By SCOTT SONNER
The Associated Press
Detectives investigating a string of five homicides in two northern Nevada counties have made one arrest and believe all the killings are connected, including one at the interstate exit for the Mustang Ranch brothel.
A married couple was found dead Monday in a Fernley home about 30 miles east of Reno and another dead man and woman were discovered in a house a few blocks away. Police determined those deaths apparently are tied to a fifth victim who was found in a ditch along the Interstate 80 exit for the infamous brothel just east of Reno.
“We do believe that from talking to all of our detectives that they are connected,” Lyon County Undersheriff Albert Torres told KRNV-TV.
KOLO-TV reported Tuesday one suspect had been arrested in connection with the case, but he has not been identified.
The first dead couple was discovered after firefighters were called to a house on fire in Fernley about 6 a.m. Monday. About two hours later, Washoe County sheriff’s deputies were called to the Mustang exit with the report of a dead man. A short time later, deputies responding to a call for a welfare check found the other two victims in a Fernley home within 100 years of the house where the first two dead were found.
“This is the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen,” said Stacee Dickey, a neighbor of the Fernley victims. She said she was acquainted with the husband of one of couples killed and he was friendly and “always helping kids.”
“Just an all-around nice man,” she said.
The arrest was made two doors down from the site of the initial house fire after a homeowner called police about a man hiding in his garage.
Officers surrounded the man, who initially ran out the back door but confronted police and tried to run back out the front of the garage, Torres said.
“We caught him right outside the garage,” he said.
Police were looking for a white pickup truck they believe the man found dead near Mustang was driving — a 1998 GMC Silverado with Nevada plates, 336-UNB. KRNV-TV reported that victim was a 52-year-old man from Spanish Springs, a Reno suburb.