Transcripts explain death plot in case against former Las Vegas officer
A two-time felon unwittingly laid out the details of the death plot involving high-profile lawyer Nancy Quon to a man he thought was a fellow criminal, but who was really an undercover cop.
Transcripts of grand jury testimony by the detective, who secretly tape-recorded his conversations with Robert Justice, shed new light on the bizarre murder conspiracy case.
Justice, 44, who was indicted in connection with the plot, is now cooperating with prosecutors in the case against Quon’s live-in boyfriend, former Las Vegas police officer William Ronald Webb.
The undercover detective learned about the scheme from Justice on Oct. 26 during one of their regular late-night meetings at local bars. The detective told the grand jury that he had struck a friendly relationship with Justice and generally met him two or three times a week to “talk about things.”
Justice, who claimed to have been in regular contact with Webb, did not know his drinking buddy was an undercover officer, the transcripts show.
After the Oct. 26 meeting, the detective testified, police decided to conduct an undercover investigation into the scheme and the detective began to record his conversations with Justice as they met at several different bars.
Justice told the detective that Webb, 42, wanted him to obtain a lethal amount of the club drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) so that he could give it to Quon to kill herself, the grand jury transcripts show.
The detective, whose identity was withheld from the grand jury, testified that Justice told him Quon no longer could take the “heat” as a target of an FBI investigation into fraud in valley homeowners associations. Justice indicated that Quon and Webb were “very nervous” and wanted to move quickly to obtain the GHB because they thought they were going to be indicted in the HOA case a week after the Nov. 2 general election, the detective testified. They believed there was going to be a “big turnover” and that “certain people were going to be in office that weren’t going to be friendly” to them, the detective quoted Justice as saying.
The couple has not been indicted, but Justice Department lawyers from Washington have taken control of the HOA investigation from the Nevada U.S. attorney’s office with the intention of obtaining indictments. Among other things, investigators are trying to determine whether multimillion-dollar construction defect contracts were fraudulently awarded at upscale developments.
Quon, 50, a wealthy construction defect lawyer, hasn’t been charged in the alleged murder conspiracy, and she has denied trying to kill herself in the wake of Webb’s arrest. Her lawyer, Tom Pitaro, questioned the veracity of Justice’s claims in the grand jury transcripts.
“Some of the alleged motives given by Justice are nonsensical and don’t comport with reality,” said Pitaro, who declined further comment until he can study the transcripts in depth.
Webb’s lawyer, John Momot, said he wanted to review the transcripts before commenting.
Justice told the detective that he was present one night when Quon handed Webb cash that was supposed to be for GHB.
The detective testified: “He had told me that he had actually met up with Mr. Webb and Miss Quon the night before, and that Miss Quon had actually given Mr. Webb right in front of Mr. Justice $13,000, but that Mr. Webb had taken $1,000 of that for himself and given the $12,000 to Mr. Justice.”
Police have since been trying to determine whether Quon provided any money for the drugs.
The detective said Justice told him that Quon wanted to take a fatal dose of the drug while Webb was in San Diego so that he would not be linked to her death, and that she wanted Webb to take care of her estate.
Justice believed that Quon had more than $1 million in life insurance, but police later learned Quon’s insurance policies were closer to $10 million.
Justice also claimed that he learned from Webb that Quon had set an Oct. 28 fire at her 73 Dollar Pointe Ave. home in a separate suicide attempt, the transcripts show.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Sandra DiGiacomo asked the detective to explain to the grand jury what Justice said about the fire.
The detective responded: “That basically Mr. Webb had been down in San Diego, that Nancy Quon had set the fire in the house and that Mr. Webb’s brother, he had called Mr. Webb’s brother, had come over … and pulled Nancy to safety and rescued her.”
Quon has denied setting the fire. She told fire investigators that before the fire she took sleeping pills and had a high alcohol content energy drink, lit some candles, took a bath and fell asleep on her couch.
Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the fire.
Justice told the undercover detective that he warned Webb “to be careful with all of these suicide attempts” because police might try to link him to Quon’s death, the transcripts show.
The detective quoted Justice as saying Webb planned to be “out of the city and in San Diego, nowhere near, so he couldn’t be accused of any wrongdoing.”
Justice indicated that Webb had another plan if the GHB didn’t kill her, the detective testified. “… Mr. Webb told him that if the GHB that I was providing him didn’t do the job and kill Miss Quon, that he was going to take a gun, shoot her and then shoot himself,” the detective told the grand jury.
