Suspect arrested in slaying of missing man

A 27-year-old man was arrested Saturday in the slaying of a man who was reported missing in mid-February, according to a Las Vegas police report obtained Monday.

Michael Benjamin Mills is facing a recommended charge of murder in connection with the disappearance of David Lee Christensen, whose body has not been found, Homicide Lt. Lew Roberts said Monday night.

According to the report, Christensen, described as a man in his early 60s, was reported missing Feb. 15. An employee at Gilligan's Hideaway Bar became concerned on Feb. 13 after he failed to show up at the bar, near Sahara and Eastern avenues, where he was a regular patron.

The bar employee told police that Mills and Christensen were having a sexual relationship, the report said. The employee also said that Christensen asked her not to tell anybody because if Mills found out, Mills would "kill him."

Surveillance video from the bar showed Christensen leaving with Mills at 1:05 a.m. on Feb. 12.

On Feb. 20, police found Christensen's 2005 Hyundai Tucson in the parking lot of a Budget Suites on Boulder Highway near Flamingo Road.

The report said that police first interviewed Mills on Wednesday, then again on Thursday. He told detectives he wanted to help in their investigation. Mills told police that he took Christensen to his apartment and that both were intoxicated. He offered Christensen his couch to sleep on, Mills told police.

Mills accused Christensen of raping him, the report said. Mills told police he then punched Christensen in the face. Mills told police that the next thing he knew, he was back at his job as a cook.

Mills also told police that hypothetically, if he did harm Christensen, he would place the body in beach towels and discard him in the apartment complex's trash container. Mills also told police he had used a "yellow sponge with a green top, along with liquid Comet to attempt cleaning up blood from his bedroom mattress," the report said.

The report said police searched Mills' apartment and discovered blood on his mattress and on the carpet near the front door. On Friday, detectives searched the Apex landfill northeast of Nellis Air Force Base for Christensen's body.