Pizza receipt leads Las Vegas detectives to murder suspect

A Pizza Hut receipt proved to be a key piece of evidence in the arrest of a Las Vegas woman suspected of murder.

Detectives found the receipt underneath the body of Kevin Thomas, 50, on the evening of Nov. 22 in the area of Twain Avenue and Nellis Boulevard. He was killed with a gunshot wound to the head, police had said.

The small piece of paper held several bits of information: The store location; the customer’s phone number and name, “Betty;” and two items — chicken wings and a large stuffed-crust sausage pizza, according to an arrest report obtained Monday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The phone number and name led police to Bettie Ann Marshay Pires, who had been dating Thomas for about three months. The store location led police to surveillance footage of the two in the shop together, along with Pires’ two young daughters, just 30 minutes before the shooting.

Pires, 25, initially told detectives she was not with Thomas the night of the slaying.

When detectives mentioned the receipt and the surveillance footage, Pires said she got her days mixed up, then explained Thomas had argued with the Pizza Hut manager during their visit to the store, which upset Pires, so she called her mother for a ride and left Thomas at the Pizza Hut.

The report noted exterior surveillance footage showed Pires driving Thomas and her two girls away from the Pizza Hut.

A few months later, at least two people came forward, telling police Pires had admitted to them she shot Thomas “in the face.”

Detectives then interviewed Pires’ daughters, who at first said Pires would “whip” them if they talked about Thomas. The girls also said they did not see the shooting but saw Thomas dead and knew he had “gone to jail and the police had stolen his car.”

“Thomas had been transported to the Clark County coroner’s office and detectives had towed his vehicle,” the report reads.

Pires was arrested June 14.

Detectives wrote in the report that, based on text messages, “Thomas wanted to be with Pires and Pires, who had nowhere to live and limited means to support her and her two children, used Thomas for financial reasons.”

Pires is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of open murder. A status check is scheduled early Thursday at Las Vegas Justice Court.

Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter.