Posted in Related Deaths9-29-2004 Nevada:
Woman's body found in Las Vegas hotel
A Laconia man who killed his girlfriend in a Las Vegas Strip hotel before taking his own life had been arrested by the local police twice in the past five years for failing to register as a sex offender.
Lawrence Joyce, 34, of 361 Court St. in Laconia, jumped to his death from the Hoover Dam early Tuesday after calling 911 and telling dispatchers he had killed Rebecca Roux, 27, of Sanford, Maine. The police found Roux's body in a room at the Treasure Island hotel-casino. The victim was beaten to death, according to the Clark County Coroner's Office.
A short time later, the Hoover Dam police noticed a man sitting outside his car atop the dam wall, said Colleen Dwyer, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees the dam 30 miles east of Las Vegas. Joyce tried to get the police to shoot him, and he was shot with a Taser before he eventually jumped 700 feet to his death, Metro Police Capt. Tom Lozich said.
Sgt. Chris Adams of the Laconia Police Department said officers had several run-ins with Joyce dating back to 1997. Joyce was arrested both in 1999 and 2000 for failing to register with the state as a sex offender, Adams said. He said he did not know whether Joyce's sexual assault conviction was connected to an incident in 1990 that led to charges of kidnapping, burglary and criminal restraint in Candia.
Adams said the police had also stopped Joyce for several motor vehicle violations. He was the victim of theft a few times as well. Adams said he last saw Joyce in February.
Joyce was a troubled man, according to his 61-year-old father, also named Lawrence Joyce, of Laconia. He declined to elaborate.
"He had tons of friends who loved him," he said. "This is a terrible tragedy for two families. I have no further comment than that."
For the past two years, Joyce had worked in Laconia for Schaefer Mortgage Corp. of Londonderry, company president Ken Schaefer said. "I wouldn't have expected anything like this," Schaefer said.
Roux's co-workers at Cousins Home Lending said they knew her relationship with Joyce was troubled and they warned her against making the trip to Nevada. Rob Raymond, sales manager, said Roux and Joyce dated for about four or five months.
Roux was raised in Sanford, Maine, and loved the outdoors, Raymond said. She was outgoing and rose to the rank of loan officer. Customer service surveys indicated that her clients adored her, Raymond said.
Before going to work at Cousins Home Lending, Roux worked as a teller at the Sanford Institution for Savings, where human resources manager Kathleen MacDonald described her as personable and full of life. She said Roux had tried some modeling and used to bring in her portfolio to show her co-workers.
"She was a beautiful girl," MacDonald said. "She'd take your breath away." ..more.. by Monitor staff and wire reports
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
911 CALL: 'I'm gonna kill myself'
10-1-2004 Nevada:
Caller told dispatcher police would find girlfriend's body in Treasure Island room
Lawrence Joyce told a 911 dispatcher his girlfriend's death was an accident but he was going to kill himself anyway.
In his call to Las Vegas police early Tuesday, the 34-year-old tourist did not explain why he killed Rebecca Roux, his girlfriend of four months, but he apologized as he calmly told a dispatcher that police could find her body in a Treasure Island hotel room, according to a 911 recording released Thursday.
"There is a body on the floor there," Joyce said. "Please take care of her. OK? Please get her back to her family. OK? And like I said, I'm sorry. It was a (expletive) accident, and it just spiraled out of control."
The Laconia, N.H., resident gave no details of the slaying, but detailed his violent criminal history and recounted a bizarre incident at a Treasure Island bar on the day of the killing.
"Last night, something happened to me at the bar," he told the dispatcher. "I had four drinks. I started hallucinating. OK? Security came up. I thought they were FBI. I was cowering in the corner. This is when it happened. This happened this afternoon between me and her. So I don't know if there was something in my drink, but you can just talk to security and say, `Did this happen last night?' and you'll know you have the right guy."
Several hours after the 911 call, he jumped from the Hoover Dam, plunging more than 700 feet to his death.
When he called 911 about 12:15 a.m., Joyce spelled his name and got to the point.
"I'm only gonna stay on the phone for a minute with you," he said. "I'm gonna give you guys directions to a couple of bodies, and then I'm gonna kill myself right now on the phone."
For the next three minutes and 45 seconds, Joyce urged the dispatcher to send officers to the room and resisted attempts by the dispatcher to talk him out of suicide.
"Listen, I've got to go," Joyce said. "I thank you, and trust me, there's definitely nothing you can do. God bless you and I am sorry."
"Lawrence, will you stay on the phone with me, at least a little bit longer?" the dispatcher said.
"I won't. I have to go right now. I thank you," Joyce responded.
Earlier, as he tried to convince the dispatcher that he was telling the truth, Joyce revealed his criminal past.
"You run my record, OK, you'll know I'm for real," Joyce said. "I spent four years in New Hampshire state prison for rape and kidnapping, assault and weapons charges."
He actually served just under two years on a 1990 conviction for aggravated felonious sexual assault and criminal mischief, according to a New Hampshire Department of Corrections spokesman.
In that case, Joyce kidnapped and sexually assaulted a former girlfriend, according to the Portland (Maine) Press Herald.
The four-month relationship between Joyce and Roux was rocky, and Roux had called a co-worker Monday afternoon to say they had broken up during their trip to Las Vegas, the paper reported.
During the call, Roux told the co-worker she would soon return home. About the same time, Joyce called Roux's former boss and her father to tell them she was coming home, the paper said.
But she never returned to Sanford, Maine.
Police found her body in the couple's room on the 29th floor of Treasure Island. The official cause of death was blunt trauma to the head, the coroner's office said.
Authorities later found Joyce on the dam and tried to talk him out of jumping. About 4 a.m. he jumped, leaving many unanswered questions for those he left behind.
"It's a tragedy for both families," said Joyce's father, Lawrence Joyce Sr. ..more.. by BRIAN HAYNES
No comments:
Post a Comment