Report: Augustine's husband attempts suicide

As a probe expanded into the sudden death of state Controller Kathy Augustine, her husband tried to commit suicide on Friday in Las Vegas.

Paramedics were called to Augustine's Las Vegas home after police got a report that a man at the home had "slit his wrists" in a suicide attempt, Las Vegas Metro Officer Jose Montoya said.

A neighbor, John Tsitouras, said he saw paramedics take Augustine's husband, Chaz Higgs, 42, from the home on a gurney. A University Medical Center official confirmed that Higgs was in the hospital's trauma unit. His condition wasn't immediately known.

Higgs, a critical care nurse, had gone to Las Vegas for Augustine's funeral on Saturday. Augustine, 50, the only constitutional officer in Nevada history to have been impeached and convicted, died Tuesday. She had been hospitalized on Saturday after Higgs said he found her unconscious and not breathing in their second home in Reno.

The state Division of Investigations joined Thursday in a probe by the Reno Police Department into Augustine's death, a spokesman for Gov. Kenny Guinn said. Steve George said the state investigators will check Augustine's office to make sure nothing is missing. He added that Reno police requested the state's involvement.

Washoe County Coroner Vernon McCarty declined Friday to comment on an autopsy conducted on Augustine, and on whether initial autopsy findings showed evidence of heart damage or other problems that would have led to her death.

The coroner also repeated earlier comments from Reno police spokesman Steve Frady that it could be several weeks before a final report on Augustine's death is completed.

An autopsy was ordered because Augustine had no history of heart trouble and was relatively young, Frady said.

Higgs has said he found her unconscious and not breathing early Saturday in their Reno home. Higgs had said Augustine suffered an apparent heart attack. She never regained consciousness.

Higgs also said campaign stress was to blame for his wife's heart attack. She faced fundraising difficulties and opposition from within her own party in her bid for state treasurer. Because of term limits, she couldn't seek a third four-year term as controller.

Impeached by the Assembly for using state equipment for her 2002 campaign, Augustine was censured but not removed from office by the state Senate. She also was fined $15,000 by the state Ethic Commission.

- Associated Press Writer Oskar Garcia in Las Vegas contributed to this report.