Wednesday, March 20, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
"She won't die," the bewildered voice on a 911 tape stated.
"Who won't die?" Metro Police emergency operator Stephanie Pernyak asked.
"My wife ... I've tried to strangle her about four different ways. She won't die," the caller replied, sounding more astonished and frustrated than angry.
The tape recording was the key piece of evidence Tuesday against Roy Hollaway in his preliminary hearing on charges that he murdered his wife to end an argument that had lasted three days.
But 42-year-old Carolyn Whiting didn't go easily, according to Deputy Clark County Medical Examiner Dr. Robert Bucklin. She languished for two weeks in a coma after the Jan. 27 incident before dying of pneumonia and the brain damage that resulted from the lack of oxygen.
As the 911 tape was played, Hollaway hanged his head in Justice of the Peace James Bixler's courtroom. He sniffed and tears streamed down his face.
"Why are you trying to kill her?" Pernyak asked on the tape.
"Because I don't like her," was the reply.
"Have you thought about getting a divorce?" the operator queried.
"Isn't it a lot easier just to kill her?" Hollaway responded as if it was the logical solution to his problem. He then complained, "But she won't die ... God, she keeps breathing.
"I tried to strangle her about five different ways and, well, my hands ain't strong enough, so I took a cord and she still kept breathing. God, the stupid bitch just wouldn't die."
He said he considered stabbing her but decided "that's messy."
"How long did you strangle her?" Pernyak asked as part of her effort to keep him on the telephone and away from his wife.
"It's been a continuous process for about a half an hour, but she wouldn't die," Hollaway responded. "God, she just kept breathing. Every time I let up, she just kept breathing. She just wouldn't die."
At the end of Tuesday's hearing, Bixler ruled there was sufficient evidence to hold Hollaway for a District Court trial. He will be arraigned March 26 in District Judge Jeff Sobel's courtroom.
Hollaway, 38, told the operator where he lived and promised not to resist officers when they arrived to arrest him. When a Metro patrol car finally rolled up, he walked out of the front door of the 5501 Harmon Ave. apartment and surrendered.
"Look, I know I'm going to prison," he told the operator before his arrest. "I'm sitting in my chair having a cigarette and a beer now. I'm very calm. I have no weapons. Come and take me away."
Photos presented to the court of Hollaway's apartment show beer cans scattered throughout.
When Hollaway was asked if he and his wife had been drinking, he responded, "Yeah, so what."
At one point, Hollaway asked if the call was being recorded and was told that all 911 calls are taped.
"Cool," he said, then announced, "I did this deliberately because I wanted her to die."
He then commented, "If that don't get me the death penalty, I reckon nothing will"
Pernyak asked Hollaway if he wanted the death penalty and he answered, "Sure, life pretty much sucks anyway."
Hollaway, a convicted armed robber, said he has lived in Las Vegas for about four years and been married about 2 1/2 years. He indicated he had no children.
After talking for several minutes, Pernyak told Hollaway, "I just hope your wife's not dead."
"Well, truth to tell now, I kind of hope she ain't either, but whatever," Hollaway replied.
"Damn, it's taking them an awful long time to get here," he complained as the minutes ticked by.
Finally the operator told him that the responding officers wanted him to step outside the apartment.
Hollaway did but quickly asked, "Are you sure they're in the right place. I don't see no lights. I don't see no cops. I don't see nobody."
Hollaway then complained of the cold weather and said he was returning to the warmth of his chair.
A few more moments passed before an officer arrived and took him into custody.
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