Wednesday, May 26, 1999 | 11:38 a.m.
A man accused of killing Las Vegas entertainer Ginger Rios two years ago and burying her body in Arizona is now competent to stand trial, District Judge Michael Douglas ruled Tuesday.
John Flowers, also known as Craig Jacobson, had been declared incompetent at two earlier proceedings, one in February 1998 and one last October.
Tuesday's hearing was a court administrator's request for a status check on the competency of Flowers, who is at a state mental facility near Sparks.
At a June 8 hearing, Douglas will set a trial date.
Rios, a 20-year-old dancer and singer, was killed April 4, 1997, after her husband, Mark Hollinger, drove her to the Spy Craft store on Maryland Parkway. Flowers owned that store as well as stores in Phoenix and Los Angeles.
Hollinger told police the 20-year-old victim never emerged from the store, but Flowers said she left after buying a book about how to kill people and then disappeared.
Flowers' wife, Cheryl Ciccone, provided police with information in August 1997 that led to the recovery of Rios' body in the desert near Phoenix.
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