Murder suspect found dead on I-15 near Silverado Ranch after apparent suicide
A California man suspected of killing his wife fled to Las Vegas and apparently shot himself just off Interstate 15 near the Strip early Tuesday after a pursuit by Nevada Highway Patrol.
On Monday about 7:30 p.m., the Indio Police Department was dispatched to the 47400 block of Lagoon Court in Indio, California, to investigate a report that the man, Vince Maltese, may have killed his wife, Donna Maltese.
When officers arrived, the house’s doors were all locked, so police surrounded the home and tried to make contact with anyone inside.
After more than an hour, no one had responded, so officers forced their way inside about 9:50 p.m. That’s when they found a dead woman with one expended shell casing near her body, later identified by the Riverside County coroner as Donna Maltese, 54.
Officers on scene notified surrounding agencies to watch for Vince Maltese, a suspect in his wife’s death, who was driving a black 2015 Dodge Charger with California plates.
About two hours later, a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper spotted Maltese’s vehicle near Sloan and tried to make a stop. The vehicle fled, and a pursuit ensued before troopers used spike strips on northbound Interstate 15 near Silverado Ranch Boulevard to stop the vehicle, Indio police said.
The car continued down the highway and crashed into a guardrail near the Tropicana Avenue exit. When Nevada troopers approached the vehicle at 12:07 a.m., they found Vince Maltese, 52, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Interstate 15 was shut down at Tropicana during the highway patrol’s investigation but reopened at 5:33 a.m., trooper Chelsea Stuenkel said. The official cause and manner of death for the couple will be determined by both the Riverside County coroner and officials in Nevada.
In February, Maltese posted six photos of the same car he was found in to Facebook, parked in the driveway of the couple’s California home. “New ride,” the post said.
In his profile photo, the couple posed together, smiling.
Las Vegas Review-Journal writer Rachel Crosby contributed to this story. Contact Lawren Linehan at llinehan@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0391. Find @lawrenlinehan on Twitter.
