Second suspect named in slaying of elderly woman

By Ken Ritter, Associated Press

Published Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015 | 10:11 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015 | 2:36 p.m.

The husband of a woman facing felony murder, robbery and home-invasion charges in the slaying of an elderly Las Vegas neighbor will also face prosecution in the case, a chief deputy district attorney said Tuesday.

Timothy Coleman is jailed in an unrelated felony vehicle vandalism case, and prosecutor David Stanton told a judge that he'll seek an indictment against Coleman in the slaying of 84-year-old Mary Luebeck.

Stanton spoke before Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa postponed until Wednesday an initial court appearance for Coleman's wife, Margarita Balandova, to determine if Clark County public defenders can represent her.

A deputy public defender, Norm Reed, who attended the Balandova hearing, and Jeremy Wood, a deputy public defender who represented Coleman in a separate hearing before another judge, declined later to comment.

Luebeck was stabbed to death early July 29, and items including a purse, credit cards, jewelry and cash were stolen from her home near Desert Inn Road and Decatur Boulevard, according to a police report.

Outside court, Stanton said Tuesday the brazen smash-and-entry through a glass back door and the bloody stabbing of an elderly grandmother in the head, neck and chest could qualify the case for the death penalty.

Balandova's fingerprints were found on vertical blinds near where Luebeck's daughter found her body surrounded by bloody footprints on the tile floor of her neatly kept home, Stanton said.

Balandova, 28, was arrested Thursday and is being held without bail at the Clark County jail on charges that also include burglary and arson. The charges include possible penalty enhancements because Luebeck was older than 60.

A gas stove burner was left on but didn't ignite a cardboard box and a bottle of window cleaner at Luebeck's home, police said.

Coleman, 31, is jailed on $10,000 bail following his arrest Saturday in the separate 2014 vehicle vandalism case.

A police report says Coleman told detectives that his wife left their house alone early July 29 and returned hours later shoeless with blood on her clothes. Coleman told police that Balandova told him she had killed someone and that he took the clothes and burned them.

Balandova blamed Coleman for the slaying, and she told police she walked through Luebeck's house looking for him.