Updated at 1:55 p.m., Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Vegas bombing suspects may have tie to 2nd bombing
By KEN RITTER
Associated Press
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"There may be other charges on another event," Deputy Clark County District Attorney David Stanton told Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo.
Abbatangelo assigned a public defender to represent Omar Rueda-Denvers, 31, and said he wants Rueda-Denvers to appear Friday morning with Porfirio Duarte-Herrera, a 27-year-old Nicaraguan who has been held in federal custody on a charge of being an alien in possession of a firearm. Police believe the men planted a bomb outside the Luxor hotel-casino that killed a young Mexican immigrant May 7.
Rueda-Denvers, a Panamanian, was not asked to enter a plea during his initial appearance 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. Rueda-Denvers, who could face life in prison if convicted, said through a Spanish-language interpreter that he understood the charges against him.
Duarte-Herrera was booked Tuesday into the Clark County jail on murder, attempted murder, possession of an explosive device and weapon possession charges, said Las Vegas police Officer Jose Montoya, a department spokesman.
Montoya and department spokeswoman Carla Alston said they had no information about another bombing case.
Local and federal authorities said last week they were looking for links between the Luxor bombing and recent unsolved bombings in the Las Vegas area, including an explosion of a pipe bomb beneath a pickup truck parked outside a Home Depot store last Oct. 31. No one was injured in that explosion.
The case remains under investigation, Las Vegas Fire Department and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives officials said Tuesday.
The May 7 bombing killed Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio, a 24-year-old Mexican who worked at a hot dog stand inside the pyramid-shaped Luxor resort and at a sandwich shop at the nearby Excalibur hotel-casino.
Police announced the arrests of Rueda-Denvers and Duarte-Herrera on Friday and accused them of building and leaving the bomb hidden inside a cup atop Dorantes Antonio's car at the Luxor's parking garage. The device exploded when Dorantes Antonio picked it up after getting off work about 4 a.m. He died a short time later of head injuries.
The motion-activated metal pipe bomb contained an explosive powder and a 9-volt battery, and was hidden in a plastic foam cup that was partially filled with a spray foam insulation, police said.
Police found spray insulation foam and items with residue that might be consistent with the bomb when they searched Duarte-Herrera's residence.
A web of romantic rivalries appeared to be the motive for the bombing, police said.
Police say in an arrest report that Dorantes Antonio was dating Caren Chali, 27, a co-worker from Guatemala who police say was Rueda-Denvers' ex-girlfriend and the mother of Rueda-Denvers' child.
Chali's name was spelled Chall in a police arrest report, but Chali in the criminal complaint against Rueda-Denvers. Alston confirmed the spelling Chali, and said she also used the name Caren Tobias.
Chali told police that Rueda-Denvers had been harassing her and had visited her workplace several times. Dorantes Antonio told another co-worker that his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend had threatened him, police said.
Police said in their arrest report that Rueda-Denvers used various names, including Alexander Perez and Omar Perez-Morales. He pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge of having a false identification and was sentenced to 10 days in jail.
