Wayne Newton’s wife responds to monkey-attack lawsuit
In a statement to the Review-Journal on Thursday, Kathleen Newton denied that she and her husband, Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton, operated the singer’s former home when a lawsuit claims a girl was “viciously attacked” by a pet monkey.
A lawsuit filed Wednesday in Clark County District Court alleged that the girl was hurt by Wayne Newton’s pet monkey on Oct. 17, 2017, during a tour of Casa de Shenandoah, 3310 E. Sunset Road. The girl’s mother, Jocelyne Urena, sued on behalf of her daughter.
The girl was at the property as an invited guest, the lawsuit said.
“Without any provocation, the monkey viciously attacked and bit Ms. Urena, causing injury to her body as well as emotional distress,” the lawsuit alleges.
Kathleen Newton said in the statement that she had not seen the complaint. She said the Newtons’ company stopped running Casa de Shenandoah on July 1, 2017, “due to Wayne’s almost dying from a spider bite” and being hospitalized.
“So we are not a party and have no idea what happened in Oct. 2017,” she said, later adding that “John Munson and his company took over July 1, 2017.”
The girl named in the lawsuit suffered damages of more than $15,000, according to the complaint, which alleges negligence.
Her lawyer, Las Vegas attorney Marc Naron, said in an email Thursday afternoon that he did not “have a response specific to Ms. Newton’s statement at this time.”
“Ownership, management and residency for the Casa De Shenandoah property will be determined through witness testimony and the discovery of documents in this case,” he said.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.