Mother, daughter reverse course, pleading guilty in death of elderly coin collector

By Jackie Valley

Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013 | 6:15 p.m.

A mother and daughter have pleaded guilty to killing their elderly neighbor in April and stealing her coin collection, court officials said.

Lourie Rodriguez, 46, and her daughter, Amber Hall, 27, accepted a plea deal Wednesday in Clark County District Court, said Mary Ann Price, a court spokeswoman.

Rodriguez pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon of a victim over 60 and robbery with a deadly weapon of an older person, Price said. Hall pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a deadly weapon of a victim over 60 and robbery with a deadly weapon of an older person, she said.

The pair, who had pleaded not guilty during a July court hearing, will be sentenced April 1 by Chief Judge Jennifer Togliatti.

Rodriguez and Hall have been held in the Clark County Detention Center without bail since their arrest April 29.

Metro Police said 73-year-old Jean Greenburg, who lived alone and possessed valuable U.S. coins, was found beaten and stabbed to death April 27 inside her home at Pinewood Apartments, which are near Desert Inn Road and South Maryland Parkway.

Detectives spoke with Rodriguez, who said she was friends with Greenburg and visited her almost daily. Rodriguez told police she last saw the elderly woman the evening before her death when Rodriguez and Hall stopped by the victim’s apartment.

Authorities later noticed activity on Greenburg’s bank account the night she was found dead. Police used ATM surveillance video to connect Rodriguez and Hall to that transaction.

A search of the defendants’ apartment revealed $2,530, money believed to come from pawning Greenburg’s coins.

Rodriguez and Hall then confessed to police that they plotted their elderly neighbor’s slaying so they could steal her coin collection, according to arrest reports. They hid a knife and piece of wood in a baby stroller when they visited Greenburg, the report states.