Henderson man found dead in April was asphyxiated, coroner says

More than two months after Curtis Rimer was killed, the Clark County coroner’s office has determined that he was asphyxiated and has ruled his death a homicide.

On April 9, Henderson police found Rimer, 55, dead in a hallway closet in his home on the 1900 block of Cutlass Drive. Police said his body was wrapped in blankets and tied with white rope.

Jose Ortiz-Casillas, 20, and Victor Denogean Jr., 21, Rimer’s roommates, were arrested in connection with his death on April 17 in Phoenix after Ortiz-Casillas called police to “confess to murder,” according to his arrest report.

Before Friday, Rimer’s official cause of death had been pending at the coroner’s office, but Ortiz-Casillas said Denogean strangled Rimer with a belt.

Ortiz-Casillas said he and Denogean planned to kill Rimer and take his money, the report states. The two fled in Rimer’s car to Phoenix, where they planned to cross the border to Mexico, but Ortiz-Casillas’ call to police interrupted their plan.

Ortiz-Casillas was formally charged with one count of murder May 1. Court records indicate that Denogean, who also faces one count of murder, was awaiting extradition from Arizona as of Friday.

Contact Amanda Bradford at abradford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Follow @amandabrad_uc on Twitter.