FBI, Metro identify 2 of 3 suspects in deadly robbery
Las Vegas police on Wednesday identified two of three suspects wanted in a fatal shooting during a targeted robbery in a southwest valley home in March, and the FBI announced a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to their capture.
Christine Schultz, 21, and Michael Overton, 31, both wanted on charges of murder, kidnapping, robbery and burglary, might have fled the valley, Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Ray Spencer said Wednesday.
“This murder is a result of a very brazen residential robbery,” Spencer said of Natalie Manduley’s slaying on March 25.
That afternoon, Schultz had visited the 24-year-old woman at the home she shared with her boyfriend near South Torrey Pines Drive and West Robindale Road, Spencer said.
At some point during the visit, Schultz, who had planned a robbery there, called three armed accomplices to the home, Spencer said.
During the robbery, Manduley grabbed her own gun and got into a shootout with one of the suspects, Spencer said. She was struck multiple times and died at the scene.
Spencer would not say whom police believe shot Manduley, adding that it was an open investigation.
Afterward, one of the male suspects, Kamari Oliver, 18, “panicked and fled the residence,” leaving the others behind, Spencer said.
Manduley’s boyfriend was pulling up to his house when he saw Oliver run out and jump into a Mercedes-Benz parked in the driveway, Spencer said.
A car chase ensued, and the man rammed the Mercedes, causing it to crash into a block wall in the neighborhood, Spencer said.
The getaway driver shot at the man and then took off running, police said. Oliver, who is charged with multiple counts, including murder, was arrested days after police found a backpack in the wrecked car that carried high school homework with his name on it.
Attorney Dan Winder said Thursday that his client denied ever entering the home or participating in the deadly robbery, which was established through witness testimony during a preliminary hearing.
Winder said Oliver does not deny firing a round at the person who rammed him. The attorney said that Oliver is “probably a victim himself” who got “caught up” in something he did not know was going to happen.
Oliver pleaded not guilty Thursday in District Court, where bail was set at $250,000 with the condition that he submit to house arrest if he posts bond, Winder said.
“We plan to vigorously defend him,” he said.
Suspects ‘armed and dangerous’
Investigators believe the house, which was ransacked by the robbers, was targeted because Manduley’s boyfriend was known to keep expensive jewelry, Spencer said.
It was not clear how Schultz and Overton were identified, but Las Vegas Justice Court records show that warrants for their arrest were issued three days after the killing. The fourth suspect had not been identified, Spencer said Wednesday.
There is a “high chance” Schultz and Overton left the valley, said Spencer, noting that police had received unconfirmed information that placed them in the East Coast.
The FBI, which issued a federal arrest warrant a month ago, considers them “armed and dangerous.”
Ray Johnson, assistant special agent in charge for the FBI in Las Vegas, said authorities were requesting the public’s help to “bring these two felons to justice.”
Both suspects have ties to Florida and Georgia, and Overton also has lived in Connecticut, the FBI wrote in a poster.
“If you recognize these individuals, if you see these individuals anywhere in the country,” call the FBI, Johnson said.
While Metro regularly collaborates with the FBI, the federal agency’s public involvement in a Las Vegas murder case is rare.
The FBI can be reached at 800-225-5324 or tips.fbi.gov.
A previous version misstated the suspects’ ages.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @rickytwrites.