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Updated at 11:44 a.m., Friday, May 11, 2007

Vegas bombing victim, suspect linked to same woman

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY
Associated Press

 

This video frame grab made from an Excalibur hotel-casino security video camera provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows a suspect vehicle, center, involved in the killing of casino hot dog stand employee Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio, 24, after a homemade bomb on his car exploded as he picked it up inside the Luxor hotel-casino's parking garage on Monday.

AP Photo/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

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LAS VEGAS — Two men were under arrest Friday in a deadly Las Vegas Strip bombing that police believe was tied to a tangle of romantic relationships.

Authorities arrested Omar Rueda-Denvers, 32, on charges of murder with the use of a deadly weapon, attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon and possession of an explosive device.

Police say Rueda-Denvers, a Panamanian, targeted the victim, an immigrant worker at a hot dog stand, and the victim's girlfriend, who had an earlier relationship with Rueda-Denvers.

Police also arrested a 27-year-old Nicaraguan construction worker, Porfirro Duarte Herrera, at his home on the east side of Las Vegas. They described him as an associate of Rueda-Denvers, but did not detail how they believe he was involved in the bombing.

Herrera was being held Friday for being an alien in possession of a firearm, but police said they expect to file more charges. The victim was in the country illegally from Mexico and both suspects are illegal immigrants, police said.

"This was a very cold, calculated, planned attack," said Las Vegas Police Lt. Lewis Roberts. "These are very, very bad individuals."

Police believe the men planted a small bomb on the top of 24-year-old Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio's car, while he worked at a Nathan's Famous hot dog stand early Monday inside the Luxor hotel-casino.

GIRLFRIEND LINKED TO TWO MEN

When Dorantes Antonio returned to the parking lot at about 4 a.m., accompanied by his girlfriend, he picked the device up and it exploded, blowing a 12-inch hole in his 1996 Dodge Stratus. Dorantes Antonio died at a hospital about two hours later of a head injury.

The woman, whom police have not named, escaped injury. Police described her as Dorantes Antonio's girlfriend and co-worker at the hot dog stand, as well as the mother of Rueda-Denvers' child.

They said Rueda-Denvers and the woman had been arguing over his right to see the child. Rueda-Denvers was kicked off Luxor property two months ago, said Carla Alston, a police spokeswoman.

"He had been harassing her. This had been ongoing," Alston said. "There had been a number of incidents where he had come to her job and harassed her."

Police said they do not believe the woman was involved in the bomb plot, and are considering her a target, not a suspect. She was in the country illegally and has been in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, pending deportation to Guatemala.

SUSPECT'S CAR LED TO ARRESTS

Blurry still photographs of a car seen next to Dorantes Antonio's in the Luxor parking garage that was captured by surveillance cameras led to the arrests, police said.

Calls from the public helped identify the car as a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt, which is registered to another of Rueda-Denvers' former girlfriends. The car was stopped Thursday afternoon. Police say they do not believe the woman was involved in the bombing.

Rueda-Denvers was taken into custody shortly afterward while driving a vehicle not far from his home south of the Las Vegas Strip, police said.

An apartment complex where he worked as the maintenance manager and his home were searched. Police said materials that could have been used to make the bomb were found in the home, but would not comment further.

Roberts said nothing in the suspects' backgrounds indicated they had experience making bombs.

"On the face of it, it didn't appear that they have the capacity to do that," he said. "Then again you don't really know what type of people you're dealing with."

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigators working with police have said the motion-activated bomb blew up with the force of a stick of dynamite. Authorities have not disputed reports that the device was hidden inside a cup.

The charges against Rueda-Denvers carry a minimum punishment of 40 years to life in prison. The murder charge could carry the death penalty.

If convicted of the weapons charge, Herrera faces one to six years in prison.

Associated Press writer Ken Ritter contributed to this report.