Christopher Prestipino appears at the Las Vegas Justice Court, downtown, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019.
Published Friday, Oct. 18, 2019 | 2:55 p.m.
Updated Friday, Oct. 18, 2019 | 5:45 p.m.
Lisa Mort
Related Stories
A third suspect has been arrested in the slaying of a woman whose body was found encased in concrete, according to Metro Police.
Casandra Bascones was being sought on counts of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder, Las Vegas Justice Court records show.
An arrest warrant was issued Thursday for Bascones, who was in Milwaukee when Metro Police interviewed her in mid-September regarding the disappearance of Esmeralda Gonzalez, 24, court documents filed by Clark County prosecutors said. It was not clear where she was arrested.
A body police believe is that of Gonzalez was found Oct. 8 in the desert near Primm, prosecutors said. DNA testing was pending.
After a months-long investigation triggered by an anonymous tip, Christopher Prestipino was arrested Oct. 11 on counts of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder, according to court documents.
Prestipino and Gonzalez lived down the street from each other in a southwest Las Vegas neighborhood when she went missing May 31, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors allege Prestipino lured Gonzalez into his house, gave her methamphetamine and tied her up when she threatened to call police, according to a motion filed to increase Prestipino’s bail.
The anonymous tipster, who identified Bascones as a second suspect, reported Gonzalez was strangled and injected with “pool cleaner” after she punched Prestipino, the motion said.
Cellphone GPS in early June placed Prestipino near where the body was found, and records indicated he rented a moving truck, prosecutors said.
Prestipino’s girlfriend, Lisa Mort, 31, is accused of harboring, hiding or helping a felony offender, police said.
She was being held at the Clark County Detention Center on an unrelated case when police questioned her about Gonzalez’s disappearance in mid-September, according to a Metro Police arrest report.
After the talk, Mort called Prestipino, warning him that he should flee. “Go, baby, go,” she told him, according to police.
Mort called back on Oct. 2, and the couple discussed burner phones, wiping cellular data and fleeing somewhere “badass” when she was out of jail, where phone calls are recorded, police said.
Two days later, Prestipino was on a flight to Belize, police said. But on Oct. 11 he was on an airplane returning to Las Vegas in anticipation of Mort’s release.
Detectives were waiting for him at the airport gate.
