Court resets hearing for 3 suspects in Las Vegas teacher’s death

By Dave Toplikar

Published Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010 | 10:53 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010 | 11:44 a.m.

A court hearing for three of the six suspects in the death of a Las Vegas high school teacher has been continued until mid-December.

Bridget Lugo, 20, Marisol Diaz, 16, and Daniel Carrillo, 16, will have their preliminary hearing at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 15 in the October robbery, beating and death of Timothy VanDerbosch, an Eldorado High School teacher.

Police said VanDerbosch died after he was beaten and robbed, then hit by a car as he tried to run away. The incident occurred Oct. 20 near Washington Avenue and Betty Lane as VanDerbosch was walking to school in the morning, police said.

Before today's proceeding began, the defendants were brought in, shackled together with other jail inmates in chains, and they each had brief discussions with their attorneys.

Carrillo's attorney is Craig Drummond, Diaz's attorney is Robert Langford and Lugo's attorney is Frank Kocka.

The court was full of family members and friends who had come to support the defendants.

But the court proceeding took less than a minute.

"It's my understanding that all parties are going to ask for one 15-day setting continuance of this matter to further exchange discovery in anticipation of further proceedings," Deputy District Attorney Sam Bateman told Justice of the Peace Diana Sullivan.

Sullivan agreed to the joint request for continuance and set the new date of Dec. 15 for the hearing in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Lugo is being held in the Clark County Detention Center without bond. Carrillo and Diaz are being held in juvenile detention. They each are charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery with use of a deadly weapon and one count each of burglary and murder with use of a deadly weapon.

Outside the courtroom, Bateman said he was standing in for the prosecutors, Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas and Deputy District Attorney Josh Tomsheck.

Bateman said he didn't know if the preliminary hearing set for the other three suspects in VanDerbosch's death would be held or would also be continued until Dec. 15.

Those three, Marcos Castrejon, 20; Saul Favela, 19, and David F. Rosas, 19, will have a preliminary hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday before Judge Deborah Lippis, in connection with the 50-year-old physics and chemistry teacher's death.

Prosecutors still have the option of seeking a grand jury indictment to move the case up from Las Vegas Justice Court to Clark County District Court.

According to police, the six suspects are believed to be responsible not only for VanDerbosch's death, but for a series of robberies and other beatings that occurred over several nights.

During the robberies on Oct. 20, the suspects allegedly stole money, mobile phones, jewelry, credit cards and clothing items from victims while brandishing handguns or knives, according to the arrest reports.

Police said that in two robberies, they ordered victims out of their parked cars while stealing items inside the vehicles and on the victims.

In another robbery, one suspect allegedly stabbed the victim in his left calf after he fell to the ground trying to avoid the swinging knife. Another suspect punched the victim in the face after the stabbing, authorities said.

Victims of the other robberies reported being punched, kicked, stomped and pistol-whipped by the suspects regardless of whether they cooperated, police said.