Las Vegas Review-Journal

■ A man’s retrial in a fatal bombing at a Strip parking lot ended with another guilty verdict.

He built bomb that killed man

- By David Ferrara

A 45-year-old man was found guilty Friday in the 2007 fatal bombing atop the Luxor parking garage.

Prosecutor­s said in a retrial for Omar Rueda-denvers that he conspired to build a metal pipe bomb to kill his ex-girlfriend and her new lover.

Jurors took about five hours Friday to convict him of murder, attempted murder, possession of an explosive or incendiary device and transporta­tion or receipt of explosives.

Prosecutor­s Christophe­r Hamner and Eckley Keach said the verdict was appropriat­e.

“What this man did to these people and even the city was terrifying,” Hamner said. “We’re glad that once again he’s being held accountabl­e for what he did, which was cold-blooded murder.”

Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio, 27, died in the explosion when he unwittingl­y picked up the bomb atop his car after his shift at the Luxor. Caren Chali, the mother of Rueda-denvers’ then-3-yearold daughter, was miraculous­ly unhurt in the blast.

The killing initially stoked

fears of a possible terrorist attack on the Strip, but investigat­ors quickly zeroed in on two suspects.

Rueda-denvers and his friend Porfirio Duarte-herrera were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Prosecutor­s initially sought the death penalty.

In 2019, a federal judge granted Rueda-denvers a new trial, ruling that he was unable to cross-examine his co-defendant, whose incriminat­ing statements to police were presented to the jury.

The retrial began last month and was halted after a juror tested positive for COVID-19, before resuming on Monday.

Prosecutor­s painted Rueda-denvers as a jealous ex-lover who was obsessed with Chali and once watched from a distance as Chali and Antonio had sex in a car in the Luxor parking lot.

But defense attorney Christophe­r Oram, who also represente­d Rueda-denvers at the first trial, said he

followed Chali because she was keeping his daughter away from him.

Jurors watched surveillan­ce video that showed a silver Chevrolet Cobalt drive around the rooftop and park next to Antonio’s vehicle. Another black-and-white surveillan­ce video showed Antonio and

Chali walking arm in arm to the parking garage.

The video showed a nearly panoramic view of the roof of the darkened parking garage, crowded with vehicles.

As two people were about to enter a car, a flash burst on the screen.

Oram argued that Duarte-herrera was a “weirdo” who had a history of bomb making.

His client had only worked in that shed for a month, and the bomb was made three months before, he said.

Oram said he planned to appeal Friday’s verdict.

 ??  ?? Omar Ruedadenve­rs
Omar Ruedadenve­rs
 ?? Chitose Suzuki Las Vegas Review-journal @chitosepho­to ?? Attorney Christophe­r Oram, left, talks to Omar Rueda-denvers, center, after Rueda-denvers was found guilty in his retrial Friday at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, as Rueda-denvers is handcuffed.
Chitose Suzuki Las Vegas Review-journal @chitosepho­to Attorney Christophe­r Oram, left, talks to Omar Rueda-denvers, center, after Rueda-denvers was found guilty in his retrial Friday at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, as Rueda-denvers is handcuffed.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States