Local news briefs for July 26, 2000

Plea bargain in 1999 death

A 50-year-old man accused of a 1999 slaying has entered a plea agreement.

David Leo Smith pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon in connection with the Jan. 2, 1999, strangulation death of Heidi Zwieg, 34.

Police found Zwieg's body in a bathtub filled with water and bleach at the Gateway Motel, 928 Las Vegas Blvd. South, after Smith called his son to report that he had killed her. Smith, a limousine driver, was arrested at the wedding chapel where he worked.

Officials have said Smith hoped the bleach would mask the smell of Zwieg's body until his son could arrive from the East Coast to help him dispose of the body.

In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors will dismiss a murder charge.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 5 by District Judge Donald Mosley. He faces a 20-year prison sentence with parole possible after eight years.

Cause of man's death determined

A 77-year-old man found dead in his ransacked house Friday died from strangulation and blunt force trauma, Clark County Coroner's Office officials said.

Metro Police are still trying to identify a suspect in the slaying of Leo Spiegler. Police know that the attack took place sometime between 11:30 a.m. Friday when he spoke to someone on the phone and 1:30 p.m., when a neighbor tried to contact Spiegler, said Sgt. Kevin Manning of Metro's homicide unit.

A resident then noticed his neighbor's door was open Friday about 4 p.m. in the 2200 block of Goldhill Way, near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Vegas Drive. After getting no response to calls into the house, the resident called police.

Police do not know what is missing from the home, but it was ransacked, Manning said.

The man's wife had been out and was waiting for her husband to pick her up, but when he didn't arrive she called a friend for a ride.

Anyone who has information about the Spiegler's death is asked to call detectives at 229-3521 or Secret Witness 385-5555.

Goodman plans session Friday

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman will hold his monthly open door meeting at 10 a.m. Friday in the City Hall council chambers.

Any resident is invited to come to the meeting and share his or her thoughts or concerns with the mayor.

City Hall is located downtown at the corner of Stewart Avenue and Fourth Street.

Driver sought in pedestrian's death

A 39-year-old Las Vegas man was killed late Tuesday in a hit-and-run accident on Boulder Highway north of Tropicana Avenue.

The man was walking north on Boulder Highway on the east side of the roadway when a car -- traveling north -- veered right and partially left the road, hitting the pedestrian from behind about 11 p.m., Metro Police said.

The driver of the car, possibly a mid 1980s yellow or tan Buick or Oldsmobile, then fled without stopping to check on the pedestrian, police said.

The man's death is the 51st traffic fatality this year in Metro's jurisdiction.

Anyone with information is asked to call Metro's traffic unit at 229-3535 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Suicidal man's standoff ends

Charles Kiss, 46, became suicidal after being ordered to stay away from his live-in girlfriend. He doused himself with gasoline and stabbed himself in the chest before police ended a 45-minute standoff outside of Family Court on Bonanza and Pecos Roads yesterday at 2:45 p.m.

"When he stabbed himself in the chest, we fired beanbags from a shotgun at him several times," said Metro officer Benjamin Kim. Police subdued Kiss with the shots and took him into custody, Kim said.

Kiss was taken to University Medical Center for treatment on the chest wound, which was bleeding profusely, and second-degree burns from standing out in the sun so long, Kim said. He will undergo a psychiatric evaluation before the district attorney decides on possible charges.

Kiss returned to court with two 5-gallon cans of gasoline, a 5-inch knife and a lighter and said he wanted to talk to the media about his case, Kim said.

He was in court because of an arrest for domestic battery after allegedly picking his girlfriend up by the neck on July 17, said Christina Chandler, assistant Family Court administrator.

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