Suspect attempts suicide

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RENO — Chaz Higgs slashed his wrists with a kitchen knife early Tuesday, forcing a judge to halt the trial examining whether Higgs murdered his wife, state Controller Kathy Augustine.

Higgs had been scheduled to face intense cross-examination in the morning before the case was to go to the jury.

"Every time he is under pressure, he does something strange," said Thomas Barb, chief deputy district attorney for Washoe County.

His remarks came outside of court, after District Judge Steven Kosach had spoken of a trial delay of as much as two weeks and had sent jurors home.

Higgs’ lawyer, David Houston, said his client was released in the afternoon from Renown Regional Medical Center and had been taken to the Washoe County jail, where he is on suicide watch.

Higgs "is up and about" and asked Houston to request that the trial resume on Thursday.

Houston said he would make that request today when lawyers meet with the judge.

Houston said the 43-year-old Higgs had left a suicide note.

"I waited a year to tell my story," Houston said, quoting from the note. "My destiny is fulfilled. Now I can go and be with my wife."

Earlier in the day, Houston had speculated that Higgs wanted to clear his name and might have believed he’d accomplished that by testifying for two hours on Monday.

Higgs told jurors he loved Augustine and did not kill her, but he said he told her the night before her collapse that he wanted a divorce, had opened his own bank account and was looking for an apartment.

On July 14, 2006, three days after the death of his wife, Higgs had slit his wrists in the home he and Augustine shared in Las Vegas.

Higgs was found by Augustine’s adult daughter, Dallas, who called paramedics. Higgs was released about eight hours after being hospitalized at University Medical Center.

Prosecutors claim that Higgs, a critical care nurse, killed his wife by injecting her with succinylcholine, a paralyzing drug found in hospitals.

Higgs’ defense attorney says Augustine, 50, suffered a heart attack brought on by the stress of a political campaign and an investigation she was conducting into the conduct of some state government officials.

At the time of her death, the ambitious and controversial Augustine, who despite impeachment on an ethics charge remained in office as controller, was a Republican candidate for state treasurer.

Phil Alfano, Augustine’s brother, said the recent wrist-slashing was "an act" by Higgs to draw attention to himself.

"Now people are going to see Mr. Higgs as we see him," Alfano said Tuesday. "He is a sociopath, a pathological liar. This all was planned to avoid cross-examination and being convicted."

Because Higgs had been a Navy medical corpsman and a critical care nurse, he would know how to kill himself if he truly wanted to, Alfano said.

Houston said his client’s mother telephoned about 3 a.m. and said her son had slashed his wrists with a knife in the kitchen of the Reno apartment they were renting.

Kosach told jurors only that Higgs had suffered an injury.

The judge advised the jurors not to read or watch any news accounts of the trial, but said they were free to return to their jobs.

He also told them they must check in with the court daily.

Outside the presence of the jury, Kosach noted Higgs attempted suicide last year in Las Vegas.

He agreed to Barb’s request to revoke the $250,000 bail posted by Higgs’ parents in March to win his release from jail.

Kosach said he wanted Higgs to be placed on a suicide watch while in jail.

Augustine family members were incensed by Tuesday’s development.

Thirteen relatives, including Kathy Augustine’s daughter, Dallas, and her elderly parents have shown up for all sessions of the seven-day trial.

Alfano said Higgs did not think about what he was doing to his own parents with his suicide attempt. Higgs’ parents also have attended the entire trial.

Higgs’ parents put up their homes in North Carolina to raise bail for Higgs and pay for his lawyers. Houston and co-counsel Alan Baum are regarded as some of the finest defense lawyers in the West.

Houston said Higgs’ mother heard her son fall after cutting himself, woke up and found him lying in the kitchen.

He had lost quite a bit of blood before paramedics arrived and took him to Renown Regional Medical Center, the attorney said.

Renown officials would not acknowledge that Higgs had been a patient in their hospital.

Augustine was rushed to the same hospital, then called Washoe Medical Center, last July 8 after Higgs said he found her unconscious and lying in the bed in their Reno home. She died three days later when family members disconnected life support systems.

During his testimony Monday, Higgs said he had no access to succinylcholine, the powerful paralytic drug that the FBI found in samples of Augustine’s urine. After that discovery in late September, Higgs was arrested and charged with her murder.