Iraq veteran who wounded deputy guilty

A troubled Iraq war veteran who initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in wounding a Nye County sheriff’s deputy in a Pahrump shootout more than two years ago had an apparent change of heart Wednesday.

Joseph Patrick “Pat” Lamoureux, 48, pleaded guilty in Pahrump’s Fifth District Court to one count of battery with a deadly weapon causing substantial bodily harm and assault with a deadly weapon upon an officer, both felonies, as well as one gross misdemeanor count of discharging a weapon where a person may be endangered.

In exchange, new Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi agreed to drop 12 other charges, including one of attempted murder in the shooting of Nye County Deputy Eric Murphy, who returned to active duty two months after the Sept. 19, 2008, shootings at Terrible’s Lakeside, a Pahrump RV park.

What preceded the shooting has never been explained, but Lamoureux’s wife, Sue Lamoureux, recently said her husband was under the influence of 14 medicines prescribed by Veterans Affairs doctors, including prescriptions for anxiety and depression.

Jailed since the shooting, Lamoureux faces a maximum 22 years in prison when Judge John Davis sentences him Feb. 8.

Lamoureux’s attorney, Nye County Public Defender Tom Gibson, was unavailable to comment on the plea change. Lamoureux mounted an insanity defense at his initial plea in August 2009.

A former Army Reserve sergeant with no prior criminal record, Lamoureux reportedly has a total disability rating with the bulk of it assigned to post traumatic stress disorder because of his service in Iraq. He was a member of the Las Vegas-based 257th “Rolling Thunder” Transportation Company.

His wife in October said Lamoureux languished for months in the Nye County jail with festering bullet wounds. Gibson also questioned his client’s confinement.

Murphy was shot in the back, but supporters of Lamoureux argued it was never proved any of the shots fired by Lamoureux struck Murphy or if he was hit by friendly fire.

Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512 or read more courts coverage at lvlegalnews.com.