Man pleads guilty to accessory charge in Las Vegas woman’s death
The father of a man wanted in connection with the slaying of a 22-year-old Las Vegas woman pleaded guilty Friday to helping hide her body.
Jose Rangel, 46, has admitted to helping his son, Erick Rangel-Ibarra, 25, drag Lesly Palacio’s body out of their Las Vegas home and flee to Mexico, according to court records.
Through a Spanish-language interpreter and on a video feed from the Clark County Detention Center, he pleaded guilty to destroying evidence and accessory to commit murder. He faces up to two years behind bars at a sentencing scheduled for August.
“I accept what I’m at fault for, and I feel really bad for what happened,” he said.
His son remains on the lam.
Prosecutors have said surveillance video showed the two men placing Palacio’s body into a pickup truck on Aug. 29, before Rangel-Ibarra drove off.
Palacio’s body was found in Moapa Valley near Valley of Fire State Park in September, according to court records.
She was last seen by family when she went to get drinks with Rangel-Ibarra on the day she was killed.
After the slaying, authorities said, the two men fled to Mexico. Rangel later returned and surrendered to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at a border crossing at San Diego on Jan. 19, telling authorities that he had been with his son but they had split up.
Within two weeks of Palacio’s disappearance, police identified Rangel-Ibarra as a suspect in her killing, though her cause and manner of death had not been determined.
Rangel-Ibarra faces a murder charge.
Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts may contact Las Vegas police at 702-828-3521 or, to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
