Trial set for man accused in death of woman found in trash can

By Cara McCoy

Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010 | 11:31 a.m.

A trial date has been set for a San Bernardino man facing a murder charge in connection with a woman’s body found in a trash can in 2008 in downtown Las Vegas.

Khalfani Howard, 28, was arraigned today in district court, where he pleaded not guilty to one count of murder. He is accused in the September 2008 death of 22-year-old Helena Haley, also of San Bernardino, who had been staying with Howard in an apartment on Bridger Avenue.

Howard is scheduled to stand trial on Oct. 18.

Haley’s body was found Sept. 10, 2008, by a woman looking at clothing spilling out of a 30-gallon garbage can in a parking lot on the northwest corner of Carson Avenue and South Eighth Street. The woman thought she saw an arm and a woman’s stomach and called police.

The woman's body underwent an autopsy on Sept. 11, 2008. The coroner's office said the cause of death was suspicious, but undetermined. The coroner said she could have been asphyxiated and said foul play was possible.

At the time of the autopsy, the woman was known as Jane "Carson" Doe, because her body was discovered on Carson Avenue.

Last January, family members contacted authorities about Haley, who was missing after having moved to Las Vegas with Howard to look for work. The family hadn’t heard from Haley since Sept. 8, 2008.

The coroner's office identified Haley on Jan. 14, 2009.

Metro Police investigators learned the apartment Haley and Howard shared became vacant shortly after Haley’s body was discovered.

Detectives learned about a letter sent to Haley’s aunt. The letter stated it was from Helena Haley but family members didn’t recognize the handwriting and the envelope had no stamp and no return address, according to a report from the time of Howard’s arrest in November 2009.

Police were later able to match Howard’s DNA and fingerprints to evidence recovered from the envelope, the report says.

Howard was arrested in San Bernardino and extradited to Nevada, where has remained in the Clark County Detention Center on $200,000 bail.