Richard Magdayo Dahan enters the courtroom at the Regional Justice Center Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014. Dahan is accused of killing his wife Friday then driving to a Metro police station and turning himself in.
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014 | 8:48 a.m.
Arraignment of a man accused of stabbing his wife to death was delayed this morning because of the judge's language-barrier concerns.
After the suspect, Richard Magdayo Dahan, 40, told Las Vegas Township Judge Deborah Lippis his first language was Tagalog, the judge decided to delay the hearing until Thursday, so an interpreter could be present.
The issue came up after Dahan appeared confused when the Lippis asked him if he could afford an attorney.
Dahan, 40, is charged with one count of murder in the stabbing death of his 28-year-old wife, Daisy Dahan, on Friday at the couple’s apartment in the northwest Las Vegas Valley.
Richard Dahan, who turned himself in shortly after the Friday afternoon slaying, told police he became so furious earlier that afternoon when his wife brought up wanting a divorce — an issue she had raised in the past — that he stabbed her in the base of her neck with a serrated knife, according to a Metro Police arrest report.
When the knife became tangled in his wife’s hair, Richard Dahan said, he retrieved a small meat cleaver and struck his wife several time in the top of her head, according to the report.
He then grabbed a fillet knife and stabbed the woman in the abdomen and cut her from the corner of her mouth because she continued to make noises, police said.
After the attack, Richard Dahan paced in his bedroom, showered and ultimately drove to a police station to confess, according to the police report.
Richard Dahan reportedly told police of the couple’s history, describing how the relationship had deteriorated because Daisy Dahan was jealous of his continued relationship with an ex-girlfriend who is the mother of his two children.
Richard Dahan also said his wife would become angry when he gave money to the children, according to police.
Richard Dahan told police that because his wife kept asking for a divorce, he didn’t feel he had any other option than to kill her, according to the report.
Divorce, in Richard Dahan’s opinion, was unacceptable: His parents had stayed married until his father died, the report said.
Dahan remains incarcerated in the Clark County Detention Center without bail.
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