Jury hears Griffith talk about slain Luxor dancer

By Ana Ley

Friday, May 9, 2014 | 9:30 p.m.

Jurors on Friday listened to Jason Griffith, in a 90-minute police interview, reminisce over his stormy relationship with a Las Vegas Strip revue performer days before her dismembered corpse was found encased in a tubful of concrete.

Griffith, who is standing trial in Clark County District Court on charges that he killed "Fantasy" dancer Deborah Flores Narvaez, described a "very, very fiery and aggressive" partner who was devastated when Griffith broke up with her because he wanted to date other women.

"It's Vegas, you know. There were multiple women," Griffith, 35, told Metro Police Det. Dan Long. "She wanted a serious relationship."

After the split, Flores grew jealous and violent when she learned that Griffith fell in love with someone new, Griffith alleged. She was so desperate for attention, Griffith said, that she slashed his tires, broke into his apartment and stalked him at work.

Griffith and Flores each danced in Strip productions — Griffith was a dancer in the Cirque du Soleil show "Love" at Mirage, and Flores, 31, performed in the "Fantasy" revue at Luxor.

Long, who painted Griffith as a chatty, confident man with a "Las Vegas lifestyle," told jurors that the voluntary interview — overseen by an attorney hired by Griffith — was a means to gather information about Flores' whereabouts. She was missing for nearly a month before Griffith's roommate, Louis Colombo, led homicide detectives to her body.

Colombo has immunity from prosecution in the case, and he is expected to take the stand Monday to testify that he watched Griffith put his hands around Flores' neck as they argued on Dec. 12, 2010. He and Griffith allegedly tried to conceal the body by placing it in a large tub filled with concrete.

The men reportedly took the big blue plastic tub to a friend's house and unsuccessfully tried carting it into her second-floor apartment. Testifying in court Friday, that friend — Kalae Casorso — said she didn't call police because she was afraid.

"I was shocked. Kind of, my head started to spin," Casorso said.

The tub began to leak, and Griffith allegedly chiseled Flores' body out and sawed off her legs to fit the corpse inside two smaller tubs.

Griffith has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His attorneys say he was defending himself from Flores when she died.

He could face life in prison if he's convicted.

"As things started to escalate, she started to be very aggressive," Griffith told Long during the recorded interview, describing his reasons for ending their relationship. "That fiery passion can only go so far."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.