Pimp, another man sentenced in 2008 murder of john
April 20, 2011 - 1:06 am
Two men, both 30, have been sentenced for their role in the 2008 robbery and murder of Heinz Jurgen Wietfeldt.
Earlier this month, Kenneth Thomas was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and David Jones was sentenced to 10 years to life by District Judge Donald Mosley.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Thomas until he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other felonies in January. Jones pleaded guilty but mentally ill to second-degree murder and robbery with use of a deadly weapon.
Thomas, a pimp, set up one of his worker's regular johns for the robbery and ultimately his murder.
Wietfeldt, 62, had developed a long-term relationship with prostitute Simone Taylor, 22. He took her out to dinner and to his house several times and even gave her the combination to his home safe.
On March 16, 2008, Taylor lured Wietfeldt to her apartment, where Thomas and Jones beat him, bound and gagged him and left him in a closet, bleeding heavily, Taylor later told police.
Taylor then took a handgun from the safe at Wietfeldt's east Las Vegas house.
Thomas and Jones stuffed Wietfeldt into a plastic tub, carried him to his car and drove to Southern Highlands. Once there, Thomas shot him several times, police said.
Wietfeldt's body, still bound and gagged, was found in his car March 19 in the Southern Highlands neighborhood.
Taylor pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon in October 2009 and testified against Thomas and Jones. She was sentenced in March to 11 to 45 years in prison.