Pair held in slaying of man whose body was found in box
A married couple charged in the slaying of a man found cut up in a box earlier this month in downtown Las Vegas were ordered held without bail by a judge Wednesday.
Anthony Stiger and Melanie Costantini, both 20, appeared before Justice of the Peace Joe Sciscento, who set a Dec. 19 preliminary hearing, when prosecutors will present evidence against them.
The couple face murder and conspiracy charges in the slaying of Harold Shilberg. They were arrested Nov. 14 in California and extradited to Las Vegas. They are at the Clark County jail.
Shilberg, 58, was found dead Nov. 9 in a garment box at the bottom of stairs at the Newport Apartments, 2540 Fremont St., near Charleston Boulevard. He died from multiple "incised wounds."
Shilberg owned and lived at the apartments. Stiger lived at the complex with his wife and worked there as a maintenance man, according to the couple’s arrest report.
When police arrived at the scene, they found Shilberg’s body in the box next to a running U-Haul moving truck. Detectives went to the U-Haul store a half mile away and found surveillance video of Stiger earlier that evening renting a truck and buying a garment box, the report said.
Police also found large amounts of blood throughout the couple’s apartment, the report said.
According to a television news report, Stiger has claimed self-defense.
Stiger told KTNV, Channel 13, that he and Costantini are married and have a 2-year-old daughter. They moved from Houston to Las Vegas in August, and he worked as a maintenance man for Shilberg.
Stiger said that he and Shilberg argued about needed repairs at the complex and that Stiger approached him with an electric saw.
The two men fought in the bathroom of Stiger’s apartment, according to Stiger, before Shilberg’s neck was sliced by the saw. Stiger said Shilberg died in the bathtub.
Stiger told KTNV that someone else moved Shilberg’s body and that he and Costantini went to the Los Angeles area to drop off their daughter with his mother.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@review journal.com or 702-380-1039.
