Man held in four slayings suspected in May attack

Metro Police's prime suspect in a southeast Las Vegas quadruple homicide 10 days ago is also the suspected gunman in an execution-style attack that paralyzed a man on Fremont Street May 4.

Police had been looking for Donte Johnson, 19, for more than four months on the attempted-murder charge when he was taken into custody Tuesday in connection with the murders of four young men found bound and shot inside a Terra Linda home Aug. 14.

Johnson, a Las Vegas native known by police to have ties to the West Coast Bloods gang, flashed apparent gang hand signs at the crowd and news photographers during his arraignment Thursday for the murders.

Both cases are set to be heard Sept. 2 by a judge at Johnson's preliminary hearing, a public process designed to determine if enough evidence exists to hold Johnson for trial. Prosecutors handling the quadruple homicide could avoid the hearing by presenting their case directly to a Clark County grand jury.

Johnson has been accused by police of shooting 40-year-old Derrick Simpson in his face, neck and spine during the May dispute in a lower Fremont Street parking lot.

According to the warrant, a security guard broke up a fight between the two men about 4:10 a.m. at the Vegas Motel, 2216 E. Fremont St., and asked Simpson to leave the property. Simpson complied, walking west on Fremont. Johnson, according to police allegations, drove west also, pulling his primer-painted Cadillac into a parking lot a few blocks from the motel and shooting Simpson first in his mouth and then, after he'd fallen, several times in his back.

"It was cold-blooded," said Detective Brian Sharp, who handled the investigation. "He said (to Simpson), 'It's time for you to die,' and then shot him down his spine."

Police suspect Johnson -- also known as John White, Rasheed, and Deko -- left town and returned shortly before the killings at the dilapidated single-story house at 4825 Terra Linda Ave., near Tropicana Avenue and Nellis Boulevard.

An ongoing investigation has led detectives to believe that as many as two killers could have committed the crime, although a second suspect has not been identified.

A friend stopping by to visit discovered the bodies about 6 p.m. Tracey Gorringe, 21, Jeffrey Biddle, 19, Matthew Mowen, 19, and Peter Talamantez, 17, had been shot in their heads, their hands and legs bound with duct tape.

Mowen, Gorringe and Biddle had been renting the house for about a year.

Police believe the killers wanted money when they targeted the Terra Linda home where one of the roommates allegedly had been selling drugs. Johnson is additionally suspected of having sold drugs to one of the roommates.

Detectives combed the property for clues in the days following the murders and interviewed family, friends and neighbors.

Metro SWAT officers moved in with an arrest warrant Aug. 18, taking Johnson into custody at 3:45 a.m. at a house in the 4800 block of Everman Street, a few blocks from the quadruple murder scene.

Arresting officers said Johnson denied knowing the victims or ever being inside their residence.

Homicide Sgt. Ken Hefner said evidence was found at the Everman house linking Johnson to the crime. Authorities said the evidence included at least one of the victims' possessions found buried in the backyard and a partial roll of duct tape.

Hefner, who is heading the investigation, has declined to comment on the evidence or elaborate on specific elements of the case, fearing that making too many details public will jeopardize the investigation.

Johnson remains booked in Clark County Detention Center with bail set at $1 million. He is charged with four counts each of murder, robbery and kidnapping, and a single count of burglary.

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