107 - 2025 End of the Year Case Updates

Shaun As we close out twenty twenty five, we want to take a moment to look back at some of the cases we've covered that have stayed with us over the last year. There have been several updates, movement in the courts, and moments that reminded us why telling these stories matters.

John Some of these updates bring a sense of clarity. Others reopen hard questions, but all of them show that these cases are still very much alive. This episode is about where things stand now, what has changed and why we continue to follow these stories long after the headlines move on.

Shaun Hi, and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I'm your host, Sean.

John And I'm your co-host, John.

Shaun Welcome to twenty twenty six. As we said in the intro today, we have updates to several cases we've covered on the podcast. And before we dive into new content next week, we wanted to bring you some of these important developments and resolutions we have been waiting for.

John Throughout the year. We kept notes on the ongoing and unresolved cases, and we have nine updates for you, including one of our most engaged with episodes, the murder of Ashley and Dennis Prince. Do you want to get us started with that one?

Shaun Yes, we have several updates for you. In the case of the murders of Dennis and Ashley Prince, many of you will remember that attorney Dennis Prince and his wife, Ashley Prince, were shot and killed on April eight, twenty twenty four, by Ashley's ex father in law, Joe Houston. Joe then shot himself. Joe was also an attorney, and the group was gathered at Dennis's law office for a deposition. Ashley and her ex husband, Dylan Houston, were locked in a custody dispute over their two young children. Dennis was representing Ashley and Joe was representing Dylan. Dylan's mother, Joe's wife Catherine, was being deposed at the time of the shooting. Dennis and Ashley had been married only a short time prior to their murders, and the two had welcomed a new baby together just four months earlier. You can revisit their story at since. This episode actually received special recognition from Spreaker in October of twenty twenty four. We want to note that in July of twenty twenty four, Metro announced that Dylan was not a suspect in the homicides. After Ashley was killed, the custody and guardianship of her two children remained unresolved for some time. There had been accusations against Dylan for alcohol misuse and threatening behavior, and given the circumstances of her death, her parents and siblings were challenging who should have custody of the kids. In early twenty twenty five, nine months after the murders, custody of the children was finally resolved, with Ashley's parents sharing custody with Dylan for the first year and having visitation every other weekend starting the following year. Ashley's dad is continuing to act as guardian for the kids for Dennis and Ashley's child, both sets of their parents share guardianship and custody this past February. Ashley's parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Joe Houston's estate, his now closed law firm, and Catherine Houston alleging in court documents that she had knowledge that Joe had planned to shoot Ashley during the deposition. Dylan was not named in the lawsuit. In September of twenty twenty five, Metro released their final report on the shooting, which confirmed many of the details we had shared previously, but also the exact transcript of the deposition leading up to the shooting, as well as the contents of a handwritten note that was found in Joe's briefcase. In short, Joe Houston had expressed that he wanted them to stop keeping the kids from Dylan. The report contained statements from witnesses that the custody dispute between Dylan and Ashley was heavily litigated, very emotional and nasty on both sides. Metro's conclusion was on April eight, twenty twenty four, Joseph Houston shot and killed Ashley and Dennis Prince, and then shot and killed himself. Through the course of the investigation, it was determined that Joseph acted alone, and no parties involved had any knowledge that Joseph was going to kill Ashley and Dennis Prince. We will bring you more updates in the coming year if we have them, but like I've said several times, it's my opinion that these attorneys should never have been acting as the attorneys for their loved ones, and the court should have recognized that and corrected it early on. I agree with Ashley's family that the length of time this custody dispute went on just prolonged this family's pain and the conflict. It not only caused the kids to be in a state of limbo, but it also prevented everyone from making peace with the court's decision and trying to move on.

John Our next update is about the Nadia Iverson case. Before we get into the update, here's a quick refresher on Nadia's case in general. In case you haven't listened to it, Nadia Iverson was just twenty years old when she was murdered in Las Vegas in May of nineteen ninety seven. She grew up in Warren County, Pennsylvania. She was confident, spunky, creative and protective of her friends and family. Her sister Marie described her as someone who marched to her own beat, and the kind of person who made friends easily and looked out for others. Nattie decided to leave Pennsylvania after a breakup and start over in Las Vegas, but for her, things unraveled pretty quickly. Just days after her twentieth birthday, her body was found inside a home that was under construction in the city's historic west Side. She had been shot in the back of the head at close range, and investigators also found evidence that she had been sexually assaulted. At the same time, police collected a rape kit. But like thousands of others across Nevada at the time, it sat untested for decades in a huge backlog. Even if they had tested it, DNA testing wasn't as common as it is today. They had no suspects, so Nattie's case went cold almost immediately. Her family was left with no answers and no closure. That changed about twenty years later, when Nevada finally began clearing its massive rape kit backlog when Nadia's kit was tested. It produced a DNA match to a former Las Vegas Metro police officer, Arthur Sewell. Sewell had resigned from the Metro Police Department just months before Nadia was killed, after being caught abusing his authority to coerce sex workers while armed and in uniform. He had a documented pattern of sexual violence and power abuse, and his DNA had been collected because of those earlier crimes. When he was confronted years later by cold case detectives, Sewell eventually admitted to killing Nadia. He claimed he went out seeking sex with her and panicked and his gun discharged. Because the investigators didn't properly read him his Miranda rights, that confession was thrown out at trial. In twenty twenty two, twenty five years after Nadia was murdered, he accepted a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon and received a sentence of six to fifteen years. We talked in the episode about what a miscarriage of justice that was, with him possibly serving only six years for such a horrific crime. In May of twenty twenty five, Sewell petitioned for early release from the parole board. Nadia's sister, Marie, traveled to Nevada to speak on her sister's behalf, still acting as her voice. But strangely, Sewell refused to show up for the hearing, and his parole was thankfully denied. The whole hearing lasted seven minutes. He will remain incarcerated at Ely State Prison, and he will not be eligible for parole again until October twenty twenty seven. It was a victory for Nadia's family, but it doesn't change the fact that he'll get out no later than May four, twenty twenty eight and be free to continue his life. If you haven't listened to the full episode, there's a lot more details so you can listen at.

Shaun The next case we have an update for is the death of Brandon Durham at the hands of a Las Vegas police officer. It was one of the last cases we shared in twenty twenty for Brandon. A forty three year old Las Vegas father was killed on November twelve, twenty twenty four, after calling nine hundred eleven to report an active break in at his home. The intruder was Alejandro Bordeaux, a woman who had allegedly been involved in a relationship with Brandon and who had been removed from his home by police just one day earlier for trespassing when Las Vegas Metro officers entered the house. Body camera footage shows Brandon struggling to defend himself from Bordeaux, who was armed with a knife, when Officer Alexander Buckman opened fire and fatally shot Brandon. Instead of the obvious intruder, Brandon was shot once and fell to the floor. Buckman then approached him and shot him five more times as he laid on the floor, killing him. Alejandro was arrested and charged with multiple felonies, while the officer involved was placed on administrative leave as both internal and criminal investigations began. Even more upsetting is that Officer Buckman is the same officer who had responded to the nine hundred eleven call at Brandon's house the day before. Buckman, you'd assume, was familiar with both of them and had just been to Brandon's house not even twenty four hours earlier. You can hear more details at fifty-five. Brandon's family continually called for accountability, stating that he was killed by the very officers he called to protect his family. And we've been waiting for the D.A., Steve Wolfson, to make a decision on next steps. They expected charges to be brought against Bookman, since he had shot and killed Brandon fifteen seconds after entering the home, shot him once, then approached him and shot him five more times. And especially because he had been at the house the day before, and had spoken with Brandon and Alejandro for twenty minutes in April of twenty twenty five. The family filed a federal lawsuit claiming that Brandon's civil rights were violated and that the officer used excessive force. And we will update you on that case once we know the outcome. The family is asking for a million dollars in damages, but it's not about the financial gain for them. They're also seeking policy changes, mandatory de-escalation training and stricter consequences and discipline for officers with prior misconduct. Brandon's teen daughter said to be in that house when it happened. And now, finally, for the slight chance we could get the justice. My father does deserve is bringing me a light at the end of the tunnel. In May, the case was sent to a grand jury, but in July, the grand jury determined that there was not enough evidence to charge Bookman with a crime. Cannon, Lambert, Durham's family attorney, said, I'm very disappointed by this outcome, and I'm not able to understand it. To be candid. Alejandro's case is set to go to trial in the fall. She's facing multiple felony charges as a result of the assault and break in. We're also following that case and will bring you updates when we have them.

John Before we get into this next update, we want to take a moment to remind listeners about the case at the center of this wild story. It spans decades, multiple victims, and an entire family affected by violence. You can go back and listen to that full episode if you haven't. At Seventy-Five In May of two thousand and eight, Maria marino, a fifty two year old Las Vegas mom and grandmother, was murdered. Her body was found off Lee Canyon Road near Mount Charleston. She had been beaten and strangled with a speaker wire. It was a horrific crime. At the time she was killed, Maria was living with her elderly dad at the family compound with some of her extended family. There's a lot more detail to that, but you'll have to go back and listen to the full episode to get all of that. For years, the case went nowhere because there was no clear crime scene, no forensic evidence tying anyone directly to the killing, and there were no immediate arrests. Even though Maria had been killed violently and dumped in the mountains, and it was clear she had been killed elsewhere and dragged there, eventually investigators focused on Maria's own family. In twenty twelve, three people were charged Maria's sister Dolores Petrosino, her niece Stephanie Petrosino, and Dolores then husband Richard Bernardo. We talked more about how investigators finally got their break in the case, but it had to do with the fact that Dolores's son was serving time in prison for a different crime. And of course, prison calls are always recorded. All three defendants took plea deals instead of going to trial. Dolores pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and served about six years. Bernardo pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder and conspiracy and was released in twenty twenty. Stephanie Petrosino pleaded guilty to second degree murder in twenty thirteen. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after ten years plus a deadly weapon enhancement. Unlike the others, Stephanie received the most serious sentence, and for more than a decade she remained incarcerated. In the second and related case in twenty twenty four, Richard Bernardo was killed in Las Vegas during a domestic violence incident involving his then girlfriend, Julie Bush. She pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon and was given a deadly weapon enhancement. She is serving eight to twenty years with parole eligibility after two years. The second update we have is that we got an update from Joey Moreno, Maria's son, and he let us know that Stephanie was paroled this year in July, and she is back living with his grandfather, al in the family compound. We're planning to do a flashback episode on this one sometime this year, and hopefully we'll get to speak with Joey. We can't imagine how it would be knowing that the two surviving people who murdered his mom in two thousand and eight are now walking free.

Shaun We're going to pause here for a quick break before we continue with our twenty twenty five case updates. We also have an update in one of the very first cases we ever covered. Nadia Lopez Garcia, a thirty seven year old mother of three from Mesquite, Texas, was killed during a may twenty twenty three Las Vegas trip after she ended up in a hotel room at the MGM Grand with her ex-partner Fernando Gomez. On May twenty eighth, police responded to a call about a suicidal person and found Gomez with self-inflicted wounds and Nadia unresponsive. The coroner later determined Nadia's cause of death was strangulation, and that she had been stabbed with a piece of broken glass bottle in her neck. After her death, Gomez gave shifting and self-serving explanations that conflicted with the findings, saying that Nadia had held broken glass to her neck herself and he was arrested and charged with open murder. In the immediate aftermath, Nadia's children were pulled into the Clark County Child Protective Services system and trapped in a jurisdictional limbo for weeks, unable to return home or even attend their mother's funeral right away. Compounding the trauma for the family, you can hear more details about their whole ordeal at sin's podcast. Several times since we covered the case, we've been in contact with one of Nadia's nieces who traveled to Las Vegas earlier this year for Gomez's trial. She wrote to us, we feel some relief because there's some hope of receiving justice, but we also fear because he hasn't accepted a plea, so he's trying to get out. We hope that after there's a conviction, we can try to move forward towards healing and a normal life. There's also hurt and confusion because there isn't a handbook on how to prepare to see body cam footage and pictures of the crime scene, and a body of a loved one. Nadia's family endured watching the jury selection and court testimony before Gomez pleaded guilty. Right before the case went to the jury, he pled to one count of murder. In April, he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after twenty years. We hope this sentence brings her family some peace. And we also want to remind you of the resources we have online at Podcast.com. Resources. As her niece reminded me that that's one of the most important things a person needs when they're in a situation like this, including family members who might need therapy and treatment after going through something like this.

John We also have an update on Christian Walker, who along with his cousin Johnny Walker, were convicted of murdering his then seventeen year old girlfriend, Maureen Mcconahay, in nineteen ninety seven. You can listen to that full case at podcast thirty seven. We talked a lot about the warning signs of escalating intimate partner violence in that episode. Things like escalating jealousy, controlling behavior, threats, and repeated physical abuse. These warning signs were present in their relationship and documented in the court system before she was killed. Christian was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after twenty years. He spent more than two decades in Nevada Department of Corrections custody. In April of twenty twenty three, Christian Walker died just days after being transferred to High Desert State Prison at the age of forty four. His death was officially ruled natural, attributed to hypertensive cardiovascular disease, but the condition of his body raised serious questions. Medical and autopsy records documented extensive blunt force trauma injuries to his head, face, torso, and extremities, including cuts, contusions and black eyes. According to court filings, he had been hospitalized shortly after he was transferred to High Desert and then died the following morning. Christian's mother, Annette Walker, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Nevada Department of Corrections, alleging that her son was beaten by correctional officers and that his injuries were ignored in the hours before his death. In twenty twenty five, Annette Walker was awarded four point six million dollars in a wrongful death settlement. The state didn't admit any wrongdoing, but this is the largest wrongful death suit of its type ever paid out in Nevada. In twenty twenty three, there were forty two inmate deaths in twenty four. There were fifty five inmate deaths, and in twenty twenty five, there were seventy three inmate deaths. This rising number is getting a lot of scrutiny from the news media, and this really does need to be investigated. I think it's normal to have complex feelings about this, and it's important to remember that two things can be true. Christian Walker was serving time for murder. But that doesn't mean that it's in any way okay for the state to allow the murder of people in their care. And we can feel empathy for Annette, who lost her son. We'll talk more about that in the swing shift. Maureen deserves to be remembered not as a footnote for what happened to Christian, but as a young woman whose life mattered and whose death is a reminder of how dangerous intimate partner violence can be, especially for young people.

Shaun In the summer of twenty twenty four, we brought you the stories of two young women who had been killed in Las Vegas, but whose identities were unknown until recent breakthroughs in DNA technology had given them their names back. When Marie Buffington story was a nineteen year old from the Cincinnati, Ohio, area disappeared the summer of nineteen seventy nine while traveling west with two male friends reportedly hoping to find her biological father in California. On the night of August fourteen, nineteen seventy nine, her body was discovered in a dirt lot near Sahara in Las Vegas Boulevard. She had been beaten and killed with multiple stab wounds and no identification on her for more than four decades, she was known only as Sahara Sudo. Despite fingerprints, sketches, and later DNA entries into Codis and Namus, none of which produced a match at the time. In twenty twenty two, Las Vegas Metro partnered with Othram Labs using grant funding, and on November fifteen, twenty twenty three, she was finally identified through forensic genetic genealogy. Gwen's murder remains unsolved, and police are seeking information, particularly from the two men who traveled with her and last reported leaving her in Las Vegas. You can hear more at podcast thirty nine. This summer, we received a Facebook comment from an old friend of Gwen's named Tammy. Tammy wrote, she was my friend. We rode the school bus together until nineteen seventy eight. I got my driver's license and a job. Our lives went in different directions and we lost touch. I've thought of her often. I wondered if California agreed with her. I had moved away and lost touch with that part of my life purposefully. Gwen was spontaneous, opinionated and fun. We smoked weed and laughed at the stupidity of adulthood. We skipped. We skipped school and survived everything life threw at us. Or so I thought. I'm sorry. Gwen. As we said, Gwen's murder is unsolved. Anyone with information or leads is urged to contact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department homicide cold case section directly at seven oh two eight two eight three five two one, or by email at homicide. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Nevada Crimestoppers by calling seven hundred two three eight five five five five five or visiting Crimestoppers of NV.

John Next up, we have an update on Ricky Leigh, trader who was finally taken into custody in twenty twenty four for the two thousand and three murder of twenty eight year old Theresa Romano. In the episode, we talked a lot about the role of DNA and the new Henderson Cold Case division, formed in twenty twenty four, that was instrumental in finally apprehending trader for Teresas violent murder. Trader was paroled in twenty twenty one for another murder he committed just after he killed Teresa. And in August, he pleaded guilty to second degree murder in a plea agreement. He is forty eight years old now, and he was sentenced to ten to twenty five years in prison. That sentence runs concurrent with his earlier conviction, so he'll essentially spend at least another ten year term in prison, with credits served for the time since he got arrested in twenty twenty four. It's unlikely, though, that he'll get paroled in twenty thirty five, because the parole board will look at his whole violent history. Having murdered two people. So it's more likely he'll be in jail until twenty fifty, when he will be in his late seventies. You can hear that full episode at Sins podcast.

Shaun And the final update we have is tied to something bigger that happened on a national level. Some people may already know this, but at the end of his term as president, Joe Biden commuted the sentences of nearly every person on federal death row. That was thirty seven death row inmates. All but three leaving the Mother Emanuel church shooter, Dylann Roof. The Tree of Life synagogue shooter Robert Gregory Bowers and the Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev still on federal death row. But among the inmates who had their sentences commuted to life was Thomas Sanders, the confessed murderer of Sue Ellen, and Lexis Roberts. Suellen Roberts and her twelve year old daughter Lexis disappeared in September of twenty ten after taking a short road trip from Las Vegas to Arizona with Sue Ellen's new boyfriend, Thomas Steven Sanders. When they failed to return, a multi-state search began, ending weeks later when Lexis remains were discovered in rural Louisiana. She'd been brutally murdered. Sanders was eventually arrested and confessed to killing Suellen in the Arizona desert before kidnapping Lexus, driving her across several states and murdering her. Days later, the case revealed that Sanders had been legally declared dead years earlier and had lived under the radar for more than a decade. He was convicted in federal court of kidnapping, resulting in death and sentenced to death. But now that his sentence has been commuted, Brad Burgett, the district attorney in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, brought Lexuses murder case before a grand jury. And Sanders has been indicted for first degree murder, and he will again be facing the death penalty, but this time on state charges in Louisiana. There is a chance that the trial will start in twenty twenty six, but more likely it will be twenty twenty seven. Thomas Sanders is currently sixty seven years old, and we'll keep you posted. If you haven't listened to Suellen and Lexus's story, you can hear that episode at podcastone. That brings us to the end of what we have for you this week. Who knows what twenty twenty six will bring? Looking back at last year. We remember that for the families living with loss. Justice is ongoing and we'll continue to follow these cases for as long as it takes. If you have any questions or are curious about something we haven't updated about yet, please reach out on social media or email us to ask. We'll do our best to research and get back to you.

John Thank you for listening this year and thank you for sharing these stories. We'll be back next week continuing the work, because what happens here happens everywhere. Thanks for listening. Visit sin's podcast. Subscribe for exclusive bonus content and to listen ad free. Remember to like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and threads at Sins and survivors. If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice. You can contact us at questions at www.sinsandsurvivors.com

Shaun If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence or need support, please reach out to local resources or the National Domestic Violence Hotline. A list of resources is available on our website. Survivors and survivors. A Las Vegas true crime podcast is researched, written and produced by your host, Sean and John. The information shared in this podcast is accurate at the time of recording. If you have questions, concerns or corrections, please email us. Links to source material for this episode can be found on our website. SinsandSurvivors.com

John The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast creators, hosts and their guests. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty. This content does not constitute legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with legal professionals for guidance.