Judge denies request to videotape testimony

District Judge Jeffrey Sobel this morning denied a prosecution request to videotape testimony of a key witness who officials fear will not appear at the March trial of the man charged with killing four people at a Las Vegas supermarket.

The witness is a 20-year-old outcall entertainer who claims she was sexually assaulted by Zane Floyd just before he allegedly went on a killing spree at an Albertson's store on June 3.

District Attorney Stewart Bell said the young woman has been difficult to locate at times, failing to make routine calls to check in with him.

On one occasion, Bell said, the woman went to the Bahamas, where she was tracked down.

"We had her then we lost her then we found her again," Bell said, obviously frustrated by the witness' proclivity to disappear. "We've got her back. She says she wants to testify, and she means it when she says it, but ..."

The woman appeared before Sobel during the hearing, dressed in the blue jumpsuit of the Clark County jail, where she has held as a material witness pending the outcome of today's hearing. After the hearing, she was to be released.

Sobel asked her why she continued to leave town.

"I don't like Las Vegas," she said.

The woman said she is not trying to run away to avoid testifying.

"I will be here," she assured the judge.

"Is there anything you can say to this court to assure us you will be here?" Sobel asked.

"My word," she said.

Sobel denied the request for a videotaped deposition on the grounds the reason didn't fit the criteria for its use. Videotaping testimony is only for those who cannot appear, not for those prosecutors fear won't appear, the judge noted.

Sobel made the witness promise to check in with the district attorney each week until the March 6 trial date, and if she fails to do so a warrant will be issued for her arrest.

Floyd, 23, sat in the courtroom, passively listening to the proceedings.

Prosecutors are going to seek the death penalty in what has been described as one of the worst murder rampages in Las Vegas history.

Metro Police homicide detectives have said the outcall entertainer informed them Floyd stated minutes before the rampage that he had 19 shotgun shells and was going to kill the first 19 people he saw.

Witnesses have told police Floyd marched into the market at Sahara Avenue and Valley View Boulevard and opened fire, chasing down some victims.

Sobel said there would be no postponements granted unless there are "extraordinary circumstances," and he set a schedule to ensure pretrial motions are decided well before the March trial date.

The four who died were identified as Thomas Michael Darnell, Dennis Troy Sargent, Carlos Chuck Leos and Lucille Alice Tarantino.

A fifth employee, Zachary Emenegger, was shot but survived after spending days in a hospital.

The incident began during the early morning shift on June 3 when a man dressed in camouflage fatigues walked into the market and began shooting at everyone in his path, pausing when necessary to reload.

Floyd was arrested as he exited the store.

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