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MISSING WOMAN-DEATH PROBE
Nevada suicide victim lied about missing wife
((Eds: Updates with details))
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The husband of a missing Spanish Springs woman concocted a false story about her supposed death before he committed suicide, but detectives say she too likely is dead.
Washoe County sheriff's Lt. Tom Green told The Associated Press Wednesday they continue to search for 56-year-old Colleen Muhl but fear she was a victim of foul play.
Green says 51-year-old Gerald Muhl consented to multiple interviews with investigators before he was found dead Monday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound a few blocks from their home.
Officers first contacted him Sunday morning after Colleen's sister in California reported her missing.
Muhl told them authorities had notified him that she died Feb. 22 in California.
Green says his last interview was about 11 p.m. Sunday when police told him his story didn't add up.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA-CLARK COUNTY
Proposed medical pot rules introduced in Clark Co.
LAS VEGAs (AP) — Clark County commissioners have taken a first look at regulations that could allow for medical marijuana dispensaries in its unincorporated areas.
Zoning regulations were introduced at a commission meeting Wednesday, setting the stage for a public hearing and possible vote March 19.
The rules specify where dispensaries and related businesses can be located, and what restrictions they would face.
If the regulations are approved, Clark County could be the first municipality in southern Nevada to allow the businesses within its boundaries.
Nevada voters approved medical marijuana in 2000, but that law provided no legal way for patients to obtain the drug except to grow it themselves.
Lawmakers passed a law in 2013 that sets up a framework for distributing medical marijuana, although it allows cities and counties to impose moratoriums.
DOG SLAYING-VEGAS
Vegas man takes plea deal in dog slaying case
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 22-year-old Las Vegas man has taken a plea deal in a bid for probation in a case alleging he slashed the throat of the family dog for the thrill of the kill.
Jeremy Espiritu pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempting to kill an animal — a charge that can result in a felony or misdemeanor conviction.
Espiritu could get probation or up to four years in prison at sentencing May 6 before Clark County District Court Judge Jerome Tao.
Authorities say Espiritu admitted stabbing and slitting the throat of the black Labrador mixed breed named Serenity at his parents' home on Dec. 5.
The dog died at an animal hospital.
Espiritu underwent a court-ordered psychological evaluation and was found to be fit for trial before he agreed to plead guilty.
HIGHWAY MURDER PLOT
Ex-wife sentenced in Vegas highway shooting case
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas woman was sentenced Wednesday to almost 14 years in state prison for conspiring with her brother and son to kill her estranged husband for $250,000 in insurance money.
A fight broke out in the courthouse hallway between people who watched 43-year-old Amy Bessey deny again Wednesday that she had any part in the November 2012 wounding of Robert Bessey as he drove on Interstate 15.
A court spokeswoman says two women were given misdemeanor summonses, but no injuries were reported.
A jury in November found Amy Bessey guilty of all seven felony charges against her, including conspiracy and attempted murder.
Amy Bessey's ex-convict brother, Richard Pearson, and her son, Michael Bessey, have since pleaded guilty to conspiracy and attempted murder charges. They're scheduled for sentencing April 30.
MAYOR-TERM LIMITS
Court won't reconsider Reno mayor term limit case
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court won't change its mind over term-out city council members running for mayor.
In an order filed Wednesday, justices declined to reconsider its previous ruling that said council members who have served 12 years on the City Council are ineligible to run for mayor because of term limits imposed by voters in 1996.
A 5-2 ruling issued last month knocked former Reno Councilwoman Jessica Sferrazza and current Councilman Dwight Dortch out of this year's mayoral race.
But Sferrazza's lawyer asked the court to reconsider its decision, arguing justices overlooked other precedent-setting election law cases that said when a law is ambiguous, the ultimate decision is up to voters.
The court rejected those arguments in the same 5-2 split as the original ruling.
I-80 FATAL
NHP: speed, alcohol, contributed to fatal crash
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada Highway Patrol says speed and alcohol were contributing factors in the death of a man who crashed his pickup on Interstate 80.
The victim was identified Wednesday as 63-year-old Michael A. Lomax of Tacoma, Washington.
Authorities say dispatchers received multiple calls from motorists reporting a reckless driver Monday night on I-80 between Sparks and Fernley.
A trooper in the Fernley area headed west to try to intercept the vehicle that was clocked traveling at 90 mph.
The patrol says as the officer was preparing to make a U-turn to stop the east bound pickup when the driver crashed into the median and then overcorrected, sending the truck into a roll.
Lomax was ejected and died several hours later.
He wasn't wearing a seat belt.
POLICE SHOOTOUT-MESQUITE
Man in Nevada police shooting gets 12 to 30 months
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 41-year-old ex-convict from Utah could be eligible for parole almost immediately after he was sentenced to 12 to 30 months in prison in a shooting that left him and a Mesquite police officer wounded almost a year ago.
Daniel Wesley Runyon's public defender, Melissa Navarro, told a judge on Wednesday that Runyon shot himself in the head before he was also shot by police during a traffic stop last March 21.
Navarro says she can't account for a gunshot that wounded Mesquite police Officer Craig Empey.
Runyon also spells his last name Runyan.
He pleaded guilty in November to being an ex-convict in possession of a firearm.
His plea deal avoided trial on multiple charges including attempted murder, assault with a weapon and drug transport and trafficking.
MISSING WOMAN-DEATH PROBE
Dead Nevada man lied about missing wife's death
(Information in the following story is from: KRNV-TV, http://www.mynews4.com)
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Washoe County detectives investigating the suspicious disappearance of a 56-year-old Spanish Springs woman say her husband made up a false story about her supposed death in California before he committed suicide earlier this week.
Sheriff's spokesman Bob Harmon says 51-year-old Gerald Muhl had been cooperating in the search for Colleen Muhl before he was found dead Monday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound a few blocks from their home.
However, Lt. Tom Green says investigators determined over the weekend he had lied about her dying while they were in California weeks before. She last was seen on Feb. 17 and was declared a missing person on Sunday.
Green says family and friends had become concerned because she has failed to return their calls. Detectives say they now suspect foul play.
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