuropyschological testing, and preliminary results indicate he suffers from vascular dementia, which is associated with Alzheimer’s disease, and possible brain damage.

“He has profound deficits in his thought process because of that,” Coffee said after the brief hearing.

Coffee asked Cruz to set another status check in 30 days so Settle can have physiological testing completed. Settle will appear in court again Feb. 14.

Settle, who remains in the Clark County Detention Center without bail, has been charged with two counts of murder with use of a deadly weapon, according to a criminal complaint.

The counts relate to the deaths of Henry Namett, 82, and Elenita Ablao, 59, who were found dead Dec. 30 at the group home.

Metro Police officers arrived at the residence in the 3700 block of West Washington Avenue to find Settle wearing only a diaper in a room with one of the victims.

Settle told police he used a hammer to kill Namett, a resident, and Ablao, a caretaker, according to an arrest report.

He then walked to nearby convenience stores to buy a bottle of wine and cigars before returning to the home, where he tried unsuccessfully to kill himself.

Settle offered police no explanation why he killed the resident and caretaker but said he liked both people, the arrest report states.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy