Las Vegas- A key witness in the Palomino strip club murder case testified Tuesday that the defendants in the trial ordered the slaying of Timothy Hadland, an ex-employee who was bad-mouthing the club to cabdrivers.
Rontae Zone said the former owner of the Palomino, Luis "Mr. H." Hidalgo Jr., ordered Hadland's killing. Zone, along with three other men, was present when Hadland, 44, was killed in 2005.
Luis Hidalgo Jr., 58, and his son, Luis "Little Luis" Hidalgo III, [pictured] 27, are on trial for Hadland's slaying. They face charges of murder with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit murder.
Luis Hidalgo III also faces charges that he plotted to kill witnesses after the slaying.
Zone told jurors another defendant in the case, Deangelo Carroll, 28, asked him whether he wanted to take part in the slaying in 2005. He declined, but another friend named Jayson Taoipu agreed to take part, Zone testified.
Zone testified that Carroll told him that "Mr. H" would pay $6,000 to whomever took part in the slaying. During his testimony, Zone referred to the plot as having someone "dealt with." When asked whether that described killing someone, he replied that its meaning is "obvious."
Authorities said the Hidalgos had Hadland killed because he was criticizing the club, which in turn cost the North Las Vegas strip club thousands in lost revenue. Both Hidalgos have pleaded not guilty.
Zone, who worked handing out fliers for the club, was friends with Carroll before the May 19, 2005, slaying. Carroll awaits trial.
On the night of the slaying, Zone, Taoipu, Carroll and a fourth man, Kenneth Counts, 33, drove to Lake Mead and met Hadland on an isolated road.
Zone testified that Counts snuck out of their minivan and shot Hadland twice in the head.
Counts was found not guilty of murder during a February 2008 trial but was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. He's serving an eight- to 20-year sentence.
Taoipu pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit murder.
Zone was not charged in connection with the slaying.
Back story: May, 2005: The son and daughter of the owner of the Palomino Club have been charged with hiring two hit men to kill a former club employee, who was found shot to death last week on a road near Lake Mead, Las Vegas police said.
Luis A. Hidalgo III, 24, and Anabel Espindola, 33, each face charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Timothy Jay Hadland, who had worked as a doorman at the North Las Vegas club.
The siblings' father, Luis A. Hidalgo Jr., has owned the Palomino Club, 1848 N. Las Vegas Blvd., since 2003. It is the only all-nude club in Clark County that can serve alcohol.
Police also charged two men with carrying out the ambush slaying. Kenneth Jay Counts, 29, and Deangelo Reshawn Carroll, 24, face murder and conspiracy charges.
All four suspects were in the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday night.
Homicide detectives believe Espindola and her brother wanted Hadland killed because of a dispute involving the family's businesses. Police did not elaborate on the dispute.
Hadland left behind four children, the youngest a 14-year-old daughter with former girlfriend Gerry Davenport.
"Why the hell would they kill him?" Davenport asked. "What did he know? He's just an average Joe."
Hadland, 44, had worked at the club for less than a year before being fired recently.
He was camping with his girlfriend at Lake Mead on the evening of May 19 when he got a cell phone call from Carroll, a club employee, about 11:30 p.m., according to a police report.
Carroll arranged a meeting with Hadland on North Shore Road. Three men joined Carroll for the trip, including Counts, a member of the Black Pee Stone gang in California with a history of arrests on drug and weapons charges, the report said.
A short time later, Carroll met Hadland at the side of the road, with Hadland parking his Kia Sportage in front of Carroll's Chevrolet Astro minivan. Hadland got out and walked to Carroll, who was in the driver's seat, the report said.
Counts then exited the minivan and shot Hadland twice in the head with a .357-caliber revolver, police said.
Hadland fell to the ground, and Counts jumped back in the minivan and yelled at Carroll to drive, the report said.
Less than 15 minutes later, a passerby discovered Hadland's body. Several fliers for the Palomino Club littered the ground near his body.
Detectives linked Carroll to the crime through Hadland's cell phone. During questioning, Carroll and the two other passengers, Rontae Zone and Jayson Taoipu, told police they saw Counts shoot Hadland, according to the report. Zone and Taoipu have not been charged with any crime.
Police arrested Counts on Saturday after a two-hour standoff with SWAT officers.
Hidalgo III and Espindola were arrested Tuesday following raids on the Palomino Club and another family business, Simone's Auto Plaza, near McCarran International Airport.
Carroll was arrested Wednesday.
The FBI and North Las Vegas police assisted in the raids. An FBI spokesman said Las Vegas police asked his agency for assistance in the investigation, but he wouldn't elaborate.
People who knew Hadland described him as a hard-working family man who loved the outdoors. They couldn't figure out why someone would want him dead.
"We don't have any idea," said Hadland's 25-year-old nephew, Cory Hadland. "We are all up in arms about why this happened. It's not right."
Hadland once lived in the Southern California High Desert community of Apple Valley near Victorville. He had been married a couple times and had never got in serious trouble with the law, Cory Hadland said.
"He was a good guy. He was a family man," he said.
Hadland's relatives planned to spread his ashes near Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area today.
"He loved riding his mountain bike," Cory Hadland said. "All we ever heard was that he loved to go to Red Rock. He would go there a couple times a month."
Besides his job at the Palomino Club, Hadland had a concrete business, his nephew said.
"He always had big ideas and stuff. He was pretty smart about business," he said.
Joyce West, who was married to Hadland for 13 months in 1994 and 1995, said he always wanted to go into business for himself after growing frustrated with his job driving a cement truck.
Among his business ventures, Hadland sold real estate and cars and started his own landscaping company, she said.
West said she had no idea why anyone would have wanted to kill him, but added he was outspoken and might have said something that got him into trouble.
Hadland's slaying was not the first time children of a Palomino Club owner have been implicated in an employee's slaying.
In 2000, Jack Perry, son of the club's then-owner, shot and killed an employee he thought was trying to buy the club. Perry pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14 years to life in prison.
