Prosecutors may seek death penalty in triple homicide case
Prosecutors could seek the death penalty against a 47-year-old woman accused of killing three roommates six months after another murder case against her was dismissed.
Christine Rose Sanchez appeared in court Wednesday, charged with three counts of murder with a deadly weapon after her three roommates were found dead Friday from multiple gunshot wounds inside the eastern valley home they shared.
One roommate, identified by the Clark County coroner as 43-year-old Natasha Henry, was found dead inside a bedroom at the 4323 Del Santos Drive home. The identities of the other two victims, who police said were found in another bedroom, have not been released. However, the homeowner told police one victim was Cardell Jones, according to Sanchez’s arrest report.
The report states that Sanchez planned to attend court that morning to evict the three, but her ride never came.
The homeowner, who was in another room, told police he heard gunshots from elsewhere in the house.
“Moments later, (he) was approached by Sanchez who asked him to watch her dog because she was going to go to jail for what she had done,” the arrest report said.
Sanchez was also involved in a roommate dispute earlier in the morning, the homeowner told police, and she later returned with another woman.
The homeowner said he heard slamming noises from Sanchez’s room, followed by gunshots and yelling, and then further gunshots from a different room. The other woman approached the homeowner and sat on the couch next to him, with blood on her hands.
The other woman went into the kitchen to wash off the blood and told the homeowner “everyone in the house was dead,” the report said.
The report said Sanchez, gun in hand, then asked to borrow the homeowner’s cellphone, which she used to tell her son she had shot the three roommates. She and the other woman then left the house.
Sanchez, who was arrested at an unspecified address, told the detectives she was sleeping in the house and heard gunshots, then left without knowing what had happened.
“When questions were asked about certain inconsistencies in her statement, Sanchez refused to continue and requested an attorney,” homicide detectives wrote in the report.
Sanchez previously was indicted on one count of murder in the September 2014 death of Bonnie Marie Rice. That charge was dropped June 14 because Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said the investigation did not uncover sufficient evidence to take the case to trial.
Sanchez maintained her innocence in the earlier slaying, her lawyer told reporters after a brief court hearing Wednesday. Prosecutors have said they dismissed the charges against Sanchez after blood tests failed to link her to the homicide.
Sanchez’s defense attorney, Robert Langford, said she likely would have been acquitted in a trial for Rice’s death.
“The (district attorney) has an ethical obligation to decline prosecution where they can’t prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Langford said. “If it had gone to trial, she’d still be out on the street because I was going to win. … The state did the wise thing for the taxpayers. If you don’t have the evidence, you don’t have the evidence.”
Should further evidence against Sanchez develop in the 2014 slaying, prosecutors still could pursue a murder case against her.
Wolfson said Wednesday that he expects a death penalty review board to examine the latest case against Sanchez.
“I can’t imagine any triple homicide case not being presented to the death penalty committee for consideration,” Wolfson said. “And I expect this one will be as well.”
Sanchez is due back in court for an arraignment Thursday.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Mike Shoro contributed to this story.
