Courtesy Washoe County Sheriff's OfficeInvestigators are seeking witnesses who may have seen this 1990 Honda Accord between 12:20 and 12:35 p.m. on Sunday in the area of Highway 50 East and the freeway on ramp.
Surveillance cameras at a Highway 50 East fast food restaurant showed Rene Angulo at 12:20 p.m. Sunday getting into his 1990 Honda Accord alone, an investigator said Wednesday.
Fifteen minutes later, the Carson City teenager was dead alongside U.S. 395 in Washoe Valley, a gunshot wound to the head. A good Samaritan who tried to render aid after seeing Angulo's car swerve off the road was wounded.
Steven Contreras, 24, was captured, naked and hiding in the brush, after he allegedly sped off in Angulo's car and ditched it on Old Highway 395.
Contreras, who also goes by the name of Victor Rodriguez, appeared for a video arraignment Wednesday in Reno. He is charged with first-degree murder in Angulo's slaying and the attempted murder of Wayne Nash, 51, the Carson High assistant basketball coach who was shot in the leg after he stopped on the highway to help.
Senior Justice of the Peace Edward Dannan set a May 27 preliminary hearing.
Public's help sought
Investigators are asking the public to help them fill in the time between Angulo's image being captured on camera, and a 911 call from Nash's teenage daughter at 12:35 p.m. reporting that two people had been shot in Washoe Valley.
"We know the time he was last seen and we know the time he was shot," said Washoe County Sheriff's Detective Capt. Dave Nikoley. "But that 15 minutes we don't know about. That's the window we are looking at.
"We need anyone who had a sighting of the car between the parking lot there on Highway 50 at El Pollo Loco and the time he was found."
He said this case isn't a whodunit, but a why.
Though Nikoley declined to say what Contreras told investigators, the investigator said there is "no indication" that the gun discharged during a struggle between the two inside the vehicle.
Contreras told investigators he had been staying at the Gold Dust West on Highway 50, near the El Pollo Loco, with his girlfriend.
Thus far, investigators have been unable to find a link between the Carson teen who turned 17 in April, and the convicted felon and suspected drug dealer who in 2004 was found guilty of helping a friend escape to Los Angeles after committing murder. Contreras was given probation in 2005 and deported to Mexico. Officials were not available Wednesday to comment on the deportation or his return to Nevada.
"If you saw one person in the car, if you saw two, if you saw a heated argument. If you pulled up next to it and saw something, give us a call," said Nikoley.
Distinctive markings on Honda
Angulo's four-door Honda, a silent witness to what transpired, now sits in the Washoe County Sheriff's evidence lot.
Its primary color is gray. The hood is green and the left front fender is black. There is a dark tint on the back passenger and rear windows and no tint on the front passenger windows.
Anyone who thinks they may have seen that vehicle between 12:20 p.m. and 12:35 p.m. on Mother's Day is asked to call the Washoe County Sheriff's Department at 328-3320, or Secret Witness at 322-4900.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Visitation for Rene Angulo is from 2 to 7 p.m. today at FitzHenry's Funeral Home on Fairview Drive. A service is Friday at 4 p.m. at St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church on Lompa Lane.
A fundraiser has been organized for Wayne Nash, the good Samaritan and Carson High junior varsity girls coach who was shot Sunday on Highway 395 in Washoe Valley, said friend Erin Been.
Been, a Carson High School physical education teacher, said she met Nash in 1995 when she began working at the school and he was a substitute PE teacher. The two became fast friends, she said.
That Nash, 51, was trying to help someone was no surprise to Been. That he was shot doing so is horrifying, she said.
"He has a heart of gold. He's an amazing person. Just the kindest heart I ever met in my whole entire life," said Been. "He would do anything for anybody, anytime."
Been said the injury Nash sustained will take extensive rehabilitation.
"I'm sure these medical costs will be above and beyond what his insurance will cover," said Been.
A large caliber bullet tore through Nash's right calf, and doctors at first were uncertain they could save his leg, according to Nash's father-in-law.
To help with the bills, Straw Hat Pizza on Clearview Drive has agreed to donate 50 percent of its proceeds between 5 and 8 p.m. Monday to the Carson High School Fund for Wayne Nash.
Been said she also hopes to set up a donation account for Nash in the coming days.
"He done so much for the community, and it's such a tragedy what happened. I just think it's our time to give back," she said.