Court silent on dismissal of female juror in Blitzstein trial

Federal court officials are being tight-lipped about a juror who has been excused from the trial of two men charged in connection with the murder of Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein.

The 11th day of what is expected to be a lengthy jury trial involving the January 1997 slaying of the longtime Las Vegas mobster began Wednesday with one empty juror's seat in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Philip Pro.

A woman juror was excused, leaving 12 jurors and one alternate to go the rest of the way in the case. There are eight women and five men left on the panel.

Neither the U.S. Attorney's office, which is prosecuting the case, nor the attorneys for Henderson residents and purported mob associates Stephen Cino, 60, and Robert Panaro, 57, objected to the judge's decision.

Attorneys for both sides referred questions about the juror's dismissal to court officials. A court employee who answered the buzzer to Pro's chambers told a Sun reporter to ask the attorneys about it.

A courthouse source said the woman was excused not for reasons of improprieties or for illness, but rather for a "stability" problem. The source did not elaborate on what stability meant, except to say that the judge probably did not want to embarrass the juror in open court.

Prosecutors continued presenting their case Wednesday. They are attempting to prove that Cino, a purported member of the Los Angeles mob, and Panaro, a purported member of the Buffalo, N.Y., mob, were involved in the plot to kill Blitzstein and muscle in on his Las Vegas street rackets.

Blitzstein was at one time the right-hand man of the late Anthony Spilotro, the Chicago mob's Las Vegas overseer in the 1970s and 1980s.

Yet to testify in the case is 72-year-old Alfred Mauriello, who allegedly was hired to kill Blitzstein.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson said Wednesday he has not yet decided when he will call that key witness to the stand.

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