Las Vegas police say stabbing victim died in botched murder-suicide
The woman who was found stabbed to death inside a central valley home Friday evening was killed in a botched murder-suicide, Las Vegas police said.
Police believe the woman, who was in her early 60s, had been dead for several days before officers conducting a welfare check Friday night found her inside a home at 1912 Cameron St. She was lying on the floor in the dining room, wrapped in a blanket, police said.
Inside a bedroom, officers also found her 62-year-old boyfriend, John R. Vannucci, who police later determined had taken various pills “in an attempt to end his life,” the Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement Saturday.
Vannucci, a convicted felon, was taken to University Medical Center, where he remained as of Saturday afternoon, according to police. Jail records show he has been booked in absentia into the Clark County Detention Center and faces one count of murder with a deadly weapon.
The motive of the killing remained unclear Saturday, police said.
District court records show that Vannucci has a criminal history in Clark County dating back to at least 1994. In July 2013, according to court records, he pleaded guilty to one felony count of attempted battery resulting in substantial bodily harm. Details surrounding that case were not immediately available.
The woman’s death marked the 49th homicide in Clark County this year, and the 11th domestic-related killing investigated by Metro, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal records. The county coroner’s office will release the woman’s identity once her family has been notified.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.