Parents convicted in son’s death try to make bail with jewelry
Two Las Vegas parents convicted of involuntary manslaughter for letting their disabled 4-year-old son die in an SUV were found with $10,000 in jewelry as they were booked into jail after they were convicted Tuesday.
Stanley Rimer, 54, said that the jewelry in his briefcase was worth $250,000 and that he was trying to use it to meet the $500,000 bail set by Judge Douglas Herndon. Bail for Colleen Rimer, 43, was set at $250,000 pending sentencing. Both Rimers remain in the Clark County Detention Center.
The Rimers were convicted after a two-week trial on charges in the death of Jason Rimer, who was left alone in an SUV for at least 17 hours in June 2008.
They also were convicted of child abuse and neglect for physically abusing five of their eight children and letting them live in squalor.
Sources said authorities had the jewelry appraised Wednesday and found it was worth far less than Stanley Rimer had said. Prosecutors asked for a hearing before Herndon this morning to determine where the jewels came from.
"This raises substantial issues about why taxpayers had to pay for their defense lawyers and why these children had to live in a pigsty when these assets were available," said Clark County District Attorney David Roger.
Stanley Rimer and Colleen Rimer had told the court they were indigent.
He was defended by the county public defenders office, while a defense attorney was appointed by the court to represent Colleen Rimer.
The Rimers were not in custody during the trial.
The counts the Rimers were convicted of are probationable offenses, but Stanley Rimer could face two to 54 years in prison, and Colleen Rimer could face two to 36 years in prison.
A sentencing hearing was scheduled for May 31.
Jason was left in a Ford Excursion about 2 p.m. on June 8, 2008, after returning home from church with his mother and several siblings.
The boy suffered from myotonic dystrophy, a genetic muscular disorder that crippled his body and mind, and he was unable to unlock car doors.
Jason died from heat stress, which could have taken three to five hours in the estimated 130 degree temperature in the car.
Stanley Rimer maintained that he was unaware Jason had been locked in the sport utility vehicle. He said he was ill that day and left church before his family, spending the rest of the day in his bedroom.
Colleen Rimer told Las Vegas police that she was solely responsible for the disabled boy.
Four Rimer children testified during the trial that the family home was filthy and cluttered, the children had a constant lice infestation, and their father hit them with boat oars as punishment.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.
