Wednesday, Jan. 8, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Metro Police said today they have no evidence that suggests the slaying of reputed underworld figure Herbie Blitzstein was a mob assassination.
"We're in no way calling this a mob hit," Homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said this morning.
"Right now, we're treating this like any other homicide investigation. There are lots of theories and rumors flying around as to why Herbie was killed, but we're not making any assumptions at this time."
Blitzstein, 63, a former top lieutenant of the late Chicago mobster Anthony Spilotro, was found shot to death Tuesday morning in his modest southeast Las Vegas home.
Police issued a news release Tuesday night suggesting that Blitzstein may have interrupted a burglary at his home. Relatives told police some of his property was missing.
Intelligence detectives, who routinely keep track of underworld figures, are helping the homicide unit pursue leads in the killing.
"We're assisting as much as we can," intelligence Lt. Loren Stevens said.
The FBI also has offered to pitch in.
"If we have any information that can help Metro, we'll provide it," said Walt Stowe, assistant special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI.
Stowe and John Plunkett, supervisor of the FBI's organized crime sqaud, went to the scene of the killing Tuesday morning.
In recent months, Blitzstein, who had a penchant for hanging out in adult nightclubs, had attracted the attention of the State Gaming Control Board because of ties to suspended Horseshoe Club executive Ted Binion.
Last month, the Control Board voted to nominate Blitzstein for Nevada's Black Book of undesirables barred from casinos because of those ties.
At the time of his death, the board was continuing to investigate Binion's relationship with Blitzstein, who had been refusing to cooperate in the probe.
Last spring, when questioned about his ties to Binion at a Nevada Gaming Commission hearing, Blitzstein asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to testify.
Binion -- who last spring reluctantly acknowledged being in Blitzstein's presence more than two-dozen times within the previous year -- is said to have had a falling out with the mob figure prior in recent months.
The two men used to hang out together at strip-tease joints.
On Tuesday, Binion denied having a falling out with Blitzstein. But he said he had tried to distance himself from Blitzstein since landing in trouble with the Control Board.
"I've seen him once in seven months," Binion said. "I was just avoiding him."
Binion said he was "surprised" to hear about Blitzstein's slaying and knew nothing about it.
He described Blitzstein as a "harmless, decent guy."
Petersen said Binion was not high on his list of witnesses to be interviewed.
"Nothing in our investigation points to Ted Binion," he said.
Police today were giving out few details about Blitzstein's slaying, preferring to wait until this morning's coroner's examination.
Petersen said detectives planned to question Blitzstein's family members and friends to determine his whereabouts prior to his slaying.
Detectives are urging anyone with information to contact Metro homicide or Secret Witness.
Nicknamed "Fat Herb ie," Blitzstein had last been seen alive at 7 p.m. Monday, Petersen said.
Blitzstein's longtime lawyer, John Momot, said he last spoke to his client about 2.30 p.m. Monday and that he appeared in good spirits.
Although some property was removed from the home, police said, the house had not been ransacked and there was no forced entry.
Sources close to Blitzstein were speculating he might have known his killer, and Petersen suggested that was a "logical" assumption given how his body was discovered.
Police said Tuesday that Blitzstein was shot with a small-caliber weapon and that detectives found a gunshot wound to his head.
But Petersen today back-tracked, refusing to confirm that.
A business associate, auto dealer Joe DeLuca, reportedly went to Blitzstein's three-bedroom home at 3655 Mt. Vernon Ave., near Pecos Road and Twain Avenue after Blitzstein didn't show up for a morning business appointment. Blitzstein had an association with DeLuca's business, Any Auto Sales and Leasing on Boulder Highway.
When Blitzstein didn't answer the door, his associate entered the house using a key and found Blitzstein's body slumped over a chair in the living room, Petersen said. Blitzstein lived alone, although Petersen said a girlfriend had once lived there with him.
His associate thought Blitzstein had suffered a heart attack and called 911, Petersen said. Police were called after paramedics saw that Blitzstein had suffered at least one gunshot wound to the head.
A neighbor, Clifford McFadden, said he saw two ambulances at the house before police arrived, about 10:30 a.m. McFadden said he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary that morning or the night before.
"It's a very quiet street," McFadden said. "Police cars don't come in here. It's private."
Blitzstein, who had suffered for years from diabetes and heart problems, had an iron fence installed two years ago that ran the length of the driveway and front porch "because he was handicapped," McFadden said.
McFadden said the 20-year-old subdivision with its 510 single-family attached townhomes once had a security guard on patrol, but that was discontinued a couple of years ago. Blitzstein's home had bars on the windows and front door.
A next-door neighbor to Blitzstein also heard nothing coming from Blitzstein's home, which had a burglary alarm system.
"I didn't hear anything," said the neighbor who lived next to Blitzstein for five years and asked that his name not be used.
He described Blitzstein as "extremely unfriendly."
"I didn't really know him," he said. "He wouldn't talk. I'd say 'hello' to him and he'd look at me and turn his head. He wouldn't even address us or respond."
Another neighbor, Nick Sandoval, said he often saw Blitzstein come and go in a Rolls-Royce.
"I wondered who would be driving a Rolls-Royce in this neighborhood," Sandoval said.
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